Milk = A sustainable source of energy? 🥛
I scream, you scream, we all scream for…milk? 🤔
From drinking it 🥤 to adding it to smoothies 🍓 to even using it to make beauty products 🧴, milk undoubtedly has many uses. It’s packed with essential nutrients and minerals, people of all ages drink it and there’re just so many types of it but the question remains- Is milk really good for our planet 🌎?
While we advance as a society, climate change ☀️ has been getting out of hand. Many efforts are being made to reduce/limit the impact but damaging activities still go on and many remain unknown. To combat this, parts of the population have gone or considered going vegan 🌱. For those who may not be familiar, veganism is a diet (or lifestyle) where a person doesn’t consume/use any animal products whatsoever. This includes meat 🥩, eggs 🍳, honey 🐝, and dairy 🐮 products. In this article, we’ll be tackling a huge part of climate change that many don’t know about- the environmental strains of milk.
As previously mentioned, there exists a plentiful variety of milk. With the advancement of technology 💻 tied with new studies, you may have heard about the undesirable long-term effects of milk. Other than newfound or confirmed health effects, the way milk production hurts the earth has come to light 💡. Each milk has its proper benefits but some do too much harm for mere sips of energy⚡!
Let’s explore the pros and cons of some of the most popular types;
- Cow’s milk (*most of this information also applies to other animal milk)
First, we’ll start with the most common, most highly produced type of milk- Cow’s milk.
Pros: This milk is marketed as a drink full of calcium amongst other nutrients. It contains proteins, vitamin B12 + D + A, magnesium and iodine amongst many other things. This is all included naturally meaning that they weren’t added into the milk later on in the production process. Regular consumption of cow’s milk 🐄 has been proven to help maintain strong bones 💪 as well as lowering blood pressure 🩸. There are also a bunch of sub-categories of cow’s milk that can make it easy to cater to individual needs such as homogenous, different %’s of fat, skim, and more.
Cons: Recently, a sudden outbreak of reasons why cow’s milk shouldn’t be drunk has arisen. Physical aspects of humans and cows, the mode of production and quality are all to be thought of. This milk has been linked to elevated cholesterol, the prevalence of acne and some types of cancer 😷. It’s also has been determined to pose complications in people who produce estrogen (the female reproductive hormone). Studies have also shown that introducing cow’s milk to infants 🍼 too soon may cause them to develop lactose intolerance, a protein found in this milk is the most common food allergy in babies 💉. In terms of the cows, milk production is simply cruel. Milkers that care about their cow’s well-being exist but the greater part of industries are horrible. They impregnate their cows without a pause between births and steal milk meant for calves. Artificially insemination is used on cows as young as a year old. Another negative is the production. This milk takes large amounts of land 🚜/water 🌊 and produces a ton of greenhouse gas emissions 🏭, more than any other type of milk. As a whole, the process is crappy 💩 for the cows involved as well as the world.
Overall stats:
Sustainability: 2/10
Health: 8/10
Humanity: -1/10
2. Almond milk
Next on the list is almond milk which has recently surged in popularity over the past couple of years.
Pros: Almond milk has many health benefits and currently is the most beloved ❤️ dairy-milk substitute. As you would presume, it’s lactose-free meaning it poses no risk to individuals with dairy sensitivities as well as infants. It’s been confirmed to lower your risk of chronic conditions, especially of the blood 🩸 and heart such as heart attacks 🫀, strokes 🧠, blood diseases 🩸 and some types of cancer 🤒. It also can contain an excellent source of other nutrients but not naturally- they’re usually added later on in production. Out of all milk, almond milk generates the lowest greenhouse gas emissions which is a huge plus! This milk is also generally easy to produce with the steps including but not limited to harvesting the nuts, soaking them, grinding them and tada!
Cons: Reasons why almond milk is unsustainable primarily revolve around its production process. To make almond milk, we need almonds and these nuts take more land than other nuts to grow. Due to this, large demands for almond milk will pose a struggle to be met. In addition to land 🚜, almond milk takes many tons of water 🌊 to produce thus, making it harmful to the environment. It can cause droughts as well as sudden climate changes making it an unsustainable, unmaintainable choice. Other cons include stomach troubles, development of nut allergies in infants, thyroid complications are more.
Overall stats:
Sustainability: 4/10
Health: 6/10
Humanity: 6/10
The above image shows how almonds are grown on fields. They need a sizable amount of water and take a significant amount of time to grow but, they don’t emit a large number of toxins to the atmosphere 🏭.
3. Soy milk (My personal favourite!)
Soy milk is next! This milk, in my opinion, tastes the best and is a rich/creamy additive to baking, smoothies and cooking.
Pros: Soy milk is known as the most healthy 🍎 plant-based milk and it lives up to this title by naturally containing vitamins A + B-12 + D, calcium, proteins, omega-3 fatty acids and phosphate. It’s also low in calories and has a nutritious balance which is a key factor in any diet. Health benefits such as a lowered risk of some cancers 🤒, kidney disease 🧍, diabetes 💊 and more make this milk a great choice. It can help support and maintain robust muscles and organs and is linked to a reduction in the risk of dementia and Alzheimer’s disease. In terms of the planet, soy milk is environmentally sustainable. It doesn’t use too much water 🌊 nor need a whole bunch of land 🚜 meaning these factors don’t contribute to global warming.
Cons: Even though soy milk doesn’t require masses of land 🚜, due to high demand, native land has been converted into agricultural land 🌾. This promotes deforestation and poses a threat to biodiversity which is especially bad for developing countries. The production of soy milk also affects the earth’s climate, generating significant amounts of greenhouse gases 🏭. Whilst this milk has plenty of benefits for the body, it has been thought to put people who are pregnant/breastfeeding 🤰 at risk due to the presence of specific proteins. It may cause infants and young children 🍼 to develop a soy allergy if introduced too early. Soy milk causing reproductive and estrogen-based complications has been a topic of debate amongst researchers for many years as well. Soy milk is known to reduce the probability of obtaining some cancers but has been proven to increase ↕️ the risks of some types such as bladder, kidney and lung cancer.
Overall stats:
Sustainability: 7/10
Health: 8/10
Humanity: 6/10
4. Oat milk
After soy comes oat! Oatmeal, oatbread, oatcake, etc. Oats have been around for a long time but only pretty recently have been popularized in milk form.
Pros: Oat milk stands out as it has the most balanced stats; it doesn’t take much water 🌊 or land 🚜 and emits a small number of emissions 🏭. Most oat milk brands produce healthy, vitamin-full drinks that can efficiently help with cholesterol 🤮, high blood sugar levels 🩸, weak bones 🦴 and more. It’s also sustainably priced 💰 as well as easy to make at home 🏠!
Cons: Because oat is prone to going bad quickly, the major downside of this milk is the preservatives added to it. Oat milk contains much fewer nutrients than cow milk/other plant-based milk unless it’s fortified (added during manufacturing). Due to the fact that most brands of oat milk are fortified, a high amount of sugar/preservatives 🍭 is usually present. This milk can be healthily added to your day-to-day diet as long as you have balance ⚖️ though!
Overall stats:
Sustainability: 9/10
Health: 8/10
Humanity: 7/10
5. Rice milk
Last but not least, we have rice milk! It ranks the least in popularity compared to the previous milk but is also the newest addition to the plant-based realm.
Pros: Rice milk provides vitamin A + B12 + D. It’s also a great source of calcium while being a low-fat and low-protein option. It uses the lowest amount of land 🚜 and can be grown in many parts of the world 🌎. As the possibility of allergy development was previously discussed, rice milk poses the lowest risk. This means that this milk would be safe(r) for infants 🍼 in comparison to others. It’s also the best choice for people who are looking for low-fat, low-protein, cholesterol-free milk. Rice milk is also sweet 🍭 so preservatives/fortification amounts lay quite low.
Cons: Even though rice milk has a bunch of healthy additions, it contains the least amount compared to other types of milk. It contains a large number of natural sugars 🍭 which isn’t the best in the long run. This milk does lack ingredients that others are full of so it may work really well or really bad depending on individual needs. It’s high in carbohydrates so it’s the least desirable choice for people with diabetes as well. Another thing to watch out for is having too much rice milk or any rice product as it may pose a health risk (especially for infants and children 🍼) due to inorganic arsenic levels. Rice milk, in addition to everything, produces sizable baggage of emissions 🏭 as well as is water-needy 🌊.
Overall stats:
Sustainability: 7/10
Health: 6/10
Humanity: 8/10
Overall, how can/does milk impact us as well as the planet 🌎?
Many factors are involved such as the acres of land 🚜 required to produce the milk, the amount of water 🌊 that can strain or shove countries into drought and the malicious emissions caused by the overall manufacturing process 🏭. As there’s such a high demand for milk globally, it’s very important to think of how milk affects us as well as our world. The main aspects that push climate change are the overuse of water, abuse/wreckage of land and toxic carbon emissions. Milk production/the process of production plays a part in all of these key factors which means that it is a definite criminal 🦹♂️.
The image above shows how the various milk types mentioned above compare to each other.
Some milk kinds such as cow's milk are horrible for the planet, for the cows 🐮 involved and can be harsh on the body 🙍 but others, such as soy are a lot more sustainable as well as healthy 🍎. With the increase in environmental awareness, humans are starting to be more cautious and considerate of the products that they use. Many times, milk isn’t thought of!
Here’s a guide which shows the different varieties of milk available in most regions. It demonstrates the nutritional value as well as individual components of each and is sure to help whilst making a well-educated, well-rounded choice 👍!
As the termination of this article nears, it’s important to remember that milk is highly loved ❤️ all over the world, is a staple in many people's diets and is simply gosh darn amazing! We as humans need to without doubt work on our methods to increase sustainability but each and every one of us can benefit from making small changes that equal healthy choices!
Wouldn’t we all want to scream for milk? Hmmm…maybe a small stretch but you get the point! 😅
In the end Milk is awesome!
Key takeaways/TL;DR! ✌️
- Milk manufacturing greatly affects global climate change 💡
- Each milk has its own pros and cons which reflect its health standards, sustainability and humanity in terms of production 💡
- Water, land and carbon emissions are the main contributors to climate change, all of which milk production plays a part in 💡
- Knowing about the different types of milk available to you assures that you make the best choice for your individual needs 💡
- Just because milk can many times be unsustainable/unhealthy, there are (almost) always alternatives that can be explored! 💡
If you enjoyed this article, consider liking it and feel free to leave a comment; I always love hearing what you guys thought! Suggestions and opinions are greatly valued and surely make for a better reading experience! Thank you, have an awesome day :) ♥️
