Cookies and milk? A staple of American life may be fadingThe dairy industry addresses the popular dairy alternative trend By OLIVIA GONZALEZOregon News

These are tough times for the dairy industry and not just in Oregon. Dairy alternatives are taking over shelves in grocery stores, demand for dairy products is falling, and the costs of running a dairy are increasing. The falling demand for dairy is fueled in part by changing beliefs about milk and its alternatives.

I started feeding my boys almond milk because I believe in its health benefits, said Candace Barshaw, mother of two.

When one of Barshaws sons, Hudson, became lactose-intolerant, she almost completely eliminated dairy products in her household.

Even though Barshaw and her husband do not have dairy allergies, the couple decided to switch their diets to dairy-free alternatives as well. Barshaw says, after her sons diagnosis, she started reading nutrition blogs on the negative aspects of consuming milk.

I kept reading that after infancy, the stomach is not meant to digest milk and that is why so many people have dairy allergies, said Barshaw. This is another reason why I wanted to eliminate dairy from my familys diet. Barshaw is also concerned about animal rights issues, one of her sources is People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals organization or PETA. PETA is an animal rights activist group that appeals the consumption of all dairy products, advocates on its website that, no species drinks milk beyond infancy or drinks the milk of another species.

Barshaw believes that going nearly dairy-free was one of the best choices she has made for her family. But she also admits that the current popularity of the anti-dairy stance in western cultures is what she calls a cultural trend.

According to The National Dairy Council, theres no doubt that dairy-free diets are becoming more prevalent in the United States. The competition to replace dairy in the home is fierce. According to dairy industry statistics, since the dairy-free trend started in 2009, sales in milk have dropped 12 percent. Some non-dairy products include almond milk, soy milk, coconut milk and rice milk. Like Barshaw, many consumers made the transition to dairy-free products after reading about lactose health concerns on websites and social media platforms.

According to Julia Kadison, the CEO of the Milk Processor Education Program, the major event that started the anti-dairy movement was a British Medical Journal study published in 2014, which reported that consuming large quantities of milk could lead to early deaths and more frequent bone fractures. Since the article was published, Kadison has seen a significant negative change in the attitudes of its milk consumers.

Kadison and the dairy industry hopes that the Get Real campaign will help change opinions of current and previous dairy consumers.

Perhaps parts of the reason for this decline are the negative opinions about dairy being shared to the public on social media platforms. Anti-dairy and alternative dairy messages offer details about health concerns and specifics on different milk substitutes. For example, many anti-dairy articles, like Huffington Posts Dairy: 6 Reasons You Should Avoid It at All Costs, share its content on Facebook and Twitter, generating discussion.

Some of these opinions focus on health concerns. There are numerous anti-dairy bloggers who write about what they claim is a link between negative health effects and milk. In the blog, A BLOG ABOUT LOVE, Mara and Danny (no last names given), wrote about the issue and dairy alternatives in the post titled, Dairy & Mood Swings in March 2013. The popular lifestyle blog has many subscribers.

A BLOG ABOUT LOVE was one of the blog posts that Barshaw read before completely switching to her dairy-free lifestyle. She says other people who have blogged about their positive experiences with dairy alternatives influenced her choice to make the switch. At the other end of the spectrum is Natalie Elmore, mother of two. She believes that feeding her 2-year-old son and 10-month-old daughter milk is beneficial to their growth.

I completely believe in the health benefits of drinking [cows] milk, said Elmore. I drink milk everyday and always did as child, and my kids will too.

I think going anti-dairy is a lifestyle trend right now and many people are making that switch because of popular influences in society, said Elmore.

The dairy industry is not ignoring the criticisms. To promote its health benefits to consumers, The National Dairy Council and Dairy Management Inc. started the campaign, Get Real. Get Real is a social media campaign designed to spread positive awareness about the benefits of drinking milk. These organizations will promote positivity through tweets on Twitter and posts on Facebook by its employees. According to its website, the campaign uses the hashtag #milktruth to encourage its readers to seek out the truth about milk.

The Academy of Nutrition and Diabetics, an organization committed to improving dietetics through research, education and advocacy, supports the Get Real social media campaign by letting consumers know that drinking low-fat milk is one of the best ways to receive nutrients.

According to the U.S. Department of Agriculture or USDA, a stem of the U.S. federal executive department, responsible for carrying out food and agriculture policies, adults should have about three cups of dairy on a daily basis. These types of milks include low-fat, vitamin-enriched and fat-free. But the USDA also includes calcium-fortified soy milk on its list of healthy choices.

Claims about the health benefits of milk and different alternatives are varied. According to Self Nutrition Data, a database that releases nutritional information, says that one cup of unsweetened home-made almond milk has 40 calories, three grams of total fat and two milligrams of calcium. According to Fit Day, a health and nutrition website, a cup of reduced fat, two percent milk with vitamin A has 125 calories, five grams of fat and 299 milligrams of calcium. But after milk and almond milk are fortified, both products provide 30 percent of ones daily need of calcium and vitamin D. Fit Day explains almond milk is high in antioxidants, vitamins and minerals, is heart healthy, low in fat and calories and contains no animal by products. But Fit Day also says almond milk is not safe for those with nut allergies and may not be safe for infant consumption.

Since the dairy-free trend started in 2009, sales in milk have dropped 12 percent, according to Euromonitor International market researcher. Euromonitor International is an intelligence firm out of London that provides market research and data reports about the dairy industry. According to the USDA, in 1970, the average person drank 21.8 gallons per year. But in 2012, people drank on average about 14.5 gallons of milk a year, which is a 33 percent decrease. And according to Farmers Exchange, almond milk sales have increased 39 percent in the past 12 months.

Dairies are trying to showcase the health benefits of incorporating milk and other dairy products into diets. According to The National Milk Producers Federation, the Innovative Center for U.S. Dairy is also getting involved with the increase in popularity for non-dairy products. The Innovative Center of U.S. Dairy says, We offer consumers the dairy products and ingredients they need for a healthy and productive lifestyle.

But what some of activists are not aware of is that the dairy industry is a business. Due to some of the negative press about dairies, this has caused a decline in sales for the industry. Because of the decrease in milk sales, farmers jobs have been affected.

The outcome of the battle over milk has changed the dairy industrys success. With more people turning to dairy-free products like almond milk, sales in milk have declined. Some dairy farms have been affected by this trend more than others. Oregons Lochmead Farms in Junction City, has been affected by the popularity of milk alternatives.

The Gibson family established Lochmead Farms in 1965. Since then, Lochmead Farms has grown and flourished into one of Oregons most popular dairy brands. The Gibson family still manages and runs the dairy today, primarily by its general manager, Stephanie Gibson.

Lochmead Farms does not produce organic milk because it strives to provide its customers with the freshest tasting, highest quality milk at affordable prices. If Lochmead Farms went organic, its prices would have to increase drastically. Lochmead Farms produces different grades of milk, including fat free, one percent low-fat, two percent reduced fat, skim delight, and vitamin D. The dairy also produces strawberry milk, chocolate two percent milk, half and half, eggnog, coffee creamer, and ice cream. Lochmead Farms then distributes these products to local Dari Marts. Since Lochmead Farms is not certified organic, the demand for its milk competes with non-dairy alternatives. Lochmead Farms declined to say what its annual net sales are.

Lochmead Farms has over 600 Holstein cows that were all born and raised on its farmland. The farm consists of 3,000 acres that spreads across the Willamette Valley. Lochmead Farms cows are not treated with any antibiotics or growth hormones like rBST or rBGH. Its milk is not ultra-pasteurized, the process resulting in milk thats 99.9 percent bacteria free, because the Gibson family believes that this process alters the milks taste and that is more important than a longer shelf life. Lochmead Farms milk is also vitamin fortified with vitamin D. Some of its milk is fortified with vitamin A, calcium and acidophilus bacteria that help aid the immune system. Lochmead Farms promise is bringing the bounty of farm fresh products to you.

On the other hand, organic dairies are not nearly as affected by the non-dairy trend because of the immense demand for all-natural, hormone-free organic milk. Alexandre Family EcoDairy Farms is a certified organic dairy farm in Crescent City, California, and has not been affected by the milk substitute trend.

My business is booming because there is a shortage for organic milk, says owner, Alexandre. I dont even consider almond milk or other alternatives a competing factor to my business because its just not milk.

Alexandre explains that there is a large consumer market for organic milk and people are willing to pay top-dollar to put organic milk in their refrigerators. He continues to explain that numerous milk consumers do not like knowing that pesticides, growth hormones and antibiotics are being added to their milk, so naturally they turn to organic dairy if they can afford it.

Alexandre has over 4,000 mature cows and 4,000 young replacement heifer cows. All of his livestock are crossbreeds ranging from New Zealand dairy cows to Jersey dairy cows and calves are born everyday. Every cow on the farm has been bred and raised there. But bull semen is imported for breeding purposes only.

Alexandres cows primarily graze in the pasture for most of the year, but during the winter the cows eat organic hay, grass supplements, fermented grass, grain and corn for energy. Each month Alexandre Family EcoDairy Farms produces and sells over 4 million pounds of organic, antioxidant enriched milk.

Almond, coconut and soy milks are not milk and never will be, says Alexandre. Thats like trying to compare organic milk to Pepsinon-dairy alternatives will not compete with what I am producing.

Not all dairy farms are as fortunate as Alexandre Family EcoDairy Farms and see the financial downturn because of the dairy substitute trend.

Oregon is not the only state hit by the current non-dairy trend. This is an issue that is affecting the entire U.S. and in countries throughout the world, especially in Europe and other western nations. At this point in time, the future of the milk industry is uncertain. If the non-dairy trend continues to grow in popularity, the dairy industry could be in for a world of trouble.