Milk goes beyond the cow
As you pick up a fresh, gooey chocolate chip cookie right from the baking sheet and bite down, savoring the crumble of the outside, a thought might pop into your mind: I could really go for some milk right now.
Milk.
An integral part of our lives. No cake or latte would be complete without a splash of milk. The cereal industry would die without it! The midnight cookie you snuck into your room just goes too well with a nice, cold glass of milk.
It’s difficult to argue that we should put away our milk-drinking habits as they’re woven so deeply into our food habits. However, going beyond cow milk (and other animal milks such as yak or camel) can be wonderfully rewarding and surprisingly easy.
It is no secret that the dairy industry is incredibly detrimental to the environment. According to the Journal of Dairy Science, the industry releases large quantities of Greenhouse gas emissions into the atmosphere. Furthermore, a study conducted by Front Public Health found that the industry has drastic effects on the quality of soil due to excessive pesticide usage, has lead to large leakages of antibiotics into the immediate environment, and is slowly affecting biodiversity in areas such as India and the Netherlands.
It’s clear that dairy is just plain harmful to the environment, and with the ever imminent threat of climate change, consuming the amount of dairy we are now is simply unsustainable.
That being said, the term “dairy-free” strikes fear into the very depths of Americans. It’s associated with veganism (ahhh!) and unnecessary dieting trends. Foods like cheese and butter make our life so much better, and it’s difficult to find substitutes for those dairy products that taste as good as the real thing.
So, we need to do this in baby steps. Let’s just take dairy-free and only attribute it to milk for now. There are numerous types of dairy-free milk, ranging from rice to coconut. The best part about these options is that they’re not synthetic, and they don’t attempt to perfectly replicate dairy milk. Instead, they shine all by themselves.
When I first began cutting cow milk out of my life, I was only doing it because I knew it was better for the environment. Slowly, I began to realize that some plant milks are just better than cow milk. The flavor tends to be richer, and many nuts are natural sweeteners in liquid form.
However, if you’re feeling some trepidation in trying to transition over to dairy-free milk, I would recommend starting with oat milk. It’s the most similar to dairy milk, and it also happens to be one of the best milks in terms of environmental impact. According to BBC News, while dairy and almond milk use 120 liters and 75 liters of water to produce one glass of milk respectively, oat milk only uses about 15 liters!
Oat milk mixes quite well with coffee, imitating the consistency of dairy milk. When used in cooking and baking as a cow milk substitute, it’s almost impossible to discern any difference. Your smoothie bowl will still be creamy and rich—I promise.
It might be daunting to go out and buy dairy-free milk because there are so many different brands and types, each with their own unique flavor. So here’s a list of my favorite plant milks!
Now go forth and give dairy-free milk a chance! Perhaps start by dipping a soft, chocolate-chip cookie into a cup of oat milk.