Which Variety of Nondairy Milk is the Most Sustainable?
Joel Hitchens
As the public becomes increasingly conscious of the importance of sustainability people have begun more seriously considering how much their diet contributes to their carbon footprint. This has contributed to the tremendous growth in the popularity of non-dairy milks. If you go to the grocery store you are almost guaranteed to see almond milk and soy milk alongside dairy milk, but you may also spot rice milk, cashew milk, oat milk, pea milk, or others!
When I used to work in a cafe I felt like I was learning about a new variety of non-dairy milk every day. It was really satisfying seeing the way different milks behaved when steamed and each new type provided a unique challenge in making latte art (I never got the hang of it with soy). It seems like everyone who regularly drinks non-dairy milk has their own personal favorites based on their flavor preferences. Personally, I like different milks for different things. I like oat milk in my coffee or oatmeal, soy milk in my cereal, and almond milk for hot chocolate.
Recently I have started making my own oat milk! It’s actually much easier than I had expected, and I’m not sure why I had never thought to do it sooner. I haven’t gotten the recipe/method quite perfect yet, but I have loved using it in my coffee and my cereal. I have been using 4 cups of cold water and 1 cup of rolled oats. In a blender on the highest speed, I blend it together for 35 seconds exactly. I pour the mixture through a fine mesh to get the large chunks of pulp out. After that, I have been filtering the milk through a t-shirt (I’m sure there is a better method for this part) and then it’s ready to drink! Although it’s not necessarily perfect, it is both cheap and accessible. Besides being cost effective, it also helps reduce waste. I have made myself three batches so far which means I’ve saved myself almost $10, and three containers. When I get the recipe absolutely spot on I’ll be sure to share it with all of you.
Thinking about non-dairy milk in the context of sustainability made me start wondering: How significant is the impact of switching to non-dairy milk on your carbon footprint, and are all vegan milks created equal in terms of carbon output? Fortunately, I didn’t have to look too far to start finding some answers!
Back in 2018, Joseph Poore and Thomas Nemecek published this paper through Oxford University. In this paper, “Reducing food’s environmental impacts through producers and consumers,” the authors evaluated the impact of different foods according to their land use, water use, greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions, effect on terrestrial acidification, and eutrophication.
If you haven’t read the blog post on nitrogen fixation yet, eutrophication describes the process through which nitrogen enters bodies of water and leads to lower oxygen levels. This process seriously harms wildlife and marine ecosystems. In regards to the other metrics, these are really significant when considering food production. Terrestrial acidification, for example, describes the acidifying effects different foods have on soil. When soil becomes too acidic it can be toxic to plants and hamper the arability of the soil. Producing and supplying food to people contributes 26% of human GHG emissions, 32% of terrestrial acidification, and a whopping 78% of eutrophication! Food production is an indispensable part of civilization, but if we want to become a more sustainable society we need to change our current systems and buying habits. If you buy more local food, right away you have made a positive impact on your community and sustainability.
Okay, back to non-dairy milks! After the publishing of this paper, Joseph Poore provided some of his calculations of the impact of several different types of vegan milks in comparison to dairy milk (from cows).
As you can see from the graph, each vegan milk surpasses cow milk in sustainability in every applied metric. For this graph, Poore only used GHG emissions, land use, and water use. Cow milk produced almost three times more carbon emissions than rice milk, the closest contender, and 4.5 times more than almond milk. A cup of cow milk required over 11 times as much land to produce as oat milk and 30 times as much land as a cup of rice milk. Finally, in terms of water, the cow milk used almost twice the amount as its closest contender, almond milk, and more than 22 times the amount used to produce soy milk.
So clearly, non-dairy milk is better for the environment than cow milk according to these metrics. However, which of these vegan milks is the most sustainable? Answering this question is significantly more complicated. Rice milk releases 58% more CO2 than almond milk, but uses 40% less land and 27% less water. Soy milk uses less water than oat milk and releases only slightly more CO2, so is it better? This is the downfall of trying to make judgements based solely on numbers. If you are especially passionate about California water issues, then you might pick soy milk over almond milk. However, if you are more concerned about the Monsanto soy monopoly and Dicamba usage then you might pick a different vegan milk.
There really is no steadfast right or wrong answer to this question and we could debate it for days. Ultimately, you might also just pick whatever non-dairy milk you most like the taste of! That is perfectly okay because you can always take solace in the fact that it is more sustainable than cow milk in almost every way. And if you really don’t want to give up the dairy, there are still ways you can lower your emissions like buying local, organic, or low-fat. What I would really encourage you all to do though is to try making your own non-dairy milk! It is really enjoyable to try to craft the perfect recipe and provide you with something homemade to share with your friends, family, and neighbors.
However if you aren’t interested in making some yourself, instead try to find some near you on Galora! If you are in Southern California, you and I can meet around San Diego and I’ll trade with you for some of my oat milk. On the other hand, if you are in Los Angeles, you can buy or exchange with Laura for some of her homemade almond milk! (forthcoming)
If you have any questions about this article, leave a comment or send me a message! I’m always happy to talk about the different articles here on the blog.