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Our Work

Making the U.S. Dietary Guidelines More Equitable

Every five years, a new Dietary Guidelines Advisory Committee is formed to revise the Guidelines. In 2020, we asked for soy milk to be added as a “nutritionally equivalent” alternative to cow’s milk, because it has a similar macro- and micronutrient profile. And we won!

We are raising the stakes for 2025 and asking for dairy to be demoted from its own category and instead placed in the protein group. This will re-balance the overall recommendation and help people understand they do not need to consume cow’s milk to be healthy.

Actions

  • Testified twice before the Dietary Guidelines Advisory Committee and all attendees at the public meeting.
  • Galvanized followers to flood public comments with demands to remove dairy from the Guidelines.

Impact

  • In 2020, we won. The 2020-2025 US Dietary Guidelines include soy milk as “nutritionally equivalent” to cow’s milk—with this language prominent in the dairy food group.
  • We made history by generating 20,000 public comments in just 10 days—27% of the total—demanding dairy’s removal from the Guidelines.

Next Steps

  • We need your help! Our goal is 25,000 comments submitted asking for dairy to be removed as its own category.
  • You can submit your comment here. Please share with your network to help us make this historic change!
 

Fighting Dietary Racism In Our Nation’s Schools

The USDA mandates a carton of cow’s milk on every school lunch tray for 30 million kids at a cost of $1 billion. However, 29% of the cartons are thrown in the garbage by kids who are made sick by milk—mainly children of color—wasting over 300 million taxpayer dollars.

In 2020—after we spearheaded a massive public awareness and activism campaign—the USDA added soy milk to the US Dietary Guidelines as “nutritionally equivalent” to cow’s milk. But nutritional equivalency and cafeteria availability are not the same thing, and schools have been unable to make soy milk readily available.

In May 2023, in collaboration with Animal Wellness Action and the Center for a Humane Economy, we guided Representatives Troy Carter, D-La. and Nancy Mace, R-S.C. to introduce H.R 1619, the Addressing Digestive Distress in Stomachs of Our Youth (ADD SOY) Act in the U.S. House of Representatives. In September 2023, ADD SOY was also introduced in the Senate by Senators John Fetterman, D-Pa, Cory Booker, D-N.J., and John Kennedy, R-La as S.2943. Under the Bill, the USDA would reimburse schools for purchasing soy milk, just as they do for cow’s milk. The bill would also support many Midwest farmers; soybeans are one of the biggest and most important agricultural crops in the U.S., with more than 500,000 producers.

If passed, the ADD SOY Act would end the Federal Milk Mandate in public schools and provide kids a healthier choice in the school lunchroom. You can see a brief floor speech from Rep. Carter here.

Actions

  • Pressured USDA to recognize soy milk as “nutritionally equivalent to dairy milk” in 2020 US Dietary Guidelines.
  • Petitioned Agriculture Secretary Vilsack to redress longstanding systemic inequities in National School Lunch Program (NSLP).
  • Galvanized all 50 members of the Congressional Black Caucus and the Asian and Pacific Islander Caucus to support our measure.
  • Worked with Reps. Troy Carter, D-La. and Nancy Mace, R-S.C. to present H.R 1619, the Addressing Digestive Distress in Stomachs of Our Youth (ADD SOY) Act to the US House of Representatives.
  • Ran targeted advertising and social media campaigns, aimed at congressional stakeholders, policy influencers, and their personal and professional networks.

Impact

  • Soy milk added to US Dietary Guidelines as nutritionally equivalent to cow’s milk.
  • Spearhead introduction of ADD SOY Act to U.S. House of Representatives and Senate.

Next Steps

Build grassroots support for the ADD SOY Act by empowering our supporters with a petition form to request co-sponsorship from their local Representative and Senators.

Showing Clinicians and Parents the Dark Side Of Dairy

For decades, families have been taught that cow’s milk is an essential component of a healthy diet. But dairy can be the root cause of numerous health problems—especially in children. However, these conditions often go undiagnosed while children suffer from entirely avoidable symptoms. Approximately 68% of the global population is lactose intolerant; and cow’s milk allergy is now the most common form of fatal food allergies in schoolchildren. Removing dairy from kids’ diets eliminates gastrointestinal distress and other harmful effects of dairy consumption.

Parents often fear that eliminating dairy will leave their child malnourished, which is understandable considering Big Dairy’s incessant propaganda. But well-trained, well-resourced healthcare professionals can be a powerful source of education and reassurance for concerned parents. That’s where we come in.

We are bridging the gap by delivering our dairy-free message through trusted healthcare providers.

Actions

  • Launched KiDS (kids & dairy symptoms), a focused, multi-year initiative to educate dietitians, pediatricians, and parents about the negative health effects of dairy.
  • Developed a dedicated website and resource hub here: KiDS.
  • Recruited several dietitians and pediatricians as Clinical Champions to spearhead our educational and awareness-building activities (see below).
  • Mailed out information packets, posters, and patient-facing flyers to over 3,000 pediatrician’s offices and conducted telephone and email follow-up to generate awareness and interest.

Impact

As a new initiative for 2024, there are no hard metrics to report at this point. However, as a long-term investment with a focus mission. We fully expect KiDS to gain momentum over the next 12-24 months with deep penetration into the professional dietetics and pediatrics communities within the US—and possibly beyond.

Next Steps

  • Make KiDS the go-to source for any healthcare provider or parent looking for information on children’s health and dairy products.
  • Leverage the knowledge and experience of our KiDS Clinical Champions to create a network of practicing clinicians who understand the dangers of dairy and are motivated to help parents.
  • Develop continuing education courses for pediatric clinicians so we can reach a wider audience and their patients.
  • Build mindshare with key dietitian and pediatrician communities. 
  • Launch a robust set of educational initiatives with Today’s Dietitian including sponsored content, targeted eBlasts, and a full complement of activations surrounding their annual CME Symposium in Salt Lake City in May 2024.

Fighting For Social justice Through Dietary Equity

Our Justice Cup campaign highlights a blatant case of systemic racial discrimination that’s as common as a cup of coffee. Most people of color cannot digest cow’s milk. Yet Starbucks charges up to $2 extra for non-dairy milk. This is dietary racism, even if the racism is unintentional. 

So, in December 2021, we partnered with The Yes Men to mount a “brandjacking” campaign, starting with a spoof Starbucks press release, announcing that the company had eliminated the non-dairy surcharge and was instead charging extra for drinks made with cow’s milk. The story quickly got traction in the media—and guess what? Less than three weeks after we launched the Justice Cup campaign, Starbucks dropped the non-dairy surcharge in the UK, followed by Chile, France, and several other European nations.

By the way, if you haven’t heard the news, both Starbucks and Dunkin’ are involved in class action lawsuits brought by customers who have been harmed by the chains’ non-dairy surcharge.

Actions

  • Launched a multi-channel campaign including spoof announcements, reveal video (claiming responsibility), and Dietary Racism explainer video.
  • After Starbucks UK dropped the surcharge, we published an Open Letter in the Seattle Times urging Starbucks to follow suit in the US.
  • Crafted micro-targeted digital and social ad campaigns, aimed at key decision-makers, thought leaders, and their personal and professional networks.
  • Ran a C-Suite charm offensive, targeting Starbucks executives and board members with personal pleas for them to do the right thing.
  • Partnered with Chef Babette to deliver a passionate, personal plea directly to then CEO Howard Schultz.
  • Repeated the C-suite charm offensive when Laxman Narasimhan became CEO in April 2023.
  • Mounted guerrilla activism campaigns—including paying customers’ non-dairy surcharge—at select California and New York stores in Fall 2023 and January 2024.

Impact

  • Starbucks in the UK, Chile, France, Germany, Austria, and the Netherlands all dropped the non-dairy milk surcharge.
  • Mainstream media credited Switch4Good for catalyzing the policy change in the UK.
  • Reached over 50 million consumers through traditional media alone—and millions more on social media.
  • Injected the term “dietary racism” into the national lexicon.

Next Steps

  • Lobby CEO Laxman Narasimhan directly with an alternate pricing plan proposal whereby Starbucks could eliminate the surcharge, still cover their costs, and do the right thing from a dietary justice and environmental stewardship perspective.
  • Keep up the pressure until Starbucks eliminates the non-dairy surcharge globally.

If Starbucks remains intransigent, we have something truly dramatic up our sleeves for Q2 2024. 

WATCH THIS SPACE!

Exposing the Deadly Truth About Cow’s Milk

A landmark study, published in the British Medical Journal in 2021, came to the startling conclusion that cow’s milk was now the most common cause of fatal food allergy in schoolchildren. The study generated a flurry of interest in the medical media before quietly disappearing, like so many studies that question the wholesomeness of dairy products. So, we decided to revive it, with a vengeance.

In October & November 2023, we purchased billboards in Atlanta and LA, drawing attention to these alarming findings. We published a dedicated website where we pointed out how everybody knows about peanuts and other fatal food allergens while hardly anyone seems to know that cow’s milk is a more dangerous killer!

We tried running billboards with even more provocative messaging (see image below). But not only did the three largest Outdoor companies in the US reject our creative, one went so far as to say—in writing—“we will not accept any anti-dairy messaging.” At least they are honest about their business practices, unlike the dairy industry itself.

The “Fatal Food Allergy” campaign was a continuation of the Killer Milk campaign we launched in January 2023, spoofing the 2018 Milk Life campaign, “9 out of 10 US Olympians grew up drinking milk.” We showed how Big Dairy borrows from the tobacco industry’s playbook, using junk science and slick marketing to hide the fact that their product is a stone-cold killer.

Actions

  • Launched two aggressive “Outdoor” campaigns with billboards, wild posters, Public Relations, and social media blitzes.
  • Published a comprehensive website, killermilk.com, detailing all the ways that milk is a killer.

Impact

  • Garnered over 40 million impressions across all marketing channels—and we are still adding thousands more impressions every week.
  • Exposed the depth of Big Dairy’s control of public media by unearthing the BMJ study and forcing an admission from a big-three Outdoor firm that they won’t accept anti-dairy messaging.

Next Steps

Keep up the pressure on Big Dairy and its corporate and regulatory enablers with a third iteration of Killer Milk to launch mid-2024.

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