Earlier this week, the United States Senate signed a budget
agreement to hand over $1 billion
of taxpayer money to the dying dairy industry.
Supporters of the agreement say the money will be used for
programs to help the industry recover from falling dairy prices. A major cause
of this slump is the consumer shift away from dairy and toward healthier, more
responsible alternatives.
According to a 2013 USDA report, dairy consumption has been on the
decline for decades, with each generation consuming less milk than the one
before. In fact, dairy consumption has fallen a whopping 40 percent since 1970.
Sadly, the budget agreement isn’t the first time U.S. taxpayers
have been forced to bail out the dairy industry. In 2016, after a group of
legislators urged the USDA to help dairy farmers, the department bought 11
million pounds of cheese—20 million dollars’ worth—to reduce surplus
inventories.
Why does the U.S. government keep bailing out the dairy
industry? The answer is simple: It has a vested interest. You’ve probably never
heard of Dairy Management Incorporated, but this devious government-sponsored
marketing group’s sole mission is to push
consumption of dairy products in the U.S. and elsewhere.
It’s deplorable that our own government promotes an industry
so dangerous for consumers and our planet and so heartless to cows who suffer unimaginably at dairy farms.
Mercy For Animals investigations at dairy facilities
throughout the U.S. have documented a culture of cruelty and neglect. Cows used
in dairy production are treated as mere milk-producing machines, and their miserable
lives are filled with fear and pain.
See for yourself.