Drowning in Milk Brands: Whose Choice is it Anyway?

Documentary screening and Panel Discussion Organized by Food Sovereignty Alliance, India

In 2015, Hyderabad saw the entry of several new dairy brands, like Amul, Nandini, Parag, Narmul, etc, selling milk at incredibly low prices. Whilst consumers in the city celebrated this apparent bonanza, unbeknown to them, at the same time, small farmers, who produce the milk, were literally pouring milk onto the roads in utter despair: Companies and Cooperatives had drastically reduced the prices at which they were purchasing milk, were paying them far below their cost of production and were turning back their milk, Whilst milk producers are being paid Rs18-20/litre of cows milk (a bottle of mineral water today costs Rs 20/litre) , they expend Rs 28-30 to produce that litre of milk.

Many consumers began to pressure small vendors who deliver their fresh milk, to reduce the price, or said they would shift to cheaper “brand” milk. Reducing the price, would once again result in vendors and small farmers being thrown out of their livelihoods.

What is the story of this cheap milk? Why are small farmers who produce the milk we drink being driven out of their livelihoods? Do brands matter? Is packet milk different from fresh milk delivered by milkmen? Why does the dairy boom in India spell the deathknell for small farmers ? There is an urgent need to understand the milk we drink, from “grass to glass”.

This panel discussion will focus on understanding the current paradox of cheap milk for consumers, whilst farmers are driven to debt, and pushed out of production. Farmers of AP and Telangana, milk vendors, dairy processors and co-producers will discuss these realities.

A documentary produced by the Food Sovereignty Alliance - “Killing Our Livelihoods: The Juggernaut of Industrial Dairy Market” will be screened.

Entry - free