Sustainability

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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.

More about dairy nutrition.


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.

Find recipes.


Reference:

  1. 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