Plant-based milk is better for the planet than dairy, but it can have a dark side.
Plant milks can, nevertheless, have a dark side, as when any crop is produced in mass quantities. It’s important to consider not just whether they are grown using organic methods. Other factors include how the farming of the crop affects people and native habitats in developing countries, the carbon footprint and water use. And while each product has its trade-offs, some plant milks are more sustainable than others.
Based on interviews with experts, here is a an environmental ranking of plant milks, from the disappointingly sour to the sustainably sweet.
Coconut: ‘An absolute tragedy’
Global demand for coconut milk has led to deforestation and exploitation of workers. Photograph: Riau Images/Barcroft Media
Coconut has a reputation as exotic and healthy, but for poor regions in the Philippines, Indonesia and India, where pickers are often paid less than a dollar a day, the palm groves are no paradise.
Because coconut trees only grow in tropical climates, the pressure to meet global demand is causing exploitation of workers and destruction of rainforests. “Coconut is an absolute tragedy and it makes me really sad,” Isaac Emery, a food sustainability consultant. “I love cooking with coconut milk but I don’t feel good about buying coconut products. Farmers in Indonesia should be growing food to feed their families instead of meeting international demands.”
According to an investigation by the New York Times, between 2007 to 2014 rainforests in Indonesia were clearcut at the rate of three acres every minute to make way for coconut palm trees. To avoid supporting unsustainable practices, choose coconut products that are certified Fair Trade.
Almond: bad for bees
Almond farming is placing unsustainable pressure on bees and beekeepers. Photograph: Towfiqu Photography/Getty Images
While almond trees occupy smaller amounts of farmland compared with other crops grown for milk, this benefit is overshadowed by the negative impacts of almond farming in the US. Concentrated almost entirely in California’s arid Central Valley, almonds are the largest specialty crop in the US and the orchards cover a region the size of Delaware.
Almonds require more water than any other dairy alternative, consuming 130 pints of water to produce a single glass of almond milk, according to the Oxford study. Satisfying continual demands for larger almond crops is also placing unsustainable pressures on US commercial beekeepers. Nearly 70% of commercial bees in the US are drafted every spring to pollinate almonds. Last year, a record number –over one-third of them– died by season’s end as a result of these pressures and other environmental threats.
Rice: a water-guzzler
Research has found rice milk produced more greenhouse gas than any other plant milk. Photograph: "Schindler, Martina"/Getty Images/StockFood
Although rice milk is ubiquitous as an inexpensive and widely available dairy alternative, it offers little in the way of nutrition or environmental benefits compared with other choices.
Rice is a water hog, according to the Oxford study, plus it produces more greenhouse gas emissions than any other plant milk. Bacteria breeding in rice paddies pump methane into the atmosphere and large amounts of fertilizer pollute waterways.
Hazelnut: on the up
Hazelnuts are a rising star in the plant-based milk arena. Photograph: Roman Borovikov/EyeEm/Getty Images/EyeEm
For consumers who want the nutritiousness and tastiness of a nut milk but without the environmental impacts of almond farming, the hazelnut is a rising star. Like all nuts, hazelnuts grow on trees that pull carbon from the atmosphere and help reduce greenhouse emissions rather than increase them. Hazelnuts are environmentally superior to almonds in that they are pollinated by the wind rather than commercial honeybees and they grow in moist climates, such as the Pacific north-west, where water is less of an issue.
Hemp and flax: niche contenders
Seeds from the flax plant, which produces nutrient-rich milk. Photograph: Tim Gainey/Alamy Stock Photo
Another way to ensure sustainable choices is to choose milk alternatives made from what Emery describes as “niche crops” such as hemp and flax. They are grown in relatively small quantities in the northern hemisphere, which makes them more environmentally friendly compared with a monoculture operation. Both plants produce seeds that make for a milk rich in protein and healthy fats.
Soy: back in favor
According to the Oxford study, soy milk is the joint winner on the sustainability scale. Plus, soy is the only plant milk that comes close to offering a protein content comparable to dairy. It was the go-to alternative long before almond milk came into vogue – but then soy fell out of favor.
“Soy has a relatively high concentration of certain hormones that are similar to human hormones and people got freaked out about that,” says Emery. “But the reality is you would have to consume an impossibly large amount of soy milk and tofu for that to ever be a problem.” Recent studies have instead found that a moderate amount of soy is healthy, especially for women.
The primary environmental drawback to soy milk is that soybeans are grown in massive quantities around the world to feed livestock for meat and dairy production. Large swaths of rainforest in the Amazon have been burned to make way for soy farms. The work-around for this is to simply do a little research and read the carton to find soy milk that is made from organic soybeans grown in the US or Canada.
Oat: a humble hero
Meet the winner: the unassuming oat.
“I’m excited about the surge in oat milk popularity,” says Liz Specht, associate director of science and technology for the Good Food Institute, a not-for-profit that promotes plant-based diets. “Oat milk performs very well on all sustainability metrics.” Also: “I highly doubt there will be unintended environmental consequences that might emerge when the scale of oat milk use gets larger.”
According to Bloomberg Business, retail sales of oat milk in the US have soared from $4.4m in 2017 to $29m in 2019, surpassing almond milk as the fastest-growing dairy alternative. But unlike almonds, there are already plenty of oats to go around. “Right now, 50 to 90% of global oat production goes into animal feed,” says Specht, “so there’s a huge existing acreage that we can safely steal share from without moving the needle at all on total production.”
Oats are grown in cooler climates such as the northern US and Canada, and are therefore not associated with deforestation in developing countries. The only drawback with this trendy and guilt-free option is that most oats come from mass-produced, monoculture operations where they are sprayed with the Roundup pesticide right before harvest. A study by the Environmental Working Group found glyphosate, the active ingredient in Roundup and a possible carcinogen, in all the foods it tested containing conventionally grown oats and even in one-third of products made with organic oats. However, the popular Oatly brand oat milk company maintains its oats are certified glyphosate free.
Milking it
Milking it
“If you trust in yourself, and believe in your dreams, and follow your star. . . you'll still get beaten by people who spent their time working hard and learning things and weren't so lazy.”
Re: Milking it
Link please.
I’ve been sorting through this myself, and have landed on oat milk. I’d like to share the info with some others.
I’ve been sorting through this myself, and have landed on oat milk. I’d like to share the info with some others.
“I ask no favor for my sex. All I ask of our brethren is that they take their feet off our necks.” ~ Ruth Bader Ginsburg, paraphrasing Sarah Moore Grimké
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Re: Milking it
My spousal unit and I have been dreaming of an 'ideal' home, initial cost not considered, cost of up-keep considered. It is a nice harmless game that gives an opportunity for compare and contrast of personal taste.
We both firmly approve of property line marked with hazel-nut hedges, and one side with apple and pear trees carefully pruned to grow onto a wire fence.
snailgate
We both firmly approve of property line marked with hazel-nut hedges, and one side with apple and pear trees carefully pruned to grow onto a wire fence.
snailgate
Re: Milking it
The thing is that cattle can be grazed on land not fit for any other use. And if we want to affect things like deforestation of underdeveloped countries the solution is to ban the importation of food into the US. We can produce all the food this country needs.
I expected to be placed in an air force combat position such as security police, forward air control, pararescue or E.O.D. I would have liked dog handler. I had heard about the dog Nemo and was highly impressed. “SFB” is sad I didn’t end up in E.O.D.
Re: Milking it
Hear that coffee drinkers?!
Okay... There's all kinds of things wrong with what you just said.
Re: Milking it
Tea drinkers, too (as opposed to those who drink herbal teas which are really tisanes).
Thanks goodness we have Hawaii, right?
Thanks goodness we have Hawaii, right?
“I ask no favor for my sex. All I ask of our brethren is that they take their feet off our necks.” ~ Ruth Bader Ginsburg, paraphrasing Sarah Moore Grimké
Re: Milking it
Here you go...Guinevere wrote:Link please.
I’ve been sorting through this myself, and have landed on oat milk. I’d like to share the info with some others.
“If you trust in yourself, and believe in your dreams, and follow your star. . . you'll still get beaten by people who spent their time working hard and learning things and weren't so lazy.”
Re: Milking it
We can raise coffee and tea in the subtropical parts of the continual United States and of course tropical Hawaii and outside of the United States we have possessions all across the tropics from the Caribbean to Micronesia. The reason we don’t produce more of these crops is not that we can’t but because it is cheaper to buy from established third-world suppliers. But if you really cared about the rain forest of South America and Southeast Asia you be willing to eat less beef or pay a little more for American beef but evidently, you don’t.Crackpot wrote:Hear that coffee drinkers?!
Last edited by liberty on Fri Jan 31, 2020 1:15 am, edited 1 time in total.
I expected to be placed in an air force combat position such as security police, forward air control, pararescue or E.O.D. I would have liked dog handler. I had heard about the dog Nemo and was highly impressed. “SFB” is sad I didn’t end up in E.O.D.
Re: Milking it
I thought you wanted to conserve land and prevent deforestation.
Okay... There's all kinds of things wrong with what you just said.
Re: Milking it
“If you trust in yourself, and believe in your dreams, and follow your star. . . you'll still get beaten by people who spent their time working hard and learning things and weren't so lazy.”
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Re: Milking it
nut-milk bag
Gwyneth again?
Gwyneth again?
For Christianity, by identifying truth with faith, must teach-and, properly understood, does teach-that any interference with the truth is immoral. A Christian with faith has nothing to fear from the facts
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Re: Milking it
No. You're thinking of sheep. They are the wooly ones, often white.liberty wrote:The thing is that cattle can be grazed on land not fit for any other use.
Re: Milking it
thank g0d we d0n t have endless herds 0f wild b0vines grazing the plains 0f the w0rld anym0re.....
think if we were 0verrun by bis0n 0r s0me 0ther such plague.
all that meat n the h00f w0uld mean w0rldwide famine.
we w0uld have t0 slaughter them all t0 save humanity.
we w0uld be s0 much better 0ff destr0ying 0ur f00d s0urces.
it w0uld save the w0rld.
think if we were 0verrun by bis0n 0r s0me 0ther such plague.
all that meat n the h00f w0uld mean w0rldwide famine.
we w0uld have t0 slaughter them all t0 save humanity.
we w0uld be s0 much better 0ff destr0ying 0ur f00d s0urces.
it w0uld save the w0rld.
Re: Milking it
I have friends who do. I don’t have the time.Gob wrote:How to make your own non-milk-milk.
“I ask no favor for my sex. All I ask of our brethren is that they take their feet off our necks.” ~ Ruth Bader Ginsburg, paraphrasing Sarah Moore Grimké
Re: Milking it
If the physical area is difficult for other grazers (like steep pitches) but quality pasture, then sheep are fine. If the pasture isn’t high quality, or its mixed vegetation, then you mean goats.ex-khobar Andy wrote:No. You're thinking of sheep. They are the wooly ones, often white.liberty wrote:The thing is that cattle can be grazed on land not fit for any other use.
“I ask no favor for my sex. All I ask of our brethren is that they take their feet off our necks.” ~ Ruth Bader Ginsburg, paraphrasing Sarah Moore Grimké
Re: Milking it
My observational experience in just under a decade living in Montana is that cattle do pretty well on land that would otherwise be unsuitable for any other kind of agriculture - the same kind of land where sheep and goats can thrive. It’s rather extraordinary what kind of hard scrabble plants ruminants can turn into adequate nourishment.
For me, it is far better to grasp the Universe as it really is than to persist in delusion, however satisfying and reassuring.
~ Carl Sagan
~ Carl Sagan
Re: Milking it
We got into a situation with the neighbors over the keeping of this guy. Can you guess why? Warning, trigger from poor taste joke ahead.ex-khobar Andy wrote:No. You're thinking of sheep. They are the wooly ones, often white.liberty wrote:The thing is that cattle can be grazed on land not fit for any other use.
Re: Milking it
Nasty rumors spread through the ovine?TPFKA@W wrote:
We got into a situation with the neighbors over the keeping of this guy. Can you guess why?
Re: Milking it
Nut Milk? WGAF? Eat real food instead.
yrs,
rubato
yrs,
rubato
Re: Milking it
rubato wrote:Nut Milk? WGAF? Eat real food instead.
yrs,
rubato
There you have it folks....
Asperger syndrome is distinguished by a pattern of symptoms rather than a single symptom. It is characterized by qualitative impairment in social interaction, by stereotyped and restricted patterns of behavior, activities, and interests.
If your child has the condition, he may talk about himself most of the time and zero in with a lot of intensity on a single subject, he might repeat himself a lot, especially on a topic that he's interested in.
He also may dislike change. For instance, he may eat the same food for breakfast every day or have trouble moving from one class to another during the school day.
“If you trust in yourself, and believe in your dreams, and follow your star. . . you'll still get beaten by people who spent their time working hard and learning things and weren't so lazy.”