The life-cycle assessment of dairy milk alternatives
They have been on the vegan shelves of our large supermarket chains for years: Dairy milk alternatives for adding to our coffee, pouring over our cereals and even fermenting into cheese substitutes. Does consuming these products really help the climate?
Short answer: Yes, but...
There is only one reason for consuming industrially produced dairy milk and dairy milk products, and that is because the climate, environment and animals are less important than your pleasure. The author of this article is complicit – I try to buy Demeter or organic-quality products, but the expense of buying for an entire family means I am not always able to.
It is clear to me, however, that the keeping of farm animals and the processing of their milk is (despite centuries of tradition) an ethically questionable and incredibly costly way of producing calories. An extraordinary amount of energy is needed at every stage, from cultivating the fodder to transporting it to the farmer to disposing of the liquid manure that emerges from its behind after eating it. Not to mention the kilometres milk has to travel before it finally ends up on the retailer's shelves at a price that is actually far too low. And, as we know, using energy is bad for the climate. And let's not even talk about the effects of the mere existence of cows and their methane-producing digestive systems. So, the less milk and dairy products, the better. And those who can use alternatives on a daily basis should.
Consume something else before you buy substitute products
For me, and this is my personal opinion, most dairy milk substitute products are not to my taste, and vegan cheese is downright disgusting. We're lucky that nobody really needs them. Anybody who develops ambitions in the field of vegan cuisine can educate themselves with the help of excellent cookbooks. And there's even a vegan wine and tapas bar in the Catalonian style, "Cor" by Zizi Hattab, opening its doors in Zurich on April 5. This well-known chef is no fan of substitute products either, her style is always to take the culinary best, yet simplest way to pleasure. I'm looking very much forward to trying these vegan tapas.
It's not that simple after all
But back to the environmental benefits of consuming milk substitutes: As a detailed scientific study by the WWF concludes, we have to differentiate. If the consumer's focus is purely on reducing his or her own contribution to climate change, all the plant-based drinks studied are recommendable dairy milk substitutes. But: "The results show that even with a complete switch from dairy milk to plant-based drinks, the impact potential is still very low. Moreover, such a switch in behaviour is currently associated with significant additional financial costs and is therefore not possible for all consumers." What's more: "Many of the plant-based drinks sold in Switzerland are produced in EU countries. The burdens, particularly in terms of electricity requirements for processing and transporting these import products, are therefore relatively high. Even for plant-based drinks produced in Switzerland, these burdens could still be decreased somewhat." By the way, nutrients such as those contained in milk are added to the substitute products.
News from Switzerland and a conclusion
Migros recently announced that it is planning to bring a new potato milk to the market, initially a product from Sweden – see above for misgivings – but with the prospect of in-house production if successful. And this is probably where we enter a realm where using milk substitutes really makes sense. Until then, I would say that organic dairy milk and dairy milk products are really sensible options for a child's diet as they are reasonably close to nature and highly nutritious. As an adult, you can then switch to substitute products. They are not decisive in helping the environment, but they are definitely ethically better.
A detailed scientific study of the various dairy milk alternatives in german can be found here.