This Sunday, May 9, we celebrate Mother’s Day and the cherished bond between mother and child. Tragically, our dairy cows, worldwide icons of motherhood, never get to see or nurture their babies.

Newborn calves are torn from their mothers at birth and turned into veal cutlets, so we can drink their milk. The grief-stricken mother cows bellow for days, calling in vain for their babies’ return.

Dairy cows spend their lives chained to concrete floors, with no access to the outdoors. Each year, they are impregnated artificially to maintain their milk production and then milked by machines twice a day. When production drops, around four years of age, they are ground into hamburgers.

Dairy products are laden with cholesterol, saturated fats, hormones, pathogens and antibiotics, leading to obesity, diabetes, heart disease and stroke. Many people lack the enzyme for digesting dairy products.

This Mother’s Day, let’s honor motherhood and compassion. Let’s replace the products of cow cruelty with delicious, healthful, eco-friendly nut and grain-based milk, cheese and ice cream products offered by our supermarket.