I like the “In a Nutshell” series and their most recent one looks at milk (hattip Kottke). Although I’m a longtime vegan, I’m just as happy to see that a lot of the more sensational health claims for and against dairy have not panned out in the larger studies. For me, environmental impact and the cruelty of the factory farming system are reason enough to limit dairy.
There’s a great chart around 8:38 looking at the environmental impacts of dairy and plant-based milks, which looks at emissions, land use, and water use. It’s helpful to see all three stats since some plant-based milks look good in one category but atrocious in another. To the right is a related chart from a recent BBC article, Which Vegan Milk is Best? (hint: soy and oat are the overall winners).
re almond milk: The impact is understated, in that it takes no account of bees being unseasonably shipped and overconcentrated around almond groves where they’re exposed not only to bee pathogens but round-up & insecticides. (There are some organic almonds being grown, but hardly enough of them, or cheap enough, to be milked.)