In our industry, we often use the terms “diet” and “ration” interchangeably. It occurred to me recently to wonder if these two terms do indeed mean the same thing. Are they perfect synonyms? Is it just a distinction without a difference? Or are there some nuanced differences that might be meaningful as we continue to dial in to more detail in how we feed cows and even how we talk about feeding cows?
After a little study about where these two words come from, I found that there is indeed a difference. We can look at the source and true meaning of these words and be a little more exact in our conversations related to feeding cows.
I often feel like I live in two different worlds that are related in the fact that both humans and animals eat and depend on the delivery of basic nutrients to grow and thrive. I work in the dairy world, where I happen to focus on feeding these great animals. I also live in community with humans who have their own nutritional topics to consider. There is an abundant amount of crossover, and the words “diet” and “ration” can be found in each category.
A wide approach
Let’s first look at the word diet. In the human realm, this could refer to a particular eating regime related most often to weight loss. It could just as correctly refer to the nutritional approach to feeding a professional football team to ensure top performance. It might also cover the finer points of rebuilding a person after the insult to the body of a cancer patient from chemotherapy.
In the broader sense of a diet, there would be details like meal plans, recipes, and various schedules that are the logistics of the plan. Diets have goals and are a broader description of the overall strategy to supply the particular nutrients needed to meet stated goals.
The origins of the word “diet” match with this description and current use of the word in common language. In the original Greek and Latin, the word “diaita” was most closely related to a regime or a way of daily living. By the 13th century, the Middle English connected the word more closely to eating, adding something like a regimen of food. We might summarize these origins into words and terms like lifestyle, approach to food, or approach to nutrition. It is a more conceptual or goal-oriented thought that may lack the need for specifics. Thus, if someone today were to ask you how your diet was going or to describe to them your diet, they aren’t particularly interested in what you had for breakfast but more about how you approach food and how that impacts your goals for overall health and well-being. In the cow feeding space, perhaps the word diet most correctly applies to statements like, “We are on a corn silage-based diet” or “We feed an acidified close-up diet to prevent milk fever.”
Nailing down the details
Turning to the word ration, there are a couple of different directions to go. One of them is often noted to me when my spell checker frequently underlines the word ration and suggests I change it to ratio. I think, “No, I mean ration,” but then I think “Wait, this ration is also a ratio of ingredients.”
Are these two words from the same root? Rations are indeed ratios. Is there meaning in this? At the same time, when the word “ration” is used in the human realm, it usually relates to something akin to rations for members of the military. Think about “daily rations” as what members of the military might be provided or in a situation of limited resources where “daily rations” might be used to indicate there are limits on available food and it must be eaten in a way to manage the available inventory.
As you might expect, the words “ratio” and “ration” share the same Latin root. The Latin meanings relate to concepts including account, share, to reckon, and calculate. In the Middle English of the 14th century, the terms “portion” or “share” are noted. The connection between ratio and ration in the original Latin also highlights details like measurements, calculations, and proportions. These terms aren’t solely related to food and nutrition, but it is a very common use for them. These details describe not only the food or feed ingredients combined and consumed, but also the ratios of the nutrients supplied and how they relate to what the dietary goals are.
Why the difference matters
We might say that the term “diet” refers to a larger view related to overall goals and a broad description of what the animals will eat. The “ration” then is the detailed plan to meet the dietary goals, recommendations, or guidelines.
Perhaps the word recipe should be mentioned now. I like the way that some on-farm feeding software uses the word recipe to describe the actual pounds per cow that we plan to feed. Recipe and ration are probably closer to being truly synonymous compared to ration and diet.
Why does all of this matter? Is it a waste of time to detail terms that in the daily operation of a dairy can be used interchangeably? Three reasons come to mind. The first is simple. Being as correct as possible in all communication is good business and good science. Nuanced differences that are ignored in common conversation can lead to potential misunderstandings.
The second is related to the worldwide, multi-language reality of the modern dairy industry. If you spend a few minutes on any dairy professional’s LinkedIn page, you will see that we truly work in a multicultural industry. Perhaps the words we use in everyday conversation could convey some substantive difference when they are interpreted to Spanish, Arabic, Farsi, Chinese, Italian, or another language.
The third reason is more forward-thinking. As we utilize more and more artificial intelligence, machine learning, and predictive analytics in the future of our industry, we should be as precise as possible in what we call things and what they mean. If we are going to have computers help us feed cows better, we should be precise in what the difference is between a diet, a ration, and a recipe. There are no hard and fact-based rules for how we use these terms today, and no great calamity will occur if we keep interchanging them. But as we get more detailed and precise in how we feed cows, let’s try and keep up with that precision in the linguistics surrounding the science and the economics that are important for success.
