Imitation Beef(ing) With Alternative Milks
How new age nutrition battles Mother Earth.
By Marie Ronnander with art by alex kozak
Ah, the milk aisle. She used to be so small and simple. Now, rows of alternative milks stare intimidatingly back at us. We’ve all experienced this milk-anxiety at some level. For many of us, the question of which revolves around tastiness levels, and for others on how expensive our milk of choice will be. I’m here to assure you, your individual choice is a driving force in changing the fate of our atmosphere.
As early as 2010, the United Nations began urging those who could to cut down on their meat and dairy consumption due to the rapid rise in greenhouse gas emissions. One thing is clear looking at all the creamy goodness in the milk aisle: any plant based option is going to be better than its utter-ly detrimental alternative. This choice comes with caveats (as all good choices do). So let’s unpack that opportunity cost of imitation meats and alternative milks.
—
Carbon Emission:
The Food and Agricultural organization stated that the meat and dairy industry accounts for 14.5% of all carbon emissions. So here’s the best good news: according to CarbonBrief, your favorite plant based burger produces only 1/20 the amount of carbon that any old beef burger would smog out. With this being said, most plant based burgers are just as bad for you as their red meat counterparts.
In terms of milks, almond milk very clearly produces the least amount of CO2 per kilogram of production. Closely behind are oatmilk, soymilk, and rice milk. Rice Milk is noted as the “gas guzzler” because the rice marshes cause higher amounts of methane to be released into the environment. Many of these emissions, however, are from packaging and shipping. If you’re looking to reduce your footprint the most, you’ll want to stick to local products or even making your own -which involves the fun addition of a cheese cloth.
Water usage:
The Water Footprint of Humanity states that food consumption is 70% of the average person's water footprint. Plant based diets already save 3000-4000 liters of water per day than your average carnivore. Yet large corporations are getting sneaky with their hands.
Though almond milk is wonderful for CO2, the water used in production is equivalent to about 130 pints of water -more than any other plant based alternative. For many almond milks you find in stores, there’s really only about two almonds in the entire half gallon. Rice milk isn’t far behind in terms of water consumption.
Soy products have also shown to have a significant impact on water depletion in Brazil. According to the Guardian, if you’re looking to save our aquifers, hemp and oat milk may be the best alternatives.
Ecosystem:
As a lover of bees, I’m turning the article into almond milk hate. 70% of commercial bees in the US are enslaved to pollinate almond blossoms. Because of the sheer amount of pesticides used on the commercial farms, record amounts of bees have been dying.
Among the worst for the global environment are products containing palm oil. Do not be fooled by the words “organic” or “vegan” and always check the ingredients. Palm oil production is burning rainforests and leaving our Indonesian orangutan friends homeless. Coconut products are falling into the same category with much more bad juju surrounding the unlivable wages being paid to the coconut farmers.
—
So what are we to do; drink water and eat leaves? I promise that life can be much more exciting. Even an attempt at switching to plant based foods is a win for our environment with a reduction of anywhere from 30-90% in carbon emissions. For those of us looking to maximize the effort we put into protecting the earth, oat milks and bean-based proteins have proven to be the most sustainable.
With our world at 8 billion people, our individual consumption matters. No one is perfect 100% of the time, and money is a real limiting factor. But if you’re ever given the opportunity to put some oatmilk in your latte, embrace it. On behalf of our semi-asthmatic earth, I greatly appreciate your efforts.