And yet coffee shops that claim to be organic, eco conscious and fair trade still penalize you for opting for a milk alternative (by charging extra, like up to $1).
It costs more.
Milk alternatives produce up to 4.5x less greenhouse gas emissions as milk
11–20 of 192 posts
Re: Milk alternatives produce up to 4.5x less greenhouse gas emissions as milk
#12And yet coffee shops that claim to be organic, eco conscious and fair trade still penalize you for opting for a milk alternative (by charging extra, like up to $1).
The milk alternatives that can achieve the same foaminess can cost 2x the price of regular milk, so I guess it makes sense
Re: Milk alternatives produce up to 4.5x less greenhouse gas emissions as milk
#13And yet coffee shops that claim to be organic, eco conscious and fair trade still penalize you for opting for a milk alternative (by charging extra, like up to $1).
Because it costs them more.
The fact that it's more ecological to produce doesn't translate to lower prices for many reasons.
Re: Milk alternatives produce up to 4.5x less greenhouse gas emissions as milk
#14And yet coffee shops that claim to be organic, eco conscious and fair trade still penalize you for opting for a milk alternative (by charging extra, like up to $1).
Not really super surprising— the volumes are way lower and there's less subsidizing going on. On a grocery store shelf here in Ontario, you can get 4L of 2% regular milk for $5. But the Earth's Own products, which include oat and soy milk? Those are more like $6 for a single litre.
Re: Milk alternatives produce up to 4.5x less greenhouse gas emissions as milk
#15And yet coffee shops that claim to be organic, eco conscious and fair trade still penalize you for opting for a milk alternative (by charging extra, like up to $1).
There's still a rather significant cost difference between the two. In my local market, a one gallon container of whole milk is $3.89 retail, while the barista-blend of Califa Oat Milk is $4.39 for a one quart container (or $4.99 for a half gal of Oatly).
Re: Milk alternatives produce up to 4.5x less greenhouse gas emissions as milk
#16...and yet taxation does not reflect environmental at all. In some countries cow milk is even subsidized. Edit: cow milk is actually less healthy than alternatives and there is no reason to encourage it.
> In some countries cow milk is even subsidized
Because poor people consume it. Dairy products are also a replacement for meat if you're poor enough.
Re: Milk alternatives produce up to 4.5x less greenhouse gas emissions as milk
#17Questions that come to mind:
1. What percentage of land use for dairy cows is arable?
2. What percentage of water consumed by dairy cows is recycled (eg from rain water), how does that compare to something like almonds?
3. What percentage of greenhouse gas emissions are added to the environment over already existing in the environment and just being moved?
Re: Milk alternatives produce up to 4.5x less greenhouse gas emissions as milk
#18And yet coffee shops that claim to be organic, eco conscious and fair trade still penalize you for opting for a milk alternative (by charging extra, like up to $1).
Because it costs them more. The fact that it's more ecological to produce doesn't translate to lower prices for many reasons.
How much milk goes in a coffee cup? 5c more at industrial price.
Re: Milk alternatives produce up to 4.5x less greenhouse gas emissions as milk
#19And yet coffee shops that claim to be organic, eco conscious and fair trade still penalize you for opting for a milk alternative (by charging extra, like up to $1).
it costs more... but only because the dairy industry is heavily subsidized.
Sure we're burning down the planet and allocating massive amounts of water to feed and maintain livestock during drought conditions.
BUT! The ranchers need their 5th house and the proles need their artificially cheap meat that is blocking their arteries.
( not a vegan just annoyed by mis-allocation of resources )
Re: Milk alternatives produce up to 4.5x less greenhouse gas emissions as milk
#20That's nice but it's not milk so ... apples to oranges. I'm not being unreasonable here, some people just won't give up real meat or milk, ever.
I don’t see what your point is… this isn’t an either or thing.
It’s not literally milk, but these are clearly milk substitutes, where people use them when they would otherwise use milk.