An open letter to Bernie sanders:
Stop propping up the dairy industry

Senator Sanders,

As a long-time Bernie supporter, animal rescuer and concerned citizen, I’m writing to ask for your support in transitioning away from the dairy and animal agriculture industries, and embracing a more humane and sustainable future for all.

Your unprecedented 2016 and 2020 campaigns have shaken the world, inspiring a massive grassroots movement to reimagine our power to create a better world. I believe this uniquely qualifies you to lead this kind of bold solution to elevate animals, marginalized peoples and the environment.

It is therefore all the more disappointing to see your decades-long history of protecting, rather than criticizing, the dairy industry. Examples include your amendment to a 2009 ag appropriations bill which provided $350 million in corporate welfare to the dairy industry, as well as your historic support of the farm bill, which in 2018 provided over $100 billion in animal ag subsidies while rejecting activist requests to prevent handouts to millionaires and billionaires.

You’ve also elevated major players like Ben and Jerry’s own Ben Cohen as your campaign co-chair. I have been to a dozen Ben and Jerry’s farms and seen firsthand the suffering behind dairy, including piles of dead mother and baby cows and shivering calves chained outside in below-freezing temperatures.

Modern animal agriculture, including the dairy industry, is a nightmare for animals, a toxic threat to the water and air of vulnerable communities, and an existential threat to all life on Earth.

• The dairy industry systemically subjects animals to psychological and physical trauma. On a typical dairy farm, mother cows are forcibly impregnated, then have their babies separated from them within hours after birth. The babies are then isolated in tiny hutches, exposed to the elements, and denied the affection they instinctively desire. Male calves in the dairy industry are often killed for veal at days or weeks old, while female calves are circulated back into a system of cruelty and exploitation before being killed once their milk production drops.

• As you rightfully discuss, animal farming produces massive amounts of waste, which create foul odors and pollute local waterways and air. These impacts hit low-income communities and communities of color particularly hard.

• Much like the fossil fuel industry which you rightfully criticize, dairy has been cited as a major contributor to climate change.

The dairy industry is faltering, now dependent on subsidies and bailouts to survive. With explosive growth in plant-based alternatives (soy milk, oat milk, etc), now is the time to stand for the #NotMeUs values for which we are all fighting.

• We must stand up for those who are most vulnerable -- like the lonely calf I met at a Vermont Ben and Jerry’s dairy farm, who cried out for me and suckled my fingers for comfort.

• We must demand accountability from powerful industries -- big oil, big pharma, and yes, big dairy -- rather than shielding and subsidizing them.

• We must fight for the next generation, confronting destructive industries which recklessly exacerbate the climate crisis.

• We must stand with working people -- not by doubling down on dated and dying industries, but transitioning to innovative alternatives which are better for all parties outside of the 1%.

We have the power to shift entire industries, inspire global action and lead on today’s most pressing issues. I ask you, as perhaps the future most powerful person in the world, to stand by the values that got you here by releasing a plan to transition away from dairy while investing in plant-based alternatives.

Sincerely,

Christina Liu

Investigator, Direct Action Everywhere (DxE)

“I have been to a dozen Ben and Jerry’s farms and seen firsthand the suffering behind dairy, including piles of dead mother and baby cows and shivering calves chained outside in below-freezing temperatures.”

-Christina Liu, Investigator, DxE