Leading European dairy producer FrieslandCampina pushes a big nutrition “research” project in Southeast Asia which ignores plant-based dairy alternatives in defiance of the United Nations’ Sustainable Development Goals.
FrieslandCampina is in the business of selling very large amounts of milk. Because the milk comes from these methane-farting animals we call cows, the business model has an enormous environmental impact. Remember global warming?
Since we all know that the meat- and dairy industries produce the insane volumes of GHGs that they do, the UN dedicates several of its Agenda 2030 Sustainable Development Goals to the need for moving to more plant-based alternatives for our food and drink.
In order to look like they are taking responsibility for something, while still growing the herd sizes and having trouble decreasing farmside emissions, FrieslandCampina has taken a concern in child nutrition in Southeast Asia. The research survey called Seanuts II is heavily fronted by the company, with smiling children and lots of graphs and numbers about the need for a healthier diet in Southeast Asian countries.
Of course, the dairy-financed survey found that what children really need is more milk. You don’t think that’s a coincidence? Well, what about the fact that Seanuts II doesn’t even mention plant-based alternatives at all, ignoring the UN SDGs on the need for a more plant-based diet. No? See, that’s nuts!
Not only does the Seanuts II survey avoid mentioning plant-based alternatives while recommending the introduction of more dairy into the diet, in complete contradiction to the Agenda 2030 goals. The survey even makes a big scary point about the fact that too few children consume enough dairy - most of them don’t drink more than one (1) glass of milk per day!
While it’s quite clear that FrieslandCampina is angling to increase its markets in Southeast Asia, Seanuts II is also a massive distraction aimed at granting the company goodwill at the same time as deflecting from the fact that the business is still going and growing, and the pollution with it.
