Herbal Myths Pt 2

From the Ag Information Network, I’m Bob Larson. Plant-based beverages that market themselves as “milk” aren’t the reason cow’s milk consumption is down.

Alan Bjerga (BEER-guh), senior vice president of communications at the National Federation of Dairy Producers, says that despite the narrative being pushed by plant-based beverage producers in the media, dairy is still going strong…

BJERGA… “Dairy products remain dominant, outselling sales by more than 10 to 1. And that’s no big surprise, but if you read some of this media coverage over the past few years, you would think that the cows were about to disappear. And, you know, I’ve been driving on country roads recently and I think the cows are alive and well.

So, there really is very little comparison between plant-based drinks and dairy products…

BJERGA… “I think you hit the nail on the head with your characterization of, you know, what has really been the lie for the past few years. You know, why do people compare plant-based and dairy products to begin with? Because plant-based drinks came along and started to be called milk.

Bjerga says it all happened at the expense of dairy…

BJERGA… “They basically came into this business, latched onto a health halo so they could convince people that their sugar water was that healthy alternative too.

You know, they try to take the good parts of the reputation of dairy products and then they will try to attack other parts and it’s all about gaining market share. »

Bjerga says the news of declining sales of plant-based drinks should be reported with as much force as the distortion used to denigrate dairy products.