Tag: DAIRY PRIDE

Dairy Farmers Urge Action on Labor, Other Issues at Congressional Fly-in

Posted on by Jessi-Ryah Cordova

More than 80 NMPF board members and young dairy farmers met with about 100 congressional offices today in the organization’s annual fly-in, advocating on behalf of dairy on issues ranging from agricultural labor to the recent return of New World screwworm to the United States.

The fly-in came after NMPF’s June board meeting on Tuesday, which was highlighted by remarks from Deputy Secretary of Agriculture Stephen Vaden and Ambassador Julie Callahan providing perspective on the agriculture economy and trade landscape.

“We know what we need to do,” said NMPF President & CEO Gregg Doud in remarks before the fly-in. “We will push in every way we can to make things happen.”

Other action items NMPF members called for in their meeting included:

  • Passing a farm bill through the full Congress in 2026
  • Maintaining access to all types of milk in school meal programs
  • Passing the DAIRY PRIDE Act ensuring integrity in milk labeling
  • Urging lawmakers to tell the administration to strengthen dairy provisions while renewing the USMCA trade agreement.

NMPF also welcomed a new board member, Ted Vander Schaaf of Northwest Dairy Association/Darigold, and a new associate member, Illinois Farm Bureau.

The fly-in was organized by NMPF’s Young Cooperators program. The organization also held committee meetings as well as a workshop on Artificial Intelligence for co-op executives. NMPF leadership continues its meetings this week, discussing animal health and well-being along with other important industry topics.

NMPF Young Cooperators Take Dairy’s Message to Capitol Hill

Posted on by Chris Galen

NMPF’s Senior Director Theresa Sweeney-Murphy tells Dairy Radio Now listeners about the recent visit to Washington by National Milk’s Young Cooperator representatives, who came to Capitol Hill this week to advocate for the dairy community on key issues like the farm bill and proper dairy foods labeling.

NMPF’s Doud Discusses Dairy’s Future

Posted on by Alan Bjerga

Incoming NMPF President & CEO Gregg Doud explains NMPF’s role in Washington policy formulation and dairy farmer priorities, including a new farm bill, Federal Milk Marketing Order modernization, integrity in plant-based labeling and dietary guidelines that maximize the benefits of dairy, in an interview with RFD-TV. He also emphasized the importance of international trade and global issues to U.S. dairy’s future. “We need to look five, 10 years ahead and see what this industry needs,” he said.

NMPF’s Bjerga on Why Milk’s Widening Its Lead Over Plant-Based Beverages

Posted on by Alan Bjerga

NMPF Senior Vice President of Communications discusses the shifting consumer preference toward milk over plant-based beverages, plus NMPF’s latest efforts toward labeling integrity, on RFD-TV. Consumer data shows consumption of plant-based drinks falling this year, while milk sales are remaining more stable. Meanwhile, NMPF has submitted comments to FDA urging it to enforce its Standard of Identity that clearly state that milk is an animal product.

 

FDA Guidance an Incomplete Win for Dairy

Posted on by Alan Bjerga
By Alan Bjerga, Senior Vice President, Communications, National Milk Producers Federation 

FDA’s split-decision draft guidance on plant-based beverage labeling offered last month gave everyone something to be mad about. For dairy producers and consumers, the fact the agency would allow plant-based beverages to call themselves “milk” is unacceptable. For plant-based beverage manufacturers, guidance that they should disclose their nutritional inferiorities prominently on the packaging makes using a dairy term much less attractive. And even though the guidance is voluntary — and thus in theory could be ignored — companies that want to stay on FDA’s good side and avoid being called out on their noncompliance by dairy’s defenders have the incentive to either follow the guidance or sidestep the issue completely by avoiding dairy terms altogether. Either way, consumers win.That makes dairy the net winner in the decision, however incomplete it may be. Crucially, FDA is accepting the National Milk Producers Federation’s core argument — that ample consumer research shows that consumers are confused over the nutritional content of plant-based beverages and the need for labeling. And that provides a great opportunity for dairy and consumers to make progress in achieving the logical outcome of that acceptance — ending altogether the mislabeling of plant-based beverages that’s plagued the U.S. market for more than four decades.

It’s much easier to win a debate when the premise of the debate is set on your own terms. Decades of calling on the FDA to enforce its own standard of identity for milk mostly fell on deaf ears. Even if dairy’s argument was clearly correct, FDA could choose to do nothing about it, and doing nothing was a task in which FDA excelled.

As plant-based beverages proliferated and it became clear that stolen dairy terms encouraged consumers to assume an incorrect nutritional profile for these products, nutritional confusion among consumers has become a public health issue the agency simply can’t ignore. And to its credit, FDA’s guidance, for all its flaws, is an attempt to seriously address a problem it began to acknowledge only in the past half-decade.

But now that the agency has acknowledged the problems and offered guidance, it will be critical to keep up the pressure to follow this progress to a successful conclusion. Consumers, dairy producers, and their allies need to make sure FDA’s approach isn’t weakened, and then to make sure that now that our analysis of the problem has been accepted, the logical solution of that analysis – limiting dairy terms only to dairy products – is the eventual outcome.

On the first point, FDA has opened its guidance up for public comment. NMPF has set up its own simple guide on how to submit a comment. Through this form, members of the public can either personalize their own message to FDA or have access to resources that will help them write their own comments from scratch.

On the second point, we are advocating for congressional passage of the DAIRY PRIDE Act, which has been introduced in the U.S. Senate and House of Representatives. The legislation would require FDA to enforce its standard of identity for milk, solving the problem at its root.

The fight for labeling integrity has taken patience and persistence. But progress is real, and with momentum on our side, we can make a real difference in the marketplace for public health. Please consider joining us in this effort.

This column originally appeared in Hoard’s Dairyman Intel on March 20, 2023.

NMPF’s Bjerga on Next Steps on Plant-Based Labeling

Posted on by Alan Bjerga

 

NMPF Senior Vice President for Communications Alan Bjerga discusses next steps in the effort to bring transparency to plant-based beverage labeling in an interview with the National Association of Farm Broadcasters. While the FDA’s proposed guidance accepts dairy’s core argument — that beverages that falsely call themselves “milk” falsely imply a similar nutritional profile — the acceptance of such terms, even with disclaimers, still falls short of recognizing FDA’s own standards of identity and ending the confusion once and for all. That makes efforts such as congressional passage of the DAIRY PRIDE Act all the more essential, he said.

NMPF’s Bjerga on the Dairy Economy, FMMO Modernization and Fake Milk

Posted on by Alan Bjerga

 

NMPF Senior Vice President for Communications, Alan Bjerga, discusses dairy issues ranging from pricing to fake milk with KASM radio of Albany, MN, at the National Association of Farm Broadcasters Issues Forum in Washington, DC. Record milk prices are coming with higher costs as well; meanwhile, NMPF is positioned to lead on Federal Milk Marketing Order modernization, a farmer-led process.

NMPF Statement on Califf FDA Confirmation

Posted on by Alan Bjerga

Statement from NMPF President and CEO Jim Mulhern on the confirmation of Dr. Robert Califf as FDA Commissioner:

“We congratulate Dr. Robert Califf on his confirmation as FDA Commissioner. We are cheering for his success at a particularly challenging time, given the persistence of the COVID-19 pandemic and the urgent need to address the opioids crisis and other public health issues. We are heartened that, in addition to these concerns, he has also cited addressing the proliferation of plant-based products mislabeled as dairy a ‘priority’ issue under his leadership.

“Nutritional confusion over the products is real, with meaningful public health implications, and the Biden Administration has promised guidance by mid-year. We look forward to working with Dr. Califf as he resolves this long-standing, and growing, concern.”

 

NMPF’s Bjerga on the State of Dairy Labeling

Posted on by Alan Bjerga

With a new FDA commissioner nearing confirmation, NMPF Senior Vice President for Communications Alan Bjerga discusses the state of dairy labeling in the U.S., on RFD-TV. Bjerga also talks about U.S. dairy’s recent win over the European Union on gruyere cheese, which a court ruled is a common name not subject to geographical indication trade restraints.

Dairy Defined: Where Dairy Terms are Done Right – a Photo Essay

Posted on by Theresa Sweeney

This week’s Dairy Defined is a little different: It’s a multi-lingual tour of alternative beverages, coming to you from the European Union, where an oat drink is called … an oat drink.

While many EU dairy policies leave much to be desired, its approach to dairy labeling shows how it’s possible to name beverages accurately, no matter what fake-milk marketers and FDA inaction may enable in the United States. From “hirse” and “chanvre” to “amande” and “soja,” EU grocery shoppers have a wealth of plant-based beverages to choose from – and somehow those beverages manage to exist, like they do in almost the entire world, without being called milk.

Don’t believe it? Click here for proof.