A Note from the Founder of Mothers Against Dairy
A Meat and Dairy Industries Article from All-Creatures.org

FROM Ashley Capps, Mothers Against Dairy
March 2019

I am also frequently privy to messages from mothers relating how the process of becoming a mother led them to see the dairy industry for what it truly is: an assault on motherhood and bodily sovereignty.

This post originally appeared at Mothers Against Dairy and is reprinted here with their permission.

As someone who researches the dairy industry extensively, I have observed over the last few years a distressing surge in pro-dairy messaging from an increasingly visible and vocal sector of animal agriculture: female dairy farmers, many if not most of whom are also mothers. It is painful and disturbing, to say the least, to see these mothers celebrating the reproductive subjugation of other mothers, and defending the destruction of other mothering relationships for profit.

Fortunately, I am also frequently privy to messages from mothers relating how the process of becoming a mother led them to see the dairy industry for what it truly is: an assault on motherhood and bodily sovereignty. The poignant insights these mothers relate articulate a uniquely powerful perspective, and a much-needed counter-narrative, that I believe deserves a larger audience.

And so on Mother’s Day of 2016, Mothers Against Dairy was launched as a year-round project devoted to elevating the stories of vegan mothers for whom motherhood influenced their decision to reject dairy and go vegan, as well as reflections from mothers who were already vegan before becoming a parent, but whose mothering relationship deeply reinforced for them the injustice of dairy farming.

Just before we launched, I put out a call for reflections from mothers on dairy and motherhood (submissions are considered on an ongoing basis), and every other week or so a new mother’s statement has been featured on our facebook and instagram accounts. Now, a year later, on Mother’s Day 2017, I am thrilled to debut our new website, which will provide a permanent home for all of the Mothers Against Dairy reflections, as well as individual links for each statement. We will continue to publish new statements regularly, and hope you will subscribe to be notified by email when a new Mothers Against Dairy reflection is published, and to stay up to date on exciting new developments for this campaign (they’re coming!).

You can also follow us on FACEBOOK and instagram to see our latest posts; be sure to check out our ever-growing GALLERY OF POWERFUL STATEMENT MEMES from mothers.

I’d like to express my gratitude to the all of the mothers speaking out to let the world know that we shouldn’t exploit the motherhood of anyone— and to all of the supporters helping us share this vital message.

A very special thanks to Dawn Moncrief of A WELL-FED WORLD, and Robert Grillo of FREE FROM HARM, for their unwavering belief in and support for this campaign. It would not be possible without them.

For a kinder world,
Ashley Capps
Founder and Director

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