Photo credit: https://thesustainabilist.ae/sustainability-from-cow-to-cup/

Early in my career, I was told to never bring up politics or religion. It is easy to understand why you would want to avoid conflict, but what I have never understood is how sustainability and the environment is a political, and to some, a religious topic.

I grew up loving the natural environment, with activities ranging from spending lazy weekends by the lake to organizing technology free backpacking trips in the mountains. Sustainability to me is a way to protect the natural habitat that has provided so much rejuvenation and substance in my own life.

Understandably, we can disagree about which resources need to be preserved and how to best go about doing it. In dairy, this conflict is heightened by social media. It shocks me when I see videos where cows are abused or read articles saying that dairy professionals are not concerned with public health. These voices are especially concerning when they come from people who haven’t even visited a farm or don’t understand the layers of regulations to which dairy plants must comply.

Based off my experiences visiting farms and dairy plants, many are already integrating a lot of sustainable actions that haven’t captured the attention of the general public. Initiatives range from developing closed system farms, developing onsite digestors, recycling water and reducing plastic use in packaging to eliminating product waste or reducing potential recalls and wasted product.

Sustainability commitments on corporate levels within many industries are helping build public awareness. Regarding dairy, it is our individual and industry wide responsibility to help build awareness by highlighting those sustainability actions that we see daily.

Sustainability is already redefining our industry. Let’s help give those efforts the recognition they deserve.

By Anne Bigalke
VP of International Markets, QualiTru Sampling Systems
anne@qualitru.com   Follow Anne on LinkedIn