3 ms·

I’m not sure I understand your point here. The person you are replying to says that almond milk uses less than half as much water as cows milk to produce. So wh

by jjj123 2y ago

I’m not sure I understand your point here. The person you are replying to says that almond milk uses less than half as much water as cows milk to produce. So why would it be less sustainable if all cows milk production was switched to almond milk?

JohnMakin 2y ago
I disagree with the way that data is presented, it's parroted all around the web for years. Even the graphic is super misleading (as are most bar charts) - the water usage by cattle farms and industrial scale farming are drastically different. For instance, here is a report with hard data about ground water consumption of dairy farming in CA - much of the water is recycled: https://www.milkproducerscouncil.org/_files/ugd/318cf1_1f72adadd76e4bdd846f32cf3fb7c14d.pdf https://www.milkproducerscouncil.org/_files/ugd/318cf1_1f72a... So, based on the research I've seen on this topic, I think claims like these are misleading in a way I don't really feel like debating, because it's exhausting and laden with propaganda (both from dairy farmers and from vegans). In short, looking at things like "water used" is entirely misleading because that's not actually the environmental problem, it's about groundwater depletion - again, these topics are much more complicated than the way they are typically presented.
- gorbot 2y ago
  https://josephpoore.com/Science%20360%206392%20987%20-%20Accepted%20Manuscript.pdf https://josephpoore.com/Science%20360%206392%20987%20-%20Acc... This is a good resource, it discusses 'freshwater withdrawals weighted by local water scarcity' which I think is the same as 'groundwater depletion' but perhaps different. Also this doesn't talk about almond milk, only soy vs. cow milk.
- aguaviva 2y ago
  I don't really feel like debating, because it's exhausting and laden with propaganda (both from dairy farmers and from vegans). If you pull your data from sites like milkproducerscouncil.org, what else do you expect?
hindsightbias 2y ago
The cow number includes rainwater that grows crops. My meat comes from cows grazing in the CA foothills. The only almond trees left in the Central Valley are irrigated. Many of them from wells. Which are drying up. So they want LA's water, even though ag gets most of the water already. Have not gone through this, but it's a response to the sources studies. https://www.farmersagainstmisinformation.com/news/lets-discuss-joseph-poore-and-nemeceks-study-as-it-is-regularly-referenced https://www.farmersagainstmisinformation.com/news/lets-discu...

by jjj123 2y ago

JohnMakin 2y ago

I disagree with the way that data is presented, it's parroted all around the web for years. Even the graphic is super misleading (as are most bar charts) - the water usage by cattle farms and industrial scale farming are drastically different. For instance, here is a report with hard data about ground water consumption of dairy farming in CA - much of the water is recycled: https://www.milkproducerscouncil.org/_files/ugd/318cf1_1f72adadd76e4bdd846f32cf3fb7c14d.pdf https://www.milkproducerscouncil.org/_files/ugd/318cf1_1f72a... So, based on the research I've seen on this topic, I think claims like these are misleading in a way I don't really feel like debating, because it's exhausting and laden with propaganda (both from dairy farmers and from vegans). In short, looking at things like "water used" is entirely misleading because that's not actually the environmental problem, it's about groundwater depletion - again, these topics are much more complicated than the way they are typically presented.

gorbot 2y ago
https://josephpoore.com/Science%20360%206392%20987%20-%20Accepted%20Manuscript.pdf https://josephpoore.com/Science%20360%206392%20987%20-%20Acc... This is a good resource, it discusses 'freshwater withdrawals weighted by local water scarcity' which I think is the same as 'groundwater depletion' but perhaps different. Also this doesn't talk about almond milk, only soy vs. cow milk.
aguaviva 2y ago
I don't really feel like debating, because it's exhausting and laden with propaganda (both from dairy farmers and from vegans). If you pull your data from sites like milkproducerscouncil.org, what else do you expect?

hindsightbias 2y ago

The cow number includes rainwater that grows crops. My meat comes from cows grazing in the CA foothills. The only almond trees left in the Central Valley are irrigated. Many of them from wells. Which are drying up. So they want LA's water, even though ag gets most of the water already. Have not gone through this, but it's a response to the sources studies. https://www.farmersagainstmisinformation.com/news/lets-discuss-joseph-poore-and-nemeceks-study-as-it-is-regularly-referenced https://www.farmersagainstmisinformation.com/news/lets-discu...