The Dairy Pride Act: A Step In The Wrong Direction

Because Coconuts Aren’t Full Of “Beverage”

In the face of our climate crisis, stifling plant-based products is the last thing we need... and exactly what the Dairy Pride Act of 2023 does. 

The Dairy Pride Act, reintroduced this March after a first attempt in 2021, aims to stop plant-based products from using terms in their branding that are typically associated with dairy. For example, phrases like “oat milk”, “cashew cheese”, and “soy ice cream” would be off-limits, so manufacturers would need to rely on awkward phrases like “oat beverage” or “soy frozen dessert”. 

It might not be surprising that the first person to propose the bill was the senator of the “cheese state” Wisconsin, Tammy Baldwin. The bill comes in response to recent FDA guidance which has allowed non-dairy products to be labeled as milk — a decision the FDA made after determining consumers don’t mistake plant-based products for dairy. 

Proponents of the bill say they want to protect customers… But who are they actually trying to protect? Enter the great milk debate. 

In an online petition started by The Good Food Institute, this new act is called absurd legislation and a counter-attack on dairy competition. The petition reads, “Everyone knows that almond milk doesn’t come from cows who have been fed a lot of almonds!” 

Much like the USDA mandate that public schools must still offer dairy milk daily, the Dairy Pride Act is a defensive move from an industry that’s steadily going under. With experts suggesting the dairy industry could virtually disappear in the next 10 years, it’s no wonder Dairy wants to edge its competition out. 

Not only a regulatory debate, this battle of words also reflects a culture war — one in which choosing to drink soy milk comes with perceived femininity. As the dairy industry is threatened, politicians vocalize their “traditional manhood” is under attack right along with it. 

Implicit gender norms aside, plant-based companies have every right to use these words. For centuries, we’ve called plant milk “milk”. According to Smithsonian magazine, recipes calling for almond milk were popular in medieval cookbooks, where it was often used as a dairy alternative during Lent. So if it becomes illegal to label “coconut milk” as “coconut milk”... we’re likely heading in the wrong direction.

That said, what else can Big Food do? For starters, the U.S. government could take a page out of Denmark’s book, the first country in the world to recently publish a roadmap towards a plant-based food system; implementing subsidies, strategic collaborations, as well as improved  — not confused — branding of Danish plant-based foods. 

It’s a more meaningful approach that gets to the root of the problem — dairy is dying. And dishonest regulation isn’t going to change that.