#Febudairy Facing Severe Criticism on Social Media

Intimidated by the success of the vegan community’s online campaign to make January the month to try Veganism, dairy farmers are trying to revive diminishing sales of cow's milk with a social media initiative of their own. New hashtags in circulation on social media to combat “Veganuary” are called “Febudairy”. The hashtag is being used by farmers sharing cute pictures of animals and appetizing images of dairy—completely misleading the public.

#Febudairy is a marketing campaign hoping to increase “interest” (consumption) of all things cow. Initially, those who use and abuse cows thought up the hashtag in an effort to save the cruel industry, but vegans and other advocates for farmed animals have completely hijacked “Febudairy” to tell the public what really happens to cows and their babies.

Rather than sharing images of themselves enjoying cows’ flesh and bodily secretions (seriously, who thought that this was a good idea?), folks have been flooding social media with informative—and often downright hilarious—responses to the dairy industry’s propaganda:

"February is the month of St Valentine after all, so a little cow love can go a long way for us all."

From the mother cows who are slaughtered when their worn-out bodies decline to the babies who are taken from them and sold for veal—the dairy industry kills. If you oppose cruelty to animals, go vegan. With so many healthy, delicious alternatives available, like almond, cashew, hemp, rice, soy, and coconut milks, there’s absolutely no reason to consume cow’s milk.

This #Febudairy campaign initially launched in 2017 but gained little traction. This year, these "positive dairy" posts are being substantiated and censored by the vegan community. Vegans and animal rights activists around the world have created their own initiative with a month-long exposé of routine practices associated with the dairy industry and animals farming.

The dairy industry is in serious decline as plant-based, non-dairy alternatives soar in popularity. Society is slowly discovering not only the reality behind the production of dairy but its implications on the environment and our health.

Scrolling through the #Febudairy debate on social media, it is impossible to deny the controversial and contradicting "love" these farmers claim to display towards their animals.

Growing concern for the welfare of animals, our environment, and also our own health make the consumption of dairy questionable.

With so many plant-based alternatives stocking our supermarkets, There has never been a better time to #DitchDairy! Whether it’s an industrial scale factory farm or a family owned, small scale, organic farm; the process to produce cow’s milk is the same. A young female cow is routinely and forcefully artificially inseminated to produce a calf who is then born and torn away from her mother shortly after birth. This ensures the mother calf will produce her milk for humans instead of her baby calf it is meant for. When the mother is no longer able to keep up with the demand for production, she will be slaughtered at a fraction of her natural life-span and ground into low-grade hamburger meat.

When we are forced to rationalize the fact that farming animals means using and killing them for profit, an internal demand for more ethically sourced products arises within us. We are forced to question whether we want and need to consume another species breast milk—and at such a cost to our animals, environment and own health.

As more former dairy proceeds like Elmhurst and Oatly shift to vegan business models, let’s hope this shift encourages transition of farms away from livestock and embrace healthier, better opportunities. In the words of Elmhurst’s 82-year-old CEO—whose dairy-turned-nut-milk company is selling twice as many units per week than originally estimated— “It’s about transforming with the times.”

Vegans and animal rights activists around the world have created their own initiative with a month-long exposé of routine practices associated with the Dairy Industry and animals farming.