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Every day, mother cows are forcibly impregnated and their babies are snatched away, before facing their untimely, terrifying slaughter — all so the dairy industry can take their milk. Now, a misleading bill threatens to expand this merciless system by pushing full-fat milk on kids in schools, totally ignoring the harm it causes to animals and students alike. Urge Congress to oppose this bill and demand that schools protect animal and child health.
 

Here's what the dairy industry doesn't want you to know.

Animal cruelty is at the core of dairy production. Mother dairy cows arguably suffer even more than cows slaughtered for beef. They are forced to give birth over and over so farmers can take and sell their milk.

Babies are torn away from their mothers — a traumatic experience for both. Males are viewed as waste. Since they don't produce milk, they are killed within days or sent for confinement in torturous veal crates for 3-4 months, barely able to move until slaughtered. Once the mothers' milk production declines, they are slaughtered too, years before their natural lifespan. Their flesh is often used as hamburger meat.

Dairy disproportionately harms children of color. The majority of African American, Asian, Hispanic, and Native American children are lactose intolerant. Pushing kids to consume dairy at school causes pain, bloating, diarrhea, and nausea — clear signs that we're not meant to consume another species' breast milk. Worldwide, about 68% of people are lactose intolerant.

Dairy harms children's health. Whole milk is high in saturated fat, which increases the risk of childhood obesity, type 2 diabetes, heart disease, and certain cancers. That's why public health groups like the Physicians Committee for Responsible Medicine, the American Heart Association, and the Center for Science in the Public Interest also oppose this bill.

Dairy is fueling ecological destruction. Just like the meat industry, dairy is a major contributor to greenhouse gas emissions, water pollution, and land destruction. Switching to plant-based options can cut a person's food-related carbon footprint by up to 73%.

Kids don't need cow's milk to thrive. Fortified plant milks and well-balanced plant-based meals provide all the essential nutrients kids need for healthy growth and development. Regressive policies like this one create a captive market that pushes milk on children and their parents.

While the Whole Milk for Healthy Kids Act moves toward its goal of rolling back the U.S. Department of Agriculture's limits on whole milk in schools, students and lawmakers are speaking up.

Student activist Marielle Williamson successfully challenged her school's policy restricting the promotion of plant-based milk, exposing the dairy lobby's grip on school food policies.

Forward-thinking Senator Cory Booker introduced the Freedom in School Cafeterias and Lunches (FISCAL) Act, which would let schools offer plant-based milk without requiring a doctor's note.

Another positive bill under consideration is the Healthy Future Students and Earth Pilot Program Act supports plant-based meals and nondairy milk in schools, prioritizing underserved communities.

It's time to reject the Whole Milk for Healthy Kids Act.

Urge your members of Congress to reject this cruel bill and instead advance measures that prioritize plant-based nutrition and kids' well-being over profits. While these policies promote human health, they also invite an urgent ethical reckoning that challenges a profit-driven industry that exploits, torments, and kills animals while jeopardizing children's well-being and the planet. We must and can do better.

Letter to Decision Maker(s) for reference:

Subject: Oppose the Whole Milk for Healthy Kids Act: Protect Children, Animals, and the Planet

As one of 250,000 supporters of In Defense of Animals, and children and the environment, I urge you to oppose the Whole Milk for Healthy Kids Act. It threatens the health of children by promoting full-fat milk in schools, despite clear evidence linking it to childhood obesity, diabetes, and heart disease. Children deserve access to nutritious, nondairy alternatives that support their well-being.

Many children, especially those who are lactose intolerant, including African American, Asian, Hispanic, and Native American youth, experience symptoms like bloating, pain, and nausea from dairy consumption.

This bill also ignores the devastating environmental impact of dairy production. Like the meat industry, dairy production drives deforestation, land degradation, water pollution, and methane emissions, which are major contributors to the climate crisis. Supporting full-fat milk in schools means endorsing a system that harms the planet children will inherit.

Beyond health and environmental concerns, this legislation upholds a cruel industry where mother cows endure forced impregnation, separation from their calves, and slaughter. Male calves are slaughtered too because they don’t produce milk.

Please reject the Whole Milk for Healthy Kids Act. Instead, support measures like the Healthy Future Students and Earth Pilot Program Act, the FISCAL Act, and the transition to an animal-free, plant-based food system that protects children’s health, the environment, and animals.

Thank you for considering this crucial issue.

Sincerely,

Signed

This alert is no longer active, but here for reference. Animals still need your help.