You won’t believe what the dairy industry did with your tax money by Earthling Ed Lyrics
In the midst of our current global pandemic, the dairy industry here in the UK has launched a new campaign called "Milk Your Moments," a campaign encouraging people to purchase and consume more dairy products.
The cost of the campaign is one million pounds, but 500,000 pound of that has come from the UK government, meaning that the UK taxpayers have paid for half of the promotional campaign. Our taxpayers money, during a crisis where charities are desperately crowdfunding online to provide food for the most vulnerable people during this time, has been spent on social media and TV adverts promoting the dairy industry. In fact, the UK taxpayer has spent more money on the campaign than the AHDB, a levy board funded by farmers and growers. How can it be right? The British public is spending more money on a campaign promoting the dairy industry than the dairy industry themselves, who will profit from this.
Whereas in most sectors, the bulk of income is constituted by sales of goods and services in the market, for the farming sector, over half of total farming income comes from subsidies. In fact, every single year, billions of pounds are given to animal farmers in the UK to keep them afloat.
We may see the price of milk in a supermarket and believe it to be cheap, but this is a false economy as the price to the taxpayer is tremendous. Billions, in fact. Pass the "Milk Your Moment" is centered around people sharing the moments in their life where they drink cow's milk, such as having a cup of tea or coffee with a loved one or catching up with a friend. But of course a moment like this isn't defined by our consumption of cow's milk, but instead by the human connection of spending time with a loved one.
Which is why we have decided at Surge to encourage anyone who drinks plant-based milks to share your plant-based milk moment online by uploading an image using the hashtag #milkyourmoments because human connection does not need to come at the consequence of animal suffering. Nor does it need to come at the consequence of extorting the taxpayer. When you post your photo, tag three of your friends who you think should be drinking plant-based milk alternatives and tell them why in the description, they should make that switch.
Now as you can see here, I enjoy a nice cup of coffee with oat milk. Now oat milk can be easily produced in the UK. And by purchasing oat milk, I am supporting oat farmers and supporting a world that is healthier, more sustainable and of course, more ethical as well. And I'm not the only one who feels this way. In fact, in the UK, oat milk sales increased by 71% in 2019 alone. And a report last year, showed that 23% of Britains are now using plant-based milk alternatives. This was coupled with a 6% decrease in dairy consumption in the 16 to 24-year-old age category, where now only 73% drink cow's milk. Overall, there's been a 50% reduction in liquid milk consumption per capita in the UK in the past 50 years.
Things are changing and we believe that dairy farmers can be a part of that change too. Throughout the pandemic, we have seen farmers pouring millions of liters of milk away, but we believe that there is no point crying over spilled milk. Which is why we are teaming up with Refarm'd, an organization that helps dairy farmers transition to plant-based milk production instead, ensuring they are able to keep their livelihoods in agriculture, but do so in a way that is more beneficial for them, the animals, and the planet. We're asking farmers to download the information pack on our website that outlines all of the reasons for them to make that change and includes information from farmers who've already made that change.
However, we need your help as well because the best way to help animal farmers transition to plant-based agriculture is through the government helping farmers with the costs of that transition through change in the way that our tax money is spent subsidizing the industry. So please, add your name to the petition to demand a reform of how our money is spent and to help farmers either transition to plant-based agriculture, diversify their production to produce more crops for human consumption or to rewild and reforest our land instead.
Not only would this change help farmers, the planet and the animals, but it would also help us and society in general. As a piece of research from Oxford University concluded that eating meat no more than three times a week would prevent 31,000 deaths from heart disease. 9,000 deaths from cancer and 5,000 deaths from strokes each year, as well as saving the NHS
1.2 billion pounds. However, if we stopped eating animal products altogether, tens of thousands more lives would be saved as well as hundreds of millions of pounds for the NHS, not to mention the billion land animals and billions of marine animals who are killed each year for the animal products that we consume in the UK.
On top of this, we have an open letter signed by doctors, scientists and other leading experts calling on the government not only to consider the petition, but to implement the changes required to protect the animals, the environment and farmers livelihoods as well as us, and wider society. There is a future that exists more harmoniously for all of us, where taxpayers money is spent more effectively and fairly, where animal exploitation is eliminated, where the environment is better protected, and where farmer's livelihoods are more secure. And together we can make that future a reality.
Milk, this is your moment.
Your moment to change.
The cost of the campaign is one million pounds, but 500,000 pound of that has come from the UK government, meaning that the UK taxpayers have paid for half of the promotional campaign. Our taxpayers money, during a crisis where charities are desperately crowdfunding online to provide food for the most vulnerable people during this time, has been spent on social media and TV adverts promoting the dairy industry. In fact, the UK taxpayer has spent more money on the campaign than the AHDB, a levy board funded by farmers and growers. How can it be right? The British public is spending more money on a campaign promoting the dairy industry than the dairy industry themselves, who will profit from this.
Whereas in most sectors, the bulk of income is constituted by sales of goods and services in the market, for the farming sector, over half of total farming income comes from subsidies. In fact, every single year, billions of pounds are given to animal farmers in the UK to keep them afloat.
We may see the price of milk in a supermarket and believe it to be cheap, but this is a false economy as the price to the taxpayer is tremendous. Billions, in fact. Pass the "Milk Your Moment" is centered around people sharing the moments in their life where they drink cow's milk, such as having a cup of tea or coffee with a loved one or catching up with a friend. But of course a moment like this isn't defined by our consumption of cow's milk, but instead by the human connection of spending time with a loved one.
Which is why we have decided at Surge to encourage anyone who drinks plant-based milks to share your plant-based milk moment online by uploading an image using the hashtag #milkyourmoments because human connection does not need to come at the consequence of animal suffering. Nor does it need to come at the consequence of extorting the taxpayer. When you post your photo, tag three of your friends who you think should be drinking plant-based milk alternatives and tell them why in the description, they should make that switch.
Now as you can see here, I enjoy a nice cup of coffee with oat milk. Now oat milk can be easily produced in the UK. And by purchasing oat milk, I am supporting oat farmers and supporting a world that is healthier, more sustainable and of course, more ethical as well. And I'm not the only one who feels this way. In fact, in the UK, oat milk sales increased by 71% in 2019 alone. And a report last year, showed that 23% of Britains are now using plant-based milk alternatives. This was coupled with a 6% decrease in dairy consumption in the 16 to 24-year-old age category, where now only 73% drink cow's milk. Overall, there's been a 50% reduction in liquid milk consumption per capita in the UK in the past 50 years.
Things are changing and we believe that dairy farmers can be a part of that change too. Throughout the pandemic, we have seen farmers pouring millions of liters of milk away, but we believe that there is no point crying over spilled milk. Which is why we are teaming up with Refarm'd, an organization that helps dairy farmers transition to plant-based milk production instead, ensuring they are able to keep their livelihoods in agriculture, but do so in a way that is more beneficial for them, the animals, and the planet. We're asking farmers to download the information pack on our website that outlines all of the reasons for them to make that change and includes information from farmers who've already made that change.
However, we need your help as well because the best way to help animal farmers transition to plant-based agriculture is through the government helping farmers with the costs of that transition through change in the way that our tax money is spent subsidizing the industry. So please, add your name to the petition to demand a reform of how our money is spent and to help farmers either transition to plant-based agriculture, diversify their production to produce more crops for human consumption or to rewild and reforest our land instead.
Not only would this change help farmers, the planet and the animals, but it would also help us and society in general. As a piece of research from Oxford University concluded that eating meat no more than three times a week would prevent 31,000 deaths from heart disease. 9,000 deaths from cancer and 5,000 deaths from strokes each year, as well as saving the NHS
1.2 billion pounds. However, if we stopped eating animal products altogether, tens of thousands more lives would be saved as well as hundreds of millions of pounds for the NHS, not to mention the billion land animals and billions of marine animals who are killed each year for the animal products that we consume in the UK.
On top of this, we have an open letter signed by doctors, scientists and other leading experts calling on the government not only to consider the petition, but to implement the changes required to protect the animals, the environment and farmers livelihoods as well as us, and wider society. There is a future that exists more harmoniously for all of us, where taxpayers money is spent more effectively and fairly, where animal exploitation is eliminated, where the environment is better protected, and where farmer's livelihoods are more secure. And together we can make that future a reality.
Milk, this is your moment.
Your moment to change.