To be considering ditching cows milk?

[incognitomum]

I've been hearing so many bad things about it lately and after drinking it, mainly in hot drinks, I'm thinking of giving it up.

Stories of pus in the milk has put me off. Plus the whole way the dairy industry is.

I need to find a decent alternative for coffee though as struggle taking it without milk.

I've used soya for years, though some members of my family prefer oat milk. I gave up milk when I was vegetarian. Now I am vegan. DH also gave up milk is almost vegan and he was brought up on a dairy farm and was alway uncomfortable about the way cows were treated.

A lot of products have milk in even some crisps but you can read the labels. There are a massive number of vegan alternatives now as well.

you might feel better about the milk if you can actually see the animals

Or you might feel worse. You could look into a cow's eyes and try to imagine how she feels having oversized udders so that she can produce more milk, what it's like to be mechanically milked and how she feels when her babies are taken away from her.

Try Oatly whole milk (the one in the chilled section) it is amazing! I've always loved dairy and wasn't keen on any alternatives, but this one is so so good. We'd all switch to it in this house if it were more affordable. It's delicious

We have fresh locally produced cows milk delivered in glass bottles, low mileage, packaging recycled.

Oatly Semi Skimmed (not the longlife)

It is perfect in coffee and I even like it in tea.

What nutritional properties do people think cows milk has that you won't get if you give it up?

Personally I use coconut milk in coffee and don't have milk in tea anymore because I haven't found one I like in tea and don't drink it enough to be bothered.

Almond milk is a catastrophe. The bees alone (see earlier linked article) are enough to keep me from using it.

Another vote for Oatly.

Also, if you're interested in shopping more sustainably, you might want to try the Giki app if you haven't already.

Almond Milk is Taking a Toll on the Environment

sustainability.ucsf.edu/1.713

I don't have much dairy and can recommend Oatly Barista.

A lot of people have given up cow's milk who still eat cheese and butter, cream etc

Don't get me wrong, every bit heps, but it seems odd to only focus on milk as a standalone product when it is used in so many other items.
I include myself in this by the way!

Provitamil Oat milk is my favourite in coffee, it's really creamy. Oatly barista is good too. I haven't gone completely dairy free, I've cut right down because otherwise I get lots of spots. I still eat a bit of cheese, but not loads.

Average UK levels are around 200,000 pus cells per millilitre - that's around one million cells in every teaspoonful of milk.

Up to 400,000 is considered safe for human consumption. Gross isn’t it.

We use alpro oat uht. Its a great all rounder. Good in tea, coffee and on cereal. Oat milk comes out as being one ig the best plant milks fir the environment.

I agree that milk seems to be in everything.
I had some shop bought dips for a party and the Guacamole has milk in it (Tesco).

We ditched it about 6 years ago. I don't think it's good for you at all.
Your tastes change, about 6 months after a coffee shop gave me a coffee with milk in by accident, 1 sip, omg, it tasted rotten.

Yep I've ditched cows milk. Been using the Oatly brand of oat milk ever since and love it.

you might feel better about the milk if you can actually see the animals

I’ve stayed near a farm when the calves were removed from their mothers. Not dairy cows but beef cattle. The mothers call out for their calves. It’s horrible.

In the UK there are wide variations in the types of dairy farm. Some cows are housed all year round and fed imported cereals, maize and silage. Some cows graze for the majority of the year - our cows will usually graze from February to November and when they are housed will be fed grass silage, mostly made on our own farm. Other farms will fall between these two systems.

In terms of environmental impact, cows grazing grass will have the lowest impact. I really can't see how they can be using vast amounts of water. I mean, ok it falls out of the sky and makes the grass grow but that would happen anyway! And grass is also good in terms of carbon sequestration - taking carbon out of the atmosphere. Buying local, organic if you can, grass fed milk, is the best way to support farmers and reduce your impact on the environment.

One of my ds is lactose intolerant and we tried all the alternatives and got to agree that oat milk is by far the best.
Off to Google about this milk pus!

In the UK, as you can only buy fresh milk from UK dairy farms, zero rainforests will have been ‘chopped down’ for the milk to be produced.

That's not correct though it depends entirely on what the cows have been fed on.

Buying local, organic if you can, grass fed milk, is the best way to support farmers and reduce your impact on the environment.

Or buy oat milk using oats grown in the UK and support those farmers.

I don’t really use milk substitutes unless I really have to, such as pancake batter. Tempura batter uses just water, so I wondered whether you needed a milk substitute for pancakes and found this: www.workingmother.com/momlife/13527521/how-to-make-homemade-pancakes-without-milk/

Another vote for Oat milk here.

I stopped drinking cows milk about a year or so ago. I used to get terrible stomach aches which I no longer get. I also had awful spots and oily skin. My skin is so much better since stopping.

I will add that my eldest (only 7) has recently expressed a desire to be vegetarian as he's just realised that we kill animals to eat and he is shell shocked. I looked into meat alternatives for him and I've mostly decided that soya as a main dietary staple is not a good idea. So the soya milk is a no go for us for this reason.

If you're in the UK and can find anywhere that sells Provitamil oat drink then that's going to be better for the environment than dairy milk and then other plant milks because it's produced in the UK.

Does anyone know much about the environmental and animal welfare implications of sheep and goat milk? I imagine it's less bad than cows as they can be raised on poorer pasture, and also the males are valuable for meat and / or wool so there is no need to kill them at a few days old.

I'm happy drink soya or oat milk, but do like to have some cheese!