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The rise of alternative milks

theguardian.com

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Re: The rise of alternative milks

#181

Post by erikpukinskis »

andrewvc wrote: post #163
jelliclesfarm wrote: post #113

If someone is looking to switch for sustainablity reasons, they shouldn’t be buying liquid non dairy almond either. You must need a handful of almonds to make your own almond milk. It’s wasteful in so many ways..from processing to transporting to the water content and all the middle men charges in the supply chain. Soak almonds. Peel. Purée with water..strain. Or don’t. Fresh almond milk. I realize many people won’t…

Almond milk is still way more sustainable than cow milk. Maybe not as much as homemade but still an improvement.

Is it? I would expect the variance in the sustainability to be quite high, with the most sustainable (pasture fed) dairy farms being much better than the average almond milk producer. That’s just an intuition though.

Also assuming we’re talking per gram of protein and fat here. Cup for cup almond milk might be more sustainable but there’s far more nutrition in a cup of cow milk.

Re: The rise of alternative milks

#182

Post by erikpukinskis »

walshemj wrote: post #79
seanwilson wrote: post #67

I've completely switched to soy milk. It tastes a little different to cow milk but after a few cups of tea over a week I didn't notice anymore. Now cow milk tastes strange to me. Soy milk also lasts around a year unopened so you can save time buying it in bulk as a plus. People need to stop expecting replacements to taste 100% identical to what they're use to and give their tastebuds some time to adapt. Same with mea…

Soy just tastes weird in hot drinks for me - though I switched to almond for cereals to reduce my milk intake to see if it would help my eczema

I’ve found Kikkoman Pearl is the best in coffee.

Re: The rise of alternative milks

#183

Post by [deleted] »

mnm1 wrote: post #80

Milk may not be the healthy food it was touted to be, but neither are most if not all of these "milks" that are basically mostly water and sugar. I'd take lactose over fructose or glucose any day. That's the main selling point: a slightly sweet, natural drink sweetened by lactose rather than fructose and glucose directly. Otherwise, I might as well drink soda--from looking at the sugar content of most of these "milks…

[deleted]

Re: The rise of alternative milks

#184

Post by jelliclesfarm »

Ar-Curunir wrote: post #180
jelliclesfarm wrote: post #109

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I agree. The goal of food must be that it’s is calorie and nutrient dense with as little expenditure or harmful. Hopefully we can find plant based alternatives and anything from perennials would be better. Like tree nut milks. The cost of dairy milk is the methane side effect that is actually more harmful to our eco system than carbon ..especially with our changing climate. I really like what’s happening with synthet…

Food must also be delicious. Sapping joy out of life is not really a fun way to, well, live.

https://www.pbs.org/wgbh/pages/frontline/shows/meat/intervie... : I recommend this interview with Michael Pollan to people who imagine that the way we eat now is ‘natural’.

Re: The rise of alternative milks

#185

Post by jelliclesfarm »

erikpukinskis wrote: post #181
andrewvc wrote: post #163

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Almond milk is still way more sustainable than cow milk. Maybe not as much as homemade but still an improvement.

Is it? I would expect the variance in the sustainability to be quite high, with the most sustainable (pasture fed) dairy farms being much better than the average almond milk producer. That’s just an intuition though. Also assuming we’re talking per gram of protein and fat here. Cup for cup almond milk might be more sustainable but there’s far more nutrition in a cup of cow milk.

An almond tree lasts for decades while a dairy cow has a considerably short life during which time she is abused by the Ag system and releases methane, poop, consumes a lot of inputs and a lot of water and labour and fossil fuel and electricity and refrigeration. It costs a dairy farmer more to produce a gallon of milk than it costs the consumer to buy it. It’s an industry entirely supported by subsidies. So it’s not profitable either. Many dairy farms are shuttered and farmers are committing suicide in America. And many more older farmers end up severely depressed as they question the only way of life they know and it is increasingly becoming hollow and meaningless. It’s beyond unsustainable. It’s abusive to everyone on that supply chain.

Re: The rise of alternative milks

#186

Post by Knufen »

rlue wrote: post #171
fucking_tragedy wrote: post #169

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Tofu and tempeh are protein heavy with little carbohydrates.

Even easier, peanuts are _very_ protein- and fat-rich with almost no carbohydrates. I boil and can a kilo of peanut soup every two weeks and chug a can for breakfast every day—25g proteins, 50g fat. Pouring it into a bowl with soy milk makes it a lot more palatable, but if you're just concerned about your macros, there are definitely more sustainable, plant-based ways to get 'em.

But this is only a half truth, in the sense that not all protein are equal. You can not get the same anino acid from plants as you can from meat. And that is without taking bioavailability into account.

Re: The rise of alternative milks

#187

Post by jelliclesfarm »

erikpukinskis wrote: post #179
justin66 wrote: post #123

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I'm told making oat milk is similarly simple. That one is tempting because the ingredients are so cheap.

Commercial oat milk tends to have far more protein than almond milk too. Almond milk has almost none. Soy has the most. (Although homemade almond milk would seem to have a lot more than boxed. 1.5 cups of almonds to 3 cups water is 7g protein per cup. Close to soy milk. Whereas commercial almond milk has more like 1g per serving)

What about hemp milk? I haven’t tried it yet.

I can only assume that it’s not ok to grow hemp in every state(USA)

Re: The rise of alternative milks

#188

Post by systoll »

Rumudiez wrote: post #81
seanwilson wrote: post #67

I've completely switched to soy milk. It tastes a little different to cow milk but after a few cups of tea over a week I didn't notice anymore. Now cow milk tastes strange to me. Soy milk also lasts around a year unopened so you can save time buying it in bulk as a plus. People need to stop expecting replacements to taste 100% identical to what they're use to and give their tastebuds some time to adapt. Same with mea…

I switched to soy milk for about four months, but ultimately went back to regular milk because it has less sugar and is less sweet. I imagine without the sugar it’s not as palatable, but it was a noticeable, negative attribute for me.

Regular soy milks only have ~2/3 the sugar of whole milk; it’s just that sucrose is sweeter than lactose.

Re: The rise of alternative milks

#189

Post by goldenkey »

JacobJans wrote: post #122
jelliclesfarm wrote: post #113

If someone is looking to switch for sustainablity reasons, they shouldn’t be buying liquid non dairy almond either. You must need a handful of almonds to make your own almond milk. It’s wasteful in so many ways..from processing to transporting to the water content and all the middle men charges in the supply chain. Soak almonds. Peel. Purée with water..strain. Or don’t. Fresh almond milk. I realize many people won’t…

Store bought almond milk also has additives that may not be good for you. Emulsifiers, thickeners, starches, preservatives, etc. For people with sensitive digestion, it may be safer to make it at home.

Elmhurst1925.com

No additives. I swear by this brand.

Re: The rise of alternative milks

#190

Post by williamdclt »

sridca wrote: post #140
williamdclt wrote: post #124

Earlier quoted context omitted.

You need lots of cows for cow's milk. You need lots of food and water for cows. You need lots of plants for cow's food. You need lots of water, pesticides, energy for plants. Plus: production of greenhouse gas, water pollution

> You need lots of cows for cow's milk. You need lots of food and water for cows. You need lots of plants for cow's food. You need lots of water, pesticides, energy for plants. And how are alternative-milks a better solution especially as they are also (but directly) plant-based? > Plus: production of greenhouse gas, water pollution If people are actually concerned about the natural environment they would be giving u…

> And how are alternative-milks a better solution especially as they are also (but directly) plant-based?

Come on. Yes you also need plants, but way way way less than using cows. In other words, cows are a very inefficient source of milk compared to oat or soy or almonds.

> If people are actually concerned about the natural environment they would be giving up their cars

It's not all-or-nothing you know, it's still good to do some effort, and it's way easier to give up cow milk than to give up cars (just buy a different kind of milk VS move out). And some people actually are giving up their cars. I wouldn't go as far as to say it's the same people without some statistical source.

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