Milk

[CosySnuggles]

Organic or not- I'm so confused!

Is there something else I should be looking at- soil association?

local obviously, but beyond that how do you choose?

Is there a difference in animal welfare, antibiotic use (I know there are no ABs in the milk in the U.K. either way, but overuse of antibiotics concerns me),

Gosh, don't buy it at all, the dairy industry is terrible 😢

There's no need to buy cow's milk - all of it is unethical and there is a multitude of alternatives out there now.

Oatly Barista is really good in tea and coffee, almond milk is lovely on cereals.

Yes the dairy industry is problematic, but so too are the plant based alternatives.

Soya is ravaging large areas of South America. Huge mega-hectare monocrop fields where nothing else survives. Requires large amounts of pesticides and herbicides that obviously have a devastating effect on wildlife. but also humans. A massive rise in disfiguring and life-diminishing teratogenic birth defects have been reported in soya growing areas of Argentina.

Almonds are part of the reason California is being sucked bone dry. Each single almond requires 5 litres of water. That’s aquifer water from deep below the surface. At least with cows’ milk in the UK they consume ambient water… recent rainwater held in ditches, tanks and in the topsoil/lush grass.

www.theguardian.com/lifeandstyle/shortcuts/2015/oct/21/almond-milk-quite-good-for-you-very-bad-for-the-planet

Oat milk is at least grown in Europe (Sweden iirc) so cuts down on food miles. Still requires intensive arable agriculture and all that entails for the devastation of wildlife. So ploughing, combine harvesting, irrigation, chemical pesticides etc. Being grain based it can cause gut problems in people who are gluten sensitive and is really low in nutrition for what it is. Requires transporting around large quantities of basically what is porridge flavoured water on gas guzzling trucks and ships.

The best option is no milk, dairy or dairy alternatives - paleo-ish and unprocessed. But organic dairy does play an important role in human nutrition, healthy soils and local communities. Introducing heavily processed, soil depleting, transcontinental, endocrine and gut disrupting plant based milks can displace something local, organic, small farmer and community supporting so look out for best practice dairy - ahimsa milk, calf at foot, biodynamic etc. We have many small scale organic dairies in the west country and am happy to buy from them - available in health food shops, the Coop and farmers’ markets. There’s no need to supplement cows here with soya/grain feeds, lush grass and silage is available year round.

Grasslands used to graze animals at low to moderate densities help to build soil and supports a biodiverse ecosystem which sequestrates far more carbon from the atmosphere than the animals emit. Grain and crop based agricultural systems on the other hand deplete soils rapidly and require artificial inputs to replace all the nutrients washed and blown away. It's estimated we only have a few decades of harvests left before the soil completely runs out. With peak oil/coal and no means to manufacture artificial fertilisers the outlook is catastrophic. Energy intensive chemicals and fertilisers are required by the ton.

We have a stark choice in what we eat… we can either eat “poo” - ie natural animal dungs self-applied to the soil, broken down into nutrients which grow the verdant grass, which feeds the animals which feed us. Or we can eat “fossil fuels” - grain based agricultural diet that needs the hugely energy intensive Haber Bosch process fertilisers to replace the soil fertility stripped out every cycle. The former is endlessly circular, biodiverse, nourishing and sustainable, the latter a linear one way trip to famine, desertification and malnutrition. We need local polycultural/permacultural integrated grassland, vegetable patch & orchard farming systems, not monocrop based.

Thanks for your replies, we don't drink a huge amount of milk anyway as dh is lactose free. And I agree oatmilk is pretty good, but we do buy cows milk for kids to drink and for cooking.

Is there a 'least bad' option to buying cows milk?

My milkman gets his supply from this place www.dalesdairies.co.uk/environment.htm and although it's not perfect, I like the idea if local, sustainable, low milage milk being delivered to my doorstep. Could you see if you have anything similar in your area OP?

Thanks @BahHumbygge, cross posted!

Thanks so much for your comprehensive explanation- I am just starting to pay attention to the environmental impact of my food choices (I know, but better late than never!). What I have learned so far is that it is rarely a clear cut choice and there are so many things to consider.

For now at least, we will continue trying buying food from local producers, cut down on meat (currently have 4 days completely meat free at home). Although perhaps be less reliant on soya produce!!!

And when necessary local organic cows milk.

It's such a thorny issue cosy. I used to be vegan. I didn't give up in the sense of falling off the wagon, but the fact I could no longer reconcile so many inherent contradictions with it such as butter vs palm oil margarine, local produce vs overseas cash crops, the astronomical numbers of animals killed in arable farming - machinery, pesticides, wildlife displaced by forest clearance/river drainage/lack of food etc.

I now eat mainly locally, seasonally and organic. Meat & eggs from the butcher who sources from farms within a few miles radius. Local greengrocer/market stall who get a lot of their veg from an organic farm less than a mile away. Apples from our own tree. Organic milk from a local farm from the Co-op. Don't eat any grains at all, apart from the odd GF treat. Not perfect though, I do get some stuff from Aldi for budget reasons - UK veg on special offer, tinned tomatoes, cheese and such basic groceries. Hoping to grow our own veg next year and get hens.