As farmers we are constantly enforced to conform with the next barrage of requirements, whether it be carbon footprints, measure this or measure that…. All whilst 3 different milk tankers collect in the same village!?

Almond or Soya milk, I’m not sure we can describe liquid squeezed from nuts as “Milk”!  We should really adopt the French “territorial collectivity” enacted in 1871 and 1884, where France was subdivided up into specific regions with a strong local government.  This allowed the opportunity for “branding”, for instance, no sparkling wine outside of the Champagne region can be called Champagne and this applies worldwide.  It’s a shame Cheddar did not have their own “Le Comite Interprofessionnel du vin de Champagne”, an organisation encircling growers, cooperatives and merchants who work with the Government to control quality, future direction, branding and enforce legal rights.

Animal welfare, carbon footprint and greenhouse gases are commonly cited as aiding the fall in milk consumption.  Apparently, grubbing up a rainforest to grow more Soybeans or Crushing some Almonds is “healthier” for us and the planet!?

Cranfield University suggest Almond milk is a poorly described product, containing just 2% Almonds.  Water, added sweeteners, vitamins, minerals and thickening agents make up the rest.  Beyond the creative marketing is a bigger concern, and the same stick used to beat dairy, beef and sheep producers – Water consumption.

Blue water is the name described for water used for human consumption, agricultural or industrial application (i.e. irrigation).  Green water is naturally occurring rain absorbed by plants and soil.  Professor Tim Hess and Dr Chloe Sutcliffe from Cranfield compared the amount of “blue water” required to make almond milk and dairy milk.  The result was as follows;

1litre of Almond milk requires 107 litres of Blue water
1litre of Dairy milk requires 8 litres of Blue water

When you combine the geographical issues of growing Almonds in low rainfall/dry climate areas, such as California, is this not aggravating the issue further? Hardly sustainable!

To grow just one almond requires 6.44litres of water.

I accept that both beef and dairy require more water to grow than root crops but surely these are more sustainable and suitable for a return on hillsides or grade 3+ soil?  And certainly, require less water than these so-called milk alternatives?!

Contact Wesley at wesleyhabershon@fcgagric.com , or your local FCG office.