Sustainable Dairy. Music to Our Ears.
Dairy provides nearly
20% of the protein in American diets
and more than
50% of our calcium and vitamin D
for just
2% of the U.S. carbon footprint
Big Nutrient Bang
Milk provides more than 10% of your daily value of thirteen essential nutrients, including 8 grams of high-quality protein, at about 25 cents per glass. That’s a game changer – especially for children experiencing food insecurity.
Shrinking Carbon Footprint
The dairy industry has reduced its carbon footprint by 19% since 2007. Dairy farmers are personally invested in protecting their land and animals, because 95% of American dairy farms are owned by families, and most live right there on the farm.
A gallon of milk is now produced with 30% less water and 21% less land than it was in 2007.1
About 80% of a cow’s diet is not consumable by humans – things like cottonseed hulls, which they turn into nutritious dairy foods.1
Many dairy farmers also:
- Protect the air with special odor-reducing cow diets and air filtration systems
- Reuse cow manure as crop fertilizer
- Convert manure into electricity using methane digesters
- Follow strict environmental standards set by multiple government agencies
More about dairy environmentalists.
Industry Feeding Community
Local dairy farmers directly combat hunger by supporting programs like these:
- Breakfast in the Classroom helps qualifying schools offer all students a free or discounted breakfast by providing equipment and support that fight hunger, stigma-free.
Choose real dairy – for your health and the planet’s.
Meet the farmers who make it all possible in our Dairy Up Close docuseries.
Reference:
- Capper JL, Cady RA. The effects of improved performance in the U.S. dairy cattle industry on environmental impacts between 2007 and 2017. J. AnimSci. 2019
