What's the most climate-friendly milk?

If cow's milk is so bad for the environment, what kind of milk should I drink instead? Sometimes it feels like everything you buy is somehow bad for the planet. And yeah, it often is. But some choices are better than others. Take food. It's responsible for a quarter of the world's greenhouse gas emissions and most of that comes from animal farming – products like beef and dairy. This is where plant milks come in. The ethical, healthy alternative to cow's milk. Right? Today we're going to take a look at which one is best for the planet and for us. Wow, no cow, no-no-no, wow! Greg is doing it, Greg is making progress and progress is perfection. Plant milks make up 14% of milk sales in US shops. The multi-billion-dollar industry is growing by 10% each year globally and riding a wave of consumer consciousness that prides itself on being healthy and not screwing over the planet. Now I know what some of you might be thinking: plant milks like these are really just for rich white vegan hipsters. But they're not. Asia is the biggest and fastest-growing market for plant milks. Consumers in cities from Jakarta to Delhi are getting richer and, with that, pickier. By 2030 an estimated two in three members of the global middle class will be Asian. Plant milks like these have even wider appeal because most adults in Asia and Africa don't have the enzymes to properly digest the lactose in cow's milk. I prefer non-dairy milk because I'm lactose intolerant and milk gives me a huge stomach ache. Today I'm going to show you how to make your own fresh soy milk and this is something my grandmother always makes whenever I go home. It has nothing to do with the cow milk. [It's a] totally vegetarian drink. But there are still dozens of plant milks to choose from. So I made this rice milk by soaking some uncooked rice in hot water and then blending it with a couple of dates and a bit of salt. The problem for the planet is that rice production guzzles water. Rice is grown in flooded fields where bacteria also pump methane into the atmosphere. These paddies are one of the biggest methane producers in the world after cattle. Let's add this up. Researchers from the University of Oxford in 2018 used data from 38,000 farms in more than 100 countries to work out the average carbon footprints of different foods. They found that a glass of rice milk has a third of the emissions of a glass of cow's milk. Rice milk is worse for the climate than plant milks like soy and oat because of the methane generated by the growing rice. Almond milk has the lowest emissions of the five. Let's take a closer look at that. Now, the recipes told me to use a "nut milk bag," but this is all my local supermarket had and essentially, it's just a cloth. You can also use a t-shirt even to strain out the liquid. To make almond milk I soaked the nuts overnight and again added some dates for flavor, blended it together with a bit of salt. Genuinely really good. I think oat milk was my favorite. Tastes bean-y. In the factory, they also spin the mixture around at really high speeds to just separate out all the fibers that come from these husks. Nut milks have a small carbon footprint because nut trees are expanding on to cropland and sucking CO2 out of the atmosphere. But almond milk has a massive water footprint. 80 percent of the world's almonds come from California, which suffers from terrible droughts that are getting worse as the planet warms. Making this glass of almond milk used up about as much water as having a shower. And then there's the bees. Beekeepers truck their hives across vast distances to pollinate crops in different seasons. The combination of travel and pesticides means tens of billions of bees die in a single almond season. This has massive consequences for us. About three-quarters of our food crops rely on animals like bees pollinating them. And the way we farm is what's killing them off. Making soy milk requires an extra step. You have to boil the mixture after draining and skim off the foam. This increases the shelf-life by killing off microbes and even helps with the smell. Soy milk is one of the most environmentally friendly milks you can find. It's responsible for less CO2 than rice milk and uses less water than almond milk. It’s been a staple in Asian diets for thousands of years. Is there an environmental downside? Well, yeah, but it depends on how and where the soy was grown. Enormous swathes of the Amazon rainforest are burned each year to grow soybeans. Now, most of this is used to feed livestock like dairy cows, but about six percent of global soy output still ends up in foods like tofu and soymilk. Oat milk couldn't be more simple. You blend, strain and drink. Oats are easy to grow without screwing the planet. They don't take much water to grow and their emissions are tiny. But even with these environmental credentials, oat milks have gotten a bad reputation. Earlier this year consumers boycotted market leader Oatly after it partnered with private equity giant Blackstone. The company has been linked to deforestation, which it denies, and its CEO has donated money to Donald Trump. This is really a tough one. Unhappy customers argue that by accepting the money, Oatly is letting Blackstone greenwash a dodgy environmental record. But Oatly argues that it's diverting the money away from harmful activities. The backlash doesn't mean that oat milk itself has been canceled. But it does show that environmental concerns don't just stop at the farm. Now, you might be wondering about the health impacts of all these plant-based milks. And if you're thinking about changing your diet significantly then talk to your doctor before trusting anybody on the internet. Let's look at soy. Some people are scared of soy milk because it contains chemical compounds that act like the hormone estrogen. Too much estrogen can increase the risk of breast cancer. But the science here is pretty inconclusive. Despite a plausible mechanism, studies in humans have found that eating more soy has little effect on breast cancer. In fact, many of them have shown that it may lower the risk of breast cancer. That’s why I brought in an expert. This is Marjorie McCullough, an epidemiologist at the American Cancer Society who studies diets. In Asian countries where women tend to consume a lot more soy foods, maybe three or four servings a day, they've seen an especially lower risk of breast cancer. The question for the other plant milks is whether they're as nutritious as cow's milk. Cow's milk has more protein and nutrients than any plant milk, with the exception of soy milk, which is actually really high in protein. Now, this is true even if a lot of the products you buy from the shops are fortified with different minerals and vitamins. Read the label, look at the label, make sure, try to avoid having sugar added to it. That's top of mind. Otherwise it's mainly making sure that you get enough protein and calcium. So where does that leave us? Well, the research says that oat and soy milk have the smallest environmental footprint: They take little water to grow and have low emissions. Rice milk isn't great on any measure, while almond milk kills bees and guzzles water. But compared to cow's milk the differences between these vegan milks are pretty small. And the range of plant milks available makes it more likely people will find one they like. So all of these milks are better for the planet than dairy. But if you're looking for really lower your impact then oat and soy are your best bet. If you also feel overwhelmed trying to make the perfect choice for the planet then hit subscribe! We've got more videos coming out that show the bigger picture behind our day-to-day actions.

Channel: DW Planet A

Views: 321,410

Rating: 4.6447496 out of 5

Keywords: DW, Deutsche Welle, Milk, Oat, Soy, Almond, Rice, Dairy, Climate, Ethical, nut milk, best vegan milk, why is almond milk bad for environment, plant based alternatives, why is rice bad for environment, vegan milk how to, how to make soy milk, how to make almond milk, how to make rice milk, how to make oat milk, best plant milk, milk alternatives, milk alternatives taste, almond milk, soy milk, rice milk, oat milk, almond milk recipe, soy milk recipe, oat milk recipe

Id: 3bTUXaNsQJQ

Length: 9min 20sec (560 seconds)

Published: Fri Dec 25 2020