COW

[Suzi888]

chooseveg.com/blog/documentary-cow/

Anyone watched this… I can’t bring myself to watch it, but it’ll be coming to cinemas shortly.

What is the best milk substitute you have tried? Specifically when added to tea, I don’t mind the substitutes in cereal but my tea tastes grim without milk.

I am grateful for the range of non dairy milks available too.
I care about cows.
I also care about chickens, fish and pigs etc, and haven't eaten any meat since I had an understanding of what I was eating (approx 40 years).
The meat industry is truly barbaric, and just because slaughter happens behind closed doors, it shouldn't be forgotten.

I don't use milk because I'm lactose intolerant. I'm also allergic to soy milk. I find most people can't tell the difference between Koko and regular milk in tea/coffee, or at least don't find the difference objectionable. If I'm making porridge I use half oat milk half water and it tastes much better than regular milk.

@stayathomer

Everyone seems to be talking about taste, but what about nutritional value, in particular for kids? Ds9 has excema and we've been thinking about looking at going dairy free but he adores milk, yoghurt, cheese and I worry calcium wise his bones and teeth will suffer, not least because both of his grannies have horrendous osteoporosis and osteoarthritis. Ditto with the b vitamins he gets from meat.

B vitamins you either need to take a supplement or eat fortified foods. Calcium is present in dark leafy veg (I blend in soups, stews and pasta sauce for my kids) as well as being supplemented in some foods. There's a school of research which states calcium in dairy is very poorly absorbed, and was more a marketing tool whereas plant based calcium is more readily absorbed. You do need to be more nutritionally aware on a plant based/ vegan diet as you're less likely to encounter all nutrients naturally. That's not saying that a meat diet is healthier, just takes less consideration to get a nutrient mix just the meat and 2 veg mentality.

Agree that I cannot watch it due - am too sensitive about this stuff. The problem is that the people who should watch it, won't because they don't care. There might be a few on the fence who will and who will change. Eventually, the uncaring MAY be the minority if there's a suitably convincing alternative, but most humans choose pleasure and convenience over what is 'right'.

In answer to your question, OP, oat is the most creamy and the best substitute.

My bf baby had an intolerance to oats unfortunately, so that made me go to almond. I'm just now back to oat. My children have cow's at the moment - can anyone point me to good research re. bone density, milk, growing children as my DP isn't convinced? Of course we can't NEED another animal's milk, we couldn't have evolved that reliance that quickly, so it rings false to me.

I love almond milk and oat milk - both great. I have given up all dairy and am so glad I did. I can' live with the cruelty to cows, calves and bulls - they are such beautiful intelligent animals. I can't trun my back and pretend it isn't happening.

I can't do it to them.
I stopped eating them 30 years ago then stopped drinking their milk.
Such evil treatment of animals is unforgiveable.

@socialcarenope I see I posted too soon and your post answers mine!

*can't live with the cruelty.

Many plant based milks and cheese products contain carrageenan which is carcinogenic and will slowly destroy your digestive track too.

Almond milk will also give you health problems if you are sensitive to oxalates. It's also not eco friendly choice as already mentioned.

Many plant based milks and cheese products contain carrageenan which is carcinogenic and will slowly destroy your digestive track too

Says who?

Oatly barista is great in coffee but not in tea imo.. it's a bit too heavy and creamy for tea.. I usually just get the Oatly whole or semi and it tastes really similar to cows milk. Really good in cereal too.

@MrsBerthaRochester caring isn't a finite resource. That's the worst excuse in the book.

@Scrowy if you've ever had a baby and rock-hard breasts you'd know the relief is why the cows want to be milked. I don't think it's ascribing human feelings. We're mammals, they're mammals. We're both programmed to want to survive, we both are able to physically feel pain. Emotions are servants of these two factors. They aren't some magical God-given human-only superpower. The more research is done into mammals, the more complex emotions they are found to have. Dogs can laugh, gorillas care for pets, elephants grieve. Emotions based around caring for young are...the most basic basic needed for survival of the species.

Is there a good environmental alternative? I used to drink oatly, then saw how it was produced and it turned me off. Almond milk is obviously out, but not sure what else? I hate soya for the same reasons.

For me….. cheap soya in tea, alpro soya in coffee. (Cheap soya curdles in coffee.) Alpro barista is nice - but not at £1.70 ish/litre. Currently on offer at farmfoods for 49p litre.

For my DW. Rice in milk, oat in coffee. Varies for cereals.

Depends what you like, experiment.

@Cam77

Cheese is the thing I would struggle with most. Is there any vegan cheese worth a try or does being vegan realistically mean giving up cheese full stop?

Give it up cold turkey then after a few months when cow cheese starts to smell like vomit try some vegan cheeses.

How is this vegan propaganda? It’s just video footage of a cow on a UK farm that appears by farming standards to be treated well, there’s not even any commentary. All these people trying to say the cows are happy, how did you come to this conclusion? I’m pretty sure most animals aren’t happy to have their young forcibly taken away from them over and over again, to be locked in crowded sheds most of the year with little to no stimulation then to have their throats slit when only a few years old.

It’s not about humanising cows, it’s about realising that animals might not be able to talk, but they have emotions and they feel pain, they’re not mindless robots.

Of course the cows want to be bloody milked. Have you ever had tits bursting with milk?

Yes, like many women here I have. Guess what, once you stop being "milked" the milk dries up. You thinks cows who aren't attached to milking machines are regularly exploding in fields across Britain?

@angelalansburysteapot

I don't drink cows milk, nor do I eat beef. I'm not vegan but I do eat a largely plant based diet for mainly environmental reasons.

Hypothetically speaking though, if everyone decided to switch to oat/plant based milks indefinitely, what would then happen to cows? They wouldn't be bred anymore as there would be no need for them. Would they eventually die out? Or would they continue to reproduce instinctively?
What would be the reason for them - genuine question.

The same could be asked about sheep & pigs if we evolved into a largely vegan population (highly unlikely but still..)

They would t die out they just wouldn’t be kept in the first place. Farmers only keep them for their products- there would be no reason for cows, except I suppose petting zoos. Same for all farmed animals if everyone became vegan. - and that would be fine

I have coconut milk in coffee and to drink and almond milk in tea, I know almond milk isn't great for the environment, but it's the only thing that works for me in tea. Can't stand Oatley, it tastes oily and I prefer something with less calories.

@LaurieFairyCake

It is 100% NOT vegan sensationalist propaganda

The cows ARE treated really well, there is no cruelty from the humans in the film - instead gentleness and soothing tones from what you see of the humans

They are treated WELL

Which doesn't in any way detract from the barbarity of a cows existence, it's life and its death

You can treat a cow lovely, it's still not having a great life - it's still an animal that doesn't get at a very basic level to live the life of an animal

I'm really grateful to the posters who posted about more ethical dairy milk - I'd do anything to reduce harm in this area 🙏 Thanks so much

I feel exactly the same about rabbits, gineuea pigs hamsters and all other caged animals but hardly anyone seems to care 😢

This consuming a lot of soya products and soy milk need to be really really careful. It’s horribly bad for you and can have lasting effects.

@COL1N

I drink Oat milk for this reason but 2yo DD loves cows milk- any suggestions for a milk alternative kids will enjoy?

@COL1N I'd try giving oat milk... my 3 year old enjoys oat milk and doesn't seem to notice that it's different to cows milk (or if he does, he doesn't care)!

Well said @Scrowy

I live in a dairy farming area of NZ. I see the cows walking to the dairy sheds, no-one is with them a lot of the time they just know it's time to go. There are things about the dairy industry I don't like either, but some of the people who are vehemently against it, and other animal farming, haven't a clue. On a similar recent thread one poster insisted that farm animals no longer eat grass!! I swear some of them are city dwellers who have never left the city.

@Cam77

Cheese is the thing I would struggle with most. Is there any vegan cheese worth a try or does being vegan realistically mean giving up cheese full stop?

It’s remarkably similar, both in taste and texture, to the plastic packaging it comes in.

They never post the videos of farms where animals are kept and sustainably with high welfare. The propaganda is so frustrating.