RICHMOND, VA. –As people drink less dairy milk and some turn to plant-based alternatives such as oat, soy and almond milk, dairy farmers say they’re struggling. That’s why Virginia is the latest state to advance legislation restricting the use of the word milk for marketing purposes.
Del. Barry Knight, R-Virginia Beach, introduced House Bill 119, which defines milk as the lacteal secretion “obtained by the complete milking of a healthy hooved animal.” The bill prohibits plant-based milk alternative products from marketing their products as milk. Knight, a pig farmer, said agriculture is the largest private industry in Virginia, and the state government has to protect it. The bill reported out of the Agriculture, Chesapeake and Natural Resources committee Wednesday, and heads to the House floor.
Virginia produced about 1.6 billion pounds of dairy milk in 2018, and the number of permits issued to dairy farmers is on the decline, according to the Virginia Farm Bureau.
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