When a calf is taken from their mother, who steps in to care for them? Former dairy farmer Jackie Norman shares her harrowing story of the heartbreak and misery of calving season in New Zealand.

We recently discussed the impact of the violence of slaughterhouse employment on kill floor workers, but what about farmers? Should we feel sympathy for the pressures they face? Jackie Norman, a former cow and dairy farmer turned vegan writer, discusses this difficult topic.

As someone who milked cows for 18 years, I can vouch that dairy farmers can and do have a real fondness for their cows. Like Nate Chittenden in Andrew Jacob's recent article. 'Is Dairy Farming Cruel to Cows?', a lot of the cows I milked had names, I could pet them and I never wanted to see them suffer. What I didn't realise at the time was that every single day I was CAUSING suffering to those animals I loved. How? Where to start.

A bunch of crazy vegans got together and decided to do something amazing: convince the public to chip in and buy a plot of land once used for grazing dairy cows to turn it towards something plant-based. Is their crowdfunding victory a fluke, or is it a sign that the world is finally changing? Jackie Norman looks at other projects at the vanguard of alternative land use.

Jackie Norman spent 18 years working in an industry that she says causes suffering to both humans and the innocent, sentient beings with whom we share this world.