Plant-based milks make up 16% of U.S. milk sales. From soy, oat and almond milk to hemp, macadamia and quinoa milk, more and more consumers are pivoting away from animal milk. 

And that’s a good thing for the planet. 

Turns out, animal milk requires massive amounts of land (12 times more land per gallon than oat milk and 18 times more than almond milk). And all those dairy cows emit massive amounts of greenhouse gasses into the atmosphere, too. But some argue that growing water intensive crops like almonds for almond milk does just as much to harm the planet.

In this episode, Tamar and Mike take on the dairy vs. plant-based milk debate and answer the question: “Which plant-based milk is best for the climate?” Tamar also looks at the nutritional value of plant-based milks vs dairy milk. And Mike convinces Tamar to do a taste test to see which non-dairy alternative might find a permanent place in her refrigerator (spoiler alert: it’s not almond milk). 

Have a question about food and climate change for Mike and Tamar? Leave a message on the Climavores hotline at (508) 377-3449. Or email us at [email protected]. We might feature your question on a future episode. 

Climavores is a production of Post Script Media. 

Resources:

Dairy vs. plant-based milk: what are the environmental impacts?

Lay Off the Almond Milk, You Ignorant Hipsters

Differences in Environmental Impact between Plant-Based Alternatives to Dairy and Dairy Products: A Systematic Literature Review

2019 Fluid Milk Sales and Per Capita Consumption

2021 State of the Industry Report: Plant-based meat, seafood, eggs and dairy

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