Great news for cows: A new report released by the USDA finds that milk consumption has fallen a whopping 40 percent since 1970. According to the report, “Between the 1977-78 and 2007-08 surveys, children’s consumption of fluid milk declined from an average of 1.7 cups to 1.2 cups per day, and milk consumption by teenagers and adults fell from 0.8 cups to 0.6 cups per day.”
The data shows that each generation is consuming less milk than those before. “Indeed, holding all other factors constant, the gradual replacement in the population of older generations by younger generations will exert downward pressure on Americans’ average consumption of fluid milk,” the researchers predicted.
This reduction in milk consumption corresponds to a decline in the demand for meat over the past five years, as more and more Americans have recognized the benefits of replacing animal products with healthy and humane plant-based alternatives.
Cows raised for milk suffer terribly, enduring repeated artificial insemination, separation from their babies at birth, and painful conditions, such as lameness and mastitis, that result in many of them becoming “downed” and unable to even walk onto the slaughter truck.
Whether it is to help animals, the environment, or your own health, or just because almond, soy, and other nondairy milks taste delicious, join the trend toward ditching dairy by visiting ChooseVeg.com.