Who would have thought pink calf hutches would create such a stir?

October is approaching, the time when everything from football players’ socks to baseball batting gloves turn to pink. And the dairy industry is not left out, as Agri-Plastics and the National Breast Cancer Awareness Foundation are teaming up to bring more awareness to breast cancer and its cure with the promotion of Hutches for Hope.

Pink calf hutches from Agri-Plastics are being marketed, and one group is having a cow about it. I’m not even going to give them the satisfaction of being named in this piece, but I will tell you, if you find and read it, it will be some of the best comedic reading you’ve had in quite a while.

Let me give you the short version: This vegan-based website is aghast that the dairy industry would have any place in promoting breast cancer awareness, pointing to our deplorable treatment of dairy cattle. Once again, they elevate the value of animals above the value of a human.

Since when is buying a pink calf hutch a detriment to dairy cattle? And why would any humane group balk at raising money for a cure for breast cancer? I know the answer: It’s a group that has anthropomorphism as its first commandment.

While they bash an industry for raising money for breast cancer awareness, they also try to say that dairy producers blindly ignore the health issues of their herd. Obviously, they’ve never seen the monthly vet bill of a dairy farm.

Oh, and this is a new one – they are now blaming food addiction on casein, a God-created protein found in milk. Ask any food addict and they will tell you casein got them hooked. We have a serious casein problem. Seriously?

Their inclusion of the horrors of rBST shows they haven’t revised their talking points lately. And the fact they blame everything wrong with the environment on dairy farming and say plant-based proteins are a healthy alternative is a sure sign that maybe a diet made up exclusively of plant-based proteins might not be all it’s cracked up to be for cognitive development.

Just sayin’.

While I realize and understand the concern among dairymen when they see this kind of article shared on social media thousands of times in less than 24 hours, I’m quite confident the average consumer will not buy into a group of folks who bash a company for raising money for a cure for cancer. Our consumers are savvier than this; just ask them.

And while you’re asking and establishing that relationship, one consumer at a time, make sure you give them credit for the discernment they own instead of just assuming they will swallow this vegan nonsense hook, line and sinker.

I believe the dairy industry has a large fan base in the average consumer – now we need to be the loud majority instead of thinking we are the silent minority.

The views and opinions expressed in this column are those of the author and not necessarily those of Farm World. Readers with questions or comments for Melissa Hart may write to her in care of this publication.