Elevating the Stories of
Vegan Mothers
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.
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.
Ashley Capps
Founder and Director
