Milk from dairy cows has a higher carbon footprint by any measure than any plant-based milk on the market, including soya, oat, hazelnut, cashew, almond, rice, hemp, pea, potato or coconut.
Replacing some or all of the cow milk in your diet and reducing your carbon footprint should be relatively easy from a taste perspective, because there is such a variety of different flavours to choose from.
Every type of milk has its own story though, with issues to do with any or sometimes all of:
- taste (hemp milk is bitter)
- cooking (rice milk does strange things when heated)
- health (cow milk is great because it contains calcium and protein, including all nine essential amino acids and so is best for babies)
- price (almond and cashew milk are often painfully expensive)
- sustainable production (some soya comes from deforested tropical rainforest land)
- additives & fortifications (some have added vitamin D or calcium, some don’t and it’s not allowed for organic products)
More info: https://www.which.co.uk/reviews/food-and-drink/article/plant-milks-whats-best-for-your-health-and-the-environment-arP1g7I4yCwi
