How Did Milk Become Cheaper Than Bottled Water?

In Australia, a liter of milk now often costs less than a liter of bottled water — especially the fancy, flavored varieties. How did we reach this point?

Milk is not just a drink. It comes from real farms, real animals, and real people. Farmers work through heat, rain, and cold. They feed the cows, clean the sheds, maintain expensive equipment, follow endless regulations, and try to keep their animals healthy. It is a full-time job with no days off. Yet, their product — one that requires real work — is now sold for less than artificially flavored water in a shiny plastic bottle.

This is not just strange. It is shameful.

Do you remember when supermarkets began selling milk for a dollar per liter? It was called a "price war." But the ones who lost were the farmers. Many of them could not survive. They shut down. And what did the government do? Nothing. What did most of us do? Also nothing. We kept buying the cheap milk, thinking we were getting a bargain. But at what cost?

Meanwhile, people happily pay three or four dollars for bottled water with added "minerals" or some vague promise of being "alkaline" or "detoxifying." We seem to believe the more expensive something is, the more "healthy" it must be — even when it comes in plastic and is packed with marketing nonsense.

There is nothing wrong with choosing water. But we must ask — how did we reach a point where a basic, nutritious food is worth less than water with a label?

This is not just about milk. It is about values. And we should all be paying attention.