this post was submitted on 22 Jun 2023
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Dairy milk uses up way more water than people realize (i.imgur.com)
submitted 2 years ago* (last edited 2 years ago) by usernamesAreTricky@lemmy.ml to c/memes@lemmy.ml
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For some numbers:

One graph even has California's animal feed water usage so large it actually goes off the chart at 15.2 million acre-feet of water (it is distorted to make it fit as it notes). For some comparison, the blue water usage of animal feed is larger than all of almonds water usage of ~2 million acre-feet of water

https://pacinst.org/wp-content/uploads/2013/02/ca_ftprint_full_report3.pdf#page=25

EDIT:

If the image isn't loading for you, here's a direct link: https://i.imgur.com/EjVps9Z.png

EDIT 2:

Also worth noting is that per liter, dairy milk requires 628.2 L of freshwater vs almond milk requiring 371.46 L of freshwater. And if you use something like oat milk instead that gets you to 48.24 L

https://ourworldindata.org/environmental-impact-milks

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[–] vegivamp@feddit.nl 12 points 2 years ago (1 children)

It undeniably does, but what would be interesting is a comparison of how much water is needed per liter of milk and various substitutes.

[–] usernamesAreTricky@lemmy.ml 31 points 2 years ago* (last edited 2 years ago) (4 children)

Per liter, dairy milk requires 628.2 L of freshwater vs almond milk requiring 371.46 L of freshwater. And if you use something like oat milk instead that gets you to 48.24 L

https://ourworldindata.org/environmental-impact-milks

[–] Dogdroid@social.dogdroid.dev 9 points 2 years ago (3 children)

@usernamesAreTricky @vegivamp Oat milk is 🔥 .

[–] usernamesAreTricky@lemmy.ml 8 points 2 years ago (2 children)

For sure, oat milk is personally my favorite too

[–] 1nk@kbin.social 3 points 2 years ago

Love using oat milk for porridge. Double oat, so oaty.

[–] robotrash@lemmy.one 3 points 2 years ago

Same and this is making me even happier to be drinking it.

[–] Dick_Justice@lemmy.world 3 points 2 years ago* (last edited 2 years ago)

I've switched entirely to oat milk. I don't understand how it's so creamy.

[–] vegivamp@feddit.nl 2 points 2 years ago (1 children)

Of all the non-dairy milks I've tried, oat is the most palatable to me. Still distinctly prefer cow, though. But then i grew up on the fresh stuff, not the watery crap from the supermarket.

[–] Venutianxspring@lemmy.fmhy.ml 3 points 2 years ago

I make my own oat milk. Costs literal cents to make and you can modify it for you tastes

[–] dandb@kbin.social 6 points 2 years ago

I suppose I should have guessed how much more resource-intensive dairy milk is just because it involves animals, but holy crap.

[–] Adramis@lemmy.blahaj.zone 3 points 2 years ago (1 children)

Soy milk gang!

[–] Gamers_Mate@kbin.social 1 points 2 years ago

Drinking coffee with soy milk in it right now.

[–] chaogomu@kbin.social 2 points 2 years ago

I still like Soy milk the best. It's tried and true, and uses less water than Oat. Sadly, the emissions are a bit higher...

But a benefit is that in making soy milk, you have the setup to make tofu, which is lovely as well.

[–] Electricorchestra@lemmy.ml 11 points 2 years ago

Incredibly based, fuck the dairy industry.

[–] RedCanasta@lemmy.fmhy.ml 8 points 2 years ago

Meme with a credible source? This is they way (and thank you)!

[–] Dick_Justice@lemmy.world 7 points 2 years ago* (last edited 2 years ago)

So true. And as a sidenote, it's so pathetic when the (usual suspects) bust out with their tired whataboutisms and dont put just the tiniest bit of effort into researching it, even a little, to see if it's true. Heaven forbid they might have to actually change their stances under the constant flow of contradictory evidence to the bullshittery they peddle.

[–] query@lemmy.world 4 points 2 years ago* (last edited 2 years ago) (1 children)

Animal feed is a huge category, vs. almonds. Almonds registering on that scale is what's so shocking about it.

Edit: Not that it isn't wasteful, if you need extra feed besides grazing, you're in trouble ecologically.

[–] usernamesAreTricky@lemmy.ml 8 points 2 years ago* (last edited 2 years ago) (1 children)

The water usage per liter of dairy milk is also higher. Per liter, dairy milk requires 628.2 L of freshwater vs almond milk requiring 371.46 L of freshwater. And if you use something like oat milk instead that gets you to 48.24 L.

https://ourworldindata.org/environmental-impact-milks

Keep in mind here that 80% of the entire world's almonds are grown in California, so it's not surprising its a decent large user by size. Even despite that, just the mostly US demand for animal feed dwarfs water usage in California

https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Almonds_in_California

[–] abc123@lemmy.fmhy.ml 4 points 2 years ago

This is the mode important metric, thanks for including it

[–] metaStatic@kbin.social 2 points 2 years ago (1 children)

Hi, it's me, the average person, How is this a problem?

[–] pizza_rolls@kbin.social 11 points 2 years ago* (last edited 2 years ago)

Record droughts

The end of the entire human race due to climate change

Before that, climate change destroying your house or access to food

[–] Lobstronomosity@lemmy.ml 1 points 2 years ago (1 children)

This isn't a meme

[–] usernamesAreTricky@lemmy.ml 2 points 2 years ago

Here's a direct link to the image if it isn't loading for you

https://imgur.io/EjVps9Z?r

[–] nymwit@kbin.social 1 points 2 years ago (3 children)

If I promise to switch to oat milk, can I keep the cheese?

[–] pizza_rolls@kbin.social 5 points 2 years ago (1 children)

I mean any switch is doing something. People who try to switch everything completely all at once end up failing a lot because it's overwhelming.

There are some good almond and cashew cheeses though, and now they can make non animal whey that is chemically equivalent to dairy whey... So identical cheese is coming. They already have identical non animal cream cheese and ice cream

[–] CraigeryTheKid@beehaw.org 1 points 2 years ago (1 children)

yeah I'm not sure what I can do about milk/cheese. We've actually been mostly beef & pork free (from grocery) for several years, replacing with poultry, beans, and some fish.

but milk? man that's tough. we have kids, and we go through a lot of milk. oat milk would be expensive as a 1:1 replacer. small steps!

[–] pizza_rolls@kbin.social 3 points 2 years ago

If you don't do any meatless meals I highly recommend it for saving money. Our grocery bill would be insane right now if we ate as much meat as we used to. My go to is stir fry with an egg on top or a soup/stew. Dont even miss the meat cause it's so flavorful even without it

[–] leds 1 points 2 years ago

You need really a lot of milk to make cheese...

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