I am the pest who BYOs organic milk to my local cafe

I do this despite the possibility of being seen as a tosser, because it is a cause I believe in.

Unlike cattle in the US, cattle in Australia are thankfully not given bovine growth hormone, which increases their milk production but which comes with concerning possible health implications.

But, there are other reasons that going organic in Australia is worth the extra cost and the ribbing it can bring.

Even my 87-year-old grandfather, only half mocking, apologises that the milk he offers with coffee hasn't "been blessed".

Yet, when he was a farmer, more than 50 years ago, organic wasn't a wanky word, it was more or less the norm.

Since pesticide use became common in the '50s, it has increased more than fiftyfold. We now use more than 30,000 tonnes per annum in Australia. That's about 12 Olympic swimming pools worth of the stuff.

I'm pretty happy to stay out of that swimming pool as much as possible along its murky impact on health not to mention the energy impact of manufacturing and shipping the pesticides.

In fact, studies have shown that organic milk production uses as much as 35 per cent less fossil energy than conventional milk production.

But, arguably more importantly is the impact going organic has on the animal.

Milk prices are being forced down, yet quality food isn't cheap to produce.

When we're grabbing a cheap carton from the supermarket it is easy to forget that it comes at a cost.

The cost is the environment, sustainability and, in this case the humane treatment of the animals, as Voiceless has pointed out in a new report on our dairy industry.

There are more than 1.6 million dairy cows in Australia. Each cow produces an average of 5000 litres of milk a year. Many have only a limited access to their natural environment and are being stressed and made sick through overproduction.

Stress has an adverse effect on meat – it's quality and the sorts of hormones that can be found within it.

Similarly, animal welfare leads to better meat and, undoubtedly, better milk.

Studies have found that animals that are stressed at the time of slaughter have higher levels of fear-induced hormones. It would stand to reason that there would be similarly raised levels in any chronically stressed animal product we consume.

Organic farming means animals that are far more likely to be raised without cruelty, in their natural environment, on pastures that are not pesticide-laden. They are free-range and not confined within a factory or given antibiotics or hormones.

I love dairy and am not inclined to give it up.

But I would like to know that the milk in my coffee and the brie on my cracker is as cruelty and stress-free as possible.

I am willing to pay the extra price instead of the animal for that. I also think it's worth being called a wanker for.