A recent article on a New Zealand news website discusses the
high level of water
use in the country’s dairy production.
Agricultural economist Peter Fraser and farm consultant Dr.
Alison Dewes claim that there are 12,000 dairy herds in New Zealand consuming
around 4.8 billion cubic meters of water. Experts say that’s equivalent to
the water use of 60 million people, or the combined populations of London, New
York, Tokyo, Los Angeles, and Rio de Janeiro.
An article in Mother Jones
reported that it takes 30 gallons of water to make one glass of milk, 50
gallons of water to make two slices of cheese, and a whopping 109 gallons of
water to make one stick of butter.
Furthermore, the Food and Agriculture Organization of the
United Nations found that carbon dioxide emissions from raising farmed animals
make up about 15 percent of global human-induced emissions, with beef and milk
production as the leading culprits.
But dairy is not only unsustainable; it’s also unspeakably cruel.
At dairy factory farms, cows are treated as mere milk-producing machines. They
are forcibly impregnated and kept in terrible conditions. Calves are torn away from
their mothers shortly after birth. Male calves are killed for veal. Females are
forced into the dairy herd, trapped in a cycle of abuse for years until they
are considered “spent and sent to slaughter.
Heartbreaking, right? Just watch this undercover video from
a Mercy For Animals investigation.
Join the millions of people who are boycotting this terrible
industry by ditching dairy and other animal products and switching to a
compassionate vegan diet. Click here to get started!