Can You Enjoy Dairy and Still Protect Our Planet?
Plant-based milk accounts for 15% of total milk sales in the United States.
How to enjoy “dairy” and save our planet depends on how flexible you are about the definition of “milk.” If you feel that milk must be squeezed out of a cow, then you can’t enjoy very much of it without doing unnecessary damage to our planet. But if your definition of dairy includes the splendid panoply of plant-based milks (almond, coconut, oat, soy, walnut, etc.), then you can enjoy dairy every day and be protecting our planet’s ability to sustain future generations of hungry humans.
People who raise cows for a living convinced the United States federal government back in 1951 to define “milk” as “the lacteal secretion practically free from colostrum, obtained by the complete milking of one or more healthy cows.” This became enshrined in the Code of Federal Regulations at Title 21, Chapter 1, Subchapter B, Part 131, Subpart B, section 131.110 with a notice on page 14,360 of volume 42 of the Federal Register published on Tuesday, March 17, 1977. Most of us can remain blissfully unaware of the thousands of regulations promulgated annually, but this particular rule has become extremely contentious as the cow dairy industry has tried to force nut milk producers to call it “nut juice” (or anything except “milk”).
I’m going to throw my hat in with the fun-loving people who decided it was okay to call it “peanut butter”—instead of forcing us to eat “peanut paste.” In my book, you can call anything “dairy” if that makes you happy. In this action guide, we’ll consider plant-based milk, cheese, yogurt, and ice cream—all of which are much more planet-friendly than the versions we can make with bovine “lacteal secretions.”
Help! I heard that cow dairy is even worse for the planet than beef. Is that true?
Not really. The idea that the dairy industry pollutes more than the beef industry is all over social media in New Zealand for the simple fact that the country has twice as many dairy cows (6.7 million) as beef cattle (3.7 million). The situation is reversed in the United States: we have 9.4 million cows in our dairy herd but 87.2 million animals in our beef cattle inventory.
A more insightful way to understand the relative environmental impact of the dairy and beef industries is to compare the greenhouse gas emissions per kilogram of milk, cheese, or beef. According to Our World in Data, per kilogram produced, milk emissions are 3.15 kg, cheese emissions are 23.88 kg, and beef emissions are 99.48 kg. Pound for pound, eating dairy causes much less pollution than eating beef.
One reason milk emissions are so low relative to meat is the efficiency of milk production: domesticated dairy cows now produce between 6,000 and 12,000 liters of milk over a 305-day lactation period. But isn’t milk mostly water? It is, but so is meat, surprisingly. Milk is approximately 87% water, beef is between 56% and 73% water raw (55% to 65% cooked), and cheese varies from 32% to over 67% water content. As a way to get protein and stay hydrated, milk, meat, and cheese are all very convenient and comparable, with milk being the most sustainable.
Now for the kicker: grains, legumes, and nuts are way better for our environment than milk. In fact, about seven times better. Remember milk at 3,150 grams (3.15 kg) of greenhouse gas emissions per kilogram? Well, a kilogram of nuts produces just 430 grams of greenhouse emissions.
Help! What’s the deal with dairy-free ice cream? How can it taste so creamy and good?
The secret to creamy, delicious vegan ice cream is bold flavors: peanut butter, chocolate, or fresh fruit. The New York Times, USA Today, and Consumer Reports agree that the taste of plain vanilla ice cream is hard to duplicate without using cow milk or cream, but their taste testers really enjoyed other flavors of ice cream made entirely from plants.
Help! I’ve heard about a new kind of vegan cheese that tastes a lot better than soy cheese. What’s it made from?
Nuts, in particular cashews, were a “game changer” for vegan cheese. A hundred grams of soy have just 6.4 grams of fat, whereas 100 grams of cashews have 44 grams of fat. Alicia Kennedy, writing for FoodPrint, notes that nuts “provide a fatty base with neutral flavor that has allowed vegan cheese to reach new heights of complexity.”
Help! Which plant-based milk is best for our planet?
Unless you live in the tropics, where coconut milk is plentiful, your best bet for the most planet-friendly plant-based milk is to make your own milk from organic oats. Here’s how, according to The Banana Diaries.
Ingredients and Equipment You’ll Need
1 cup of organic rolled oats (dry)
4 to 6 cups of water chilled in the refrigerator
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
A large blender
A large bowl
Cheesecloth
A large glass container with a lid you can seal
Instructions
Drape a cheesecloth over a large bowl.
Put all ingredients in a large blender.
Blend on high for 40 seconds to make oat puree. Do not blend longer than 40 seconds, or your oat milk will be slimy.
Pour the oat puree over the cheesecloth.
Let the oat milk liquid drip through the cheesecloth into the bowl, leaving behind the solid oat bits. Do not squeeze the solid oat bits, or your oat milk will be slimy.
Use the solid oat bits in another recipe that calls for oats, or compost them.
Pour the oat milk from the bowl into a large glass container.
Seal the container lid and keep your oat milk refrigerated. It will be good for about five days or until it begins to have an off smell.
Help! Aren’t plant-based milks and cheeses missing the proteins and vitamins available in cow milk?
Yes, plant-based milks and cheeses have different proteins, fats, carbohydrates, minerals, and vitamins in them than cow milk and cheese provide. This is one argument in favor of not calling plant-based beverages “milk” and the main reason the United States Food and Drug Administration issued draft guidance recommending that plant-based milk products place nutritional disclosures on the packaging so consumers can easily compare the nutritional content of different kinds of plant milk to cow milk. Talk with your primary care physician if you’d like personal advice about meeting your nutritional needs without eating cow-milk dairy products.
What’s Still Ahead on the Pathway…
Last year, we explored the pathway to sustainable movement, energy, and goods. Now, we’re exploring the pathway to sustainable food to transition from the standard American diet to a healthier-for-our-planet plant-centered diet and from industrial to regenerative agriculture. Stay with us on the journey to sustainability as we take action to have a positive impact on our world.
References and Further Reading
U.S. retail market insights for the plant-based industry, Good Food Institute
Milk and Milk Products, Frank A. Lee Ph.D.
Food and Drugs / FDA Department of Health and Human Services / Food for Human Consumption / Milk and Cream / Requirements for Specific Standardized Milk and Cream / Milk, Code of Federal Regulations
Volume 42 page 14,360, Federal Register
Why does beef pollute less than dairy?, Freshwater for Life
The US Dairy Industry Market Update from September, Farm Management Division of Extension University of Wisconsin-Madison
U.S. Cattle Inventory Smallest in 73 years, American Farm Bureau Federation
Environmental Impacts of Food Production, Our World in Data
The effects of breeding and selection on lactation in dairy cattle, Animal Frontiers: The Review Magazine of Animal Agriculture
Definitions, International Dairy Foods Association
Water in Meat & Poultry, USDA Food Safety and Inspection Service
Cheese and Varieties, International Dairy Federation
The Best Vegan Ice Cream, The New York Times
We Tried 20+ Dairy Free Ice Creams—Here Are The Winners, USA Today
Top-Rated Dairy-Free and Vegan Ice Cream, Consumer Reports
When Did Vegan Cheese Get So Good?, FoodPrint
Which Milk Alternative is the Most Eco-Friendly?, Bastyr University
How to make Oat Milk (that’s NOT slimy! Finally!), The Banana Diaries
FDA says plant-based milk labels should indicate nutritional differences, Food Dive
Great article! thanks!!! Good to get the word out..