Food Empowerment Project Announces New Anti-Dairy Literature

SAN JOSÉ, CA (January 11, 2022) — Food Empowerment Project (F.E.P.), a vegan food justice organization, is pleased to announce the release today of its new anti-dairy booklet "One Glass at a Time." Today, January 11, is the date that the U.S. dairy industry observes as National Milk Day. The eight-page booklet examines not only how animals are harmed for milk production but how the dairy industry hurts the environment and workers, as well as its role in colonization and environmental racism.

Anyone can order "One Glass at a Time" for free by visiting GotColonization.org and clicking on “Order Booklet.”

“Although most people believe that cows do not suffer in the dairy industry, the reality is they are treated like commodities and are forced to endure tremendous cruelty for their entire lives,” said lauren Ornelas, F.E.P.’s founder and president. “For National Milk Day, we encourage consumers to visit our site, order a free booklet, and learn how purchasing dairy products impacts animals, humans, and the planet—and see how they can make a difference, one glass at a time.”

Perhaps the least understood effect of dairy production is colonization. Despite the inability of most people to digest the milk of another species—a condition that F.E.P. refers to as “lactose normal” rather than “lactose intolerance”—dairy foods have been forced upon the diets of many cultures through colonization. European settlers to the “New World,” for example, brought with them lactating animals such as cows and goats, disrupting the primarily plant-based diets of the Indigenous people of North America and often altering or even undoing the breastfeeding relationship between both human and nonhuman females and their babies.

As for cows used in the dairy industry, each one is repeatedly impregnated through artificial insemination, and her calf—with whom she instinctively forms a strong bond—is taken away soon after birth so that her milk can be sold for human consumption. Cows also suffer such mutilations as tail docking and dehorning, generally without pain killers. After enduring multiple impregnations, births, and forcible separations from her calves, cows used for dairy are killed at about five years old, which is a fraction of their natural lifespan of 20 years or more.

Dairy production also has a significant effect on climate change due to emissions of such greenhouse gases as methane, carbon dioxide, and nitrous oxide and takes a substantial toll on the health of our air, water, and soil. Meanwhile, locating dairies near Black, Brown, and Indigenous communities is a form of environmental racism, which is the disproportionate impact of environmental hazards on people of color.

Workers on dairy farms are affected as well and face numerous health risks; indeed the industry has one of the highest rates of human injuries and fatalities within agriculture. And as many of them are immigrants, these workers are especially exploitable and vulnerable to abuse by their employers.

“We are excited to offer a booklet that makes the connection between animals used for dairy, the environment, humans, and colonization,” added Ornelas. “For people looking to make a real difference, moving away from milk and other dairy products is a great place to start.”

Please visit GotColonization.org for more information.

About Food Empowerment Project
Food Empowerment Project (http://www.foodispower.org), founded in 2007, seeks to create a more just and sustainable world by recognizing the power of one’s food choices. In all of its work, Food Empowerment Project seeks specifically to empower those with the fewest resources. Its advocacy areas include fair conditions for farm workers; the availability of healthy foods in Black, Brown, and Indigenous communities; and the protection of animals. A vegan food justice organization, Food Empowerment Project also works to expose negligent corporations, such as those that push unhealthy foods into low-income areas, those that perpetuate food deserts (or food apartheid areas), and those that sell chocolate derived from the worst forms of child labor. Food Empowerment Project is a registered 501(c)(3) nonprofit.

###