food

Here are the milk brands you need to buy to help Aussie dairy farmers.

UPDATE: A spokeswoman for Australian Dairy Farmers told Mamamia even if a brand was not Australian-owned, you were supporting local farmers by buying their products because they used Australian milk. This is the case with labels included in the below graphic such as Anchor and Mainland (NZ-owned), Great Ocean Road (Canadian-owned), Pauls (Italian-owned) and more.

“Our key message is to support farmers. What that means for consumers is buying branded products. Australian dairy farmers produce milk for all of these branded products – even if the label isn’t Aussie owned – so you are still supporting our farmers,” the spokeswoman said.

And while companies like Fonterra and Murray Goulburn are embroiled in the milk price cuts, boycotting their products does nothing to help the huge proportion of farmers connected to them. As consumers, we shouldn’t be punishing the farmers who need our help the most. Realistically, the more shoppers buy branded dairy, the more we can show people are willing to pay a little more for their milk.

  It's time to start drinking a lot more Aussie, branded milk.

EARLIER: Australia's dairy farmers are in deep crisis and they need our help.

Dairy farmers are fighting to keep their businesses alive and families fed as drastic price cuts put them on the cusp of financial ruin.

The good news is there are ways us regular city folk can lend them a hand to keep them above water. We simply have to stump up a few extra cents by swapping our regular purchases for Australian, branded milk, cheese and yoghurt.

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But supermarket aisles can be hard to navigate - so here's a nifty graphic to help you with your purchasing decisions.

It's not just milk - it's yogurt, cheese and cream too.

Not all labels managed to squeeze onto this graphic, but the general rule of thumb is to buy branded dairy.

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Thankfully, the call to support our dairy farmers is now being heard. A Facebook group named 'Dairy Farmers Need Your Help please' today had more than 27,000 members and rising.

Photos of the milk shelves at the local supermarkets are being uploaded, proving Australia is listening.

You can go a step further by clicking onto the wonderful Aussie Farmers Direct delivery service, which not only allows you to buy straight from the producers but also lets you offer a donation.

Watch Waleed Aly's call to save our dairy farmers on The Project. Post continues after video...

And if all of this dairy talk has you craving cheese, you should stuff yourself with all the glorious Australian brie you can.

Wash it down with a milkshake and or a yogurt lassi. Do it for the farmers!