Advocacy groups urge USDA to cut ties with dairy net-zero program
Two consumer groups have asked the USDA to withdraw from the Pathways to Dairy Net Zero initiative, arguing it forces costly ESG rules on farmers and raises food prices.
Advocacy organizations Consumers Defense and Heartland Impact have formally requested that the U.S. Department of Agriculture abandon its involvement with the Pathways to Dairy Net Zero (P2DNZ) program. In a letter, they argued that the initiative pushes ESG policies onto dairy farms, inflating costs that are passed on to consumers. Sal Nuzzo of Consumers Defense described the move as a victory for farmers and criticized climate mandates as a driver of higher food prices.
Samantha Fillmore of Heartland Impact said the program is a globalist effort to bankrupt American farms while offering negligible climate benefit. A USDA spokesperson warned that large milk processors and foreign anti-competition bodies are trying to force farmers to share sensitive data, and pledged to reject such ESG pressures. The groups also released a report titled “The War on Dairy: Foreign Influence Subverting America’s Dairy Sector,” linking the program to foreign interference and threats to the food supply chain.
