After actor Joaquin Phoenix was critical of the treatment of animals on dairy farms in a speech during the Oscars Sunday, a Wisconsin dairy farm invited the Phoenix to see what life on the farm was all about.
“We just wave it off and go hey ding-dong you don’t have any idea what’s going on here at the farm,” Oberhaus told WISN. “I mean I’d love it if he’d come out here for a couple hours -- that would be awesome. That’s an invite, Mr. Phoenix. C’mon out. See what life is like on the farm.”
Oberhaus is the director of the Waukesha County Farm Bureau and has been a dairy farmer in thee state for 35 years.
The National Milk Producers Federation was also unhappy with the actor’s comments.
“If he (Phoenix) studied the commitment of dairy farmers to animal welfare and had a fuller understanding of the contribution of dairy products to a nutritious diet, especially for children, he might have a different perception of the value that dairy contributes to global health and the importance of the dairy sector to global livelihood,” Alan Bjerga, a spokesman for the federation told Fox News. “People buy milk because it’s nutritious and healthy for their families, not because they’re following the thoughts of celebrities using a platform.”