How is the dairy industry doing when it comes to meeting environmental and broader social responsibility commitments? Well, the Innovative Center for U.S. Dairy says there are several positive changes to report in its 2020 U.S. Dairy Sustainability Report.
The organization says more than 95% of resources from processors were recovered, either by being donated to feed hungry people or used to feed animals. It says U.S. dairy provided 1.538 billion servings of milk cheese and yogurt last year to food banks in the Feeding America network. That’s a 33% increase over the previous year.
The Innovative Center for U.S. Dairy also says by making use of the water in milk, U.S. dairy processors were net positive for water usage, returning more than they took from cities. It also touted the launching of the U.S. Dairy Net Zero Initiative.
Big Year for Butter
It’s already been a big year for butter, and it’s expected to with a bang. Dairy Farmers of Wisconsin says Americans are expected to buy 161 million lb. of butter now through Christmas. That’s enough to bake more than 11 billion butter cookies.
Dairy Farmers of Wisconsin says while butter sales are usually increased during the holidays, the pandemic sparked an interest in cooking at home and that caused butter sales to grow significantly year-round. The organization says it saw 400% spike in recipes searches during the pandemic.
