Dairy Downfall

DAIRY DOWN For decades, the mechanizedFALL and brutal dairy industry has had a stranglehold on billions of animals—and the American public. But the tides are changing. Investigative journalist Rachel Krantz uncovers what’s driving the plant-based milk revolution, and how Big Dairy is doing everything it can to stop the inevitable takeover. 30 VegNews JULY+AUGUST 2018 Seventy years ago, men in white uniforms delivered glass bottles full of cows’ milk directly to Americans’ doorsteps. At the time, the USDA recommended teenagers consume a minimum of three servings of dairy a day; adults, at least two. Advertising campaigns in the late 20th surplus cheese. It is estimated that the market for plant- century established the myth that milk Yet the size of the dairy lobby—and based milks will reach $35 billion by 2024— was essential to building strong bones and politicians’ fears of alienating voters an astounding 16.6 percent increase from getting enough vitamin D—falsehoods that in the heartland—ensures its political 2013—and industry research forecasts that are still pervasive today. Because of the influence. The subsidization of dairy by the vegan cheese market will only continue dairy industry’s long-standing financial the government is evident in the USDA’s to surge in the next five years. ties with the government, dairy has had massive marketing campaigns to boost “With non-dairy milk, you have an immense influence on the American milk and cheese sales, and the funneling complexity of taste, variety, and these consumer’s perception of health. Today, of dairy products into public school lunch incredibly creamy, amazing products,” that grip is finally slipping. programs across the country. These says Feria. Indeed, you might prefer one In 2004, the United States was the agricultural bailouts cost taxpayers about dairy-free milk in your coffee, another over world’s third-largest dairy-product $20 billion a year, which is especially your cereal, and yet another straight from exporter, right behind New Zealand and appalling considering how harmful these the glass. Dairy, by comparison, has seen the European Union. But by 2015, things products are to consumers’ health. Luckily, few innovations. began to change, and dairy exports consumers are finally demanding a As plant-based products continue to dropped by nearly 30 percent as demand healthier, more ethical option. catch on, the smartest dairy producers tumbled. Two years later, sales of animal adapt before it’s too late. Many dairy milk had decreased by another 4.5 percent, Shifting market farmers in California have shifted to with consumer reports predicting the From soy to almond to pea protein, growing almonds. After Dean Foods consumption of dairy to fall another 11 plant-based milks are unquestionably showed a 91-percent drop in profits in 2017, percent by 2020. in vogue. “There’s not that many people the dairy brand invested in flax-based Instead of slowing its production, who would say, ‘Hey, at the end of a hard vegan brand Good Karma Foods. And the dairy industry has relied on the day, I just really want to sit down and Danone’s 2017 acquisition of Silk and So government to bail it out of its surplus. have cows’ milk,’” says Lisa Feria, CEO Delicious’ parent company WhiteWave Farmers purge millions of gallons of excess of Stray Dog Capital, a leading venture Foods is another notable sign of the milk by dumping it into manure lagoons, capitalist firm that invests in plant-based evolving market. fields, and mixing it into animal feed, dairy companies including Kite Hill and But there’s perhaps no better example and in a single year, the US Department Miyoko’s Kitchen. of the ascent of plant-based milks than of Agriculture spent $20 million to buy Staggering statistics back her claims. the company Elmhurst Milked, known for VEGNEWS.COM VegNews 31 almost a century as Elmhurst Dairy. The bill say this would preserve the supposed Milked dry 92-year-old company was the largest dairy “nutritional standards” associated with That more and more consumers are producer in New York, but owner Henry dairy and minimize “consumer confusion.” demanding almond milk in their Schwartz saw the writing on the wall, and Opponents say the act’s intent is to deal cappuccinos is obvious—and not just in transitioned it to an animal-free company. a blow to the dairy-free industry, aiming urban centers. “You can walk into any “His family was in the dairy business for to lower sales, gaslight buyers, and tie Starbucks nowadays and add some soy a long time, but he realized there needed up smaller companies in lawsuits. The milk or coconut milk to your drink,” notes to be a shift into the plant-based sphere for legislation would also force dairy-free Grossman. Consumers are choosing non- both ethical and environmental reasons,” companies to redesign labels and could dairy alternatives for the taste and their says Dr. Cheryl Mitchell, Elmhurst’s encourage removal of plant-based dairy health, but also because they care about Senior Vice President of Ingredient alternatives from the coveted real estate of animal welfare and the environmental Manufacturing. “Henry himself was the dairy aisle. impact of the dairy industry. pushing toward realizing he had to live “It certainly raises very serious For animals, dairy’s downfall certainly more of a vegan lifestyle and figured, ‘well, constitutional issues in terms of the First can’t come soon enough; it’s said there’s if I’m pushing in this direction, everybody Amendment,” says Dr. Joanna Grossman, more animal suffering in a glass of milk else probably is.’” The company currently Senior Policy Specialist at advocacy than in a steak. Cows used for dairy are distributes its new line of milks throughout firm The Good Food Institute (GFI). Her forcefully and artificially inseminated the country, and Mitchell says she’s in talks organization provides marketing and to be kept pregnant and lactating with Chinese markets, who know vegan legal support to early-stage companies throughout their lifetimes. Those born milks are the only sustainable answer to producing lab-grown and plant-based with one or more extra teats, which is not the country’s growing population. products, and has been fighting the Dairy uncommon, often endure amputations Meanwhile, the dairy industry is Pride Act since it was first proposed. by farmers so that their udders are better struggling to maintain its grip on a While the act argues that using words suited for milking machines. The dairy declining industry, fighting against the such as “milk” and “ice cream” on vegan industry forces cows to produce four times odds for survival. While some smaller products is misleading, GFI says these the milk they would naturally, which often companies adapt, Big Dairy—and its terms actually help provide clarity to leads to a painful infection called mastitis. countless Washington lobbyists—scramble consumers. Despite the dairy lobby’s Although a cow’s natural lifespan is up to maintain dominance. considerable influence, Grossman is to 25 years, cows on dairy farms die from optimistic. “No reasonable consumer is exhaustion or slaughter at an average age Desperate dairy deceived by these terms. And even if there of four. Leaders of the US dairy industry, headed up was any confusion, you could easily refer to While eating meat tends to get all the by Wisconsin senator Tammy Baldwin, are the nutrition labels to understand exactly attention as a driver of climate change, backing the proposed Dairy Pride Act—an what this product is.” dairy also requires an immense amount acronym for Defending Against Imitations In order to fight back, GFI filed an of land, energy, and methane-producing and Replacements of Yogurt, Milk, and official petition with the Food and Drug cows—and that means trouble for our Cheese to Promote Regular Intake of Dairy Administration. Grossman suggests that environment. And the health impacts Everyday Act. The proposed legislation supporters of plant-based products sign it of dairy products are just as startling. aims to prohibit plant-based products from and contact their representatives to voice Not only do 87 percent of dietitians being sold under names used by the dairy their opposition to the act—and to the in the American Dietetic Association industry. Ostensibly, proponents of the continuing subsidization of dairy products. recommend a plant-based diet to some PEANUT MILK OAT MILK Made by Elmhurst Milked, this legume- Wildly popular in the United Alt Milk based milk is one of the first peanut Kingdom, Oatly’s oat milk is revered Soy and almond are far varieties on the market. for its thick consistency, and is slowly from the only plant milks making its way into American cafés. on the shelf. Here are some of today’s innovative milks made from brand- new ingredients. 32 VegNews JULY+AUGUST 2018 or most of their patients, but the Harvard Dairy-free future School of Public Health actually removed Plant-based milk isn’t the only alternative dairy products from its Healthy Eating on the block. Less is known about clean Milk Maladies Plate after finding that three glasses of dairy (lab-produced milk created to mimic These statistics prove once and for whole milk have as much saturated fat as dairy on a near-molecular level) when all that milk does no body good. 13 strips of cooked bacon. compared to clean meat, but a new crop Many people also lack the enzyme of startups and investors are working to needed to break down cows’ milk without change that. The increased risk side effects. Virtually anyone who isn’t Using fermentation, Perfect Day Foods of breast cancer of European descent has difficulty aims to grow and extract milk proteins among women digesting dairy, since it was brought to the from a specially programmed yeast who eat meat and majority of the world relatively recently, to create clean dairy milk that boasts dairy products leaving little time for genetics to adapt.

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