Technically speaking, people can drink pig milk, and it’s not like no one has ever done so. In fact, compared with cow's milk and goat's milk that humans are used to, pig's milk is more nutritious and has higher fat, protein and lactose content. So why hasn’t pig milk become a commodity like milk and be accepted by people? There are several reasons:

First, tradition and habit. Since ancient times, cattle and sheep have belonged to nomadic peoples while pigs have belonged to agricultural peoples. The lifestyle of nomadic people and the physiological characteristics of cattle and sheep determine that dairy products are an important part of their dietary civilization. Nowadays, the ancient nomads have also led a modern life, and the tradition of drinking milk has been preserved. After thousands of years of development, raising and managing dairy cows has become a very mature industry. Without special reasons, people have no motivation to develop other milk breeds. Many people are not used to drinking goat milk because the smell is too strong. According to farmers who have tasted pig milk, pig milk tastes stronger than goat milk, which is difficult for most people to accept.

Second, economic reasons. The annual milk production of a sow is only 20% of that of a cow. We know that if a commodity produces less, the price will be relatively expensive. Moreover, pigs have 12 to 14 teats and cows have four. The machine (if any) used to milk pigs is more complicated than the machine used to milk cows. It is conceivable that the cost will be higher, which makes it even more complicated. Raising the cost of pig milk. And the most important thing is the opportunity cost. Cows can only give birth to one child per year, usually only one calf, while sows take about four months to gestate and can give birth to more than a dozen piglets, with an average of 24 piglets per year. They can become fat after more than half a year. Pigs can produce thousands of kilograms of ham sausage, pork belly, jelly skin, and pig head meat. You cannot get pregnant during the period of milk production. If you do some math, the price of pig milk produced every year must be higher than the price of the meat of 24 pigs. Then this pig milk will definitely sell for a sky-high price.

Third, operational reasons. Cows have been mixed with humans for thousands of years and have accepted their fate of being milked. This is not the case for other animals. Even the seemingly docile sheep don't like to be milked, and will use their horns to protest if they are provoked. Being gored by a sheep is no big deal, but if you have a conflict with a fat pig weighing several hundred kilograms, your life could be in danger. Pigs are animals with a harsh living environment. Most of them are killed before they live to celebrate the New Year. They have a very cold relationship with humans. It is not easy to get close to pigs, let alone milk them. There is a restaurant in Kentucky, USA, that serves pig cheese. The chef said that getting pig milk is more difficult than picking snowdrops. You have to be careful. Wait for the sow to fall asleep, then slowly approach it and whisper goodwill, which will make you covered in it. Only with pig shit can you succeed once or twice. In addition, milking cows is very convenient because the cows stand, and people can even get under the cows to drink milk (such as Zhuang Zhidie in Jia Pingwa's novel). The old sow always lies down, and it is very difficult to milk the sow in her arms.

So, it’s not that pig milk cannot be drunk, nor that no one can drink it, but the cost is too high to achieve large-scale production. Unless one day there is a revolutionary discovery, and drinking the Year of the Pig can cure all diseases or make a golden gun invincible, human beings may have the motivation to overcome these troubles.