CNN had an article about cows being bad for the environment:

[ME_Andy]

There's nothing wrong with a herd of cattle roaming. I don't think it takes a study to see that stockyards are bad for the environment. Anyway, I think coconut milk is delicious and agree that almond milk is trash.

[ME_Andy]

I'd like to try cashew milk.

[freebeard]

Originally Posted by jamesqf

Before we had domestic cows belching methane, we (in the US) had millions of buffalo doing the same thing.

The bison population ran wild when their historical predator was reverse-decimated (90% not 10%) by invasive disease. ...the humans.

There exists a Youtube video [citation needed] that establishes that roaming cattle fertilize the soil and can reverse desertification.

On my last trip to the store I got 64fl oz of hemp milk.

[Xist]

I paid an excessive amount for cashew milk a few months back. I finished the carton, but hated every drop of it. Rice milk has all of the nutrients you would expect from watered-down rice, but I think I will make my own and try it anyway.

Or just make horchata!

[Ecky]

Originally Posted by freebeard

Soy contains an estrogen mimic. And probably is a GMO.

So do many plants we eat. You don't see people telling us to avoid wheat, oats, and broccoli because they contain chemicals which react similarly within the body as estrogen. These things are only an issue when eaten in unhealthy quantities, but that's true of anything.

I eat soy, oats, broccoli, and many other things which contain phytoestrogens, but I try not to eat them in unhealthy quantities.

Originally Posted by jamesqf

Which is a normal part of the environment, to which the Earth has adapted over millions of years. Before we had domestic cows belching methane, we (in the US) had millions of buffalo doing the same thing.

Has anyone ever measured the methane emissions of humans? Particularly those on vegetarian diets that include a lot of beans :-)

The number of cows out there right now is around a billion and a half, far more than ever existed in the wild.

Anyhow, hydrogen cyanide has also been naturally produced by bacteria throughout history, and is a normal part of the environment, at some points in enough quantity to turn the oceans purple and cause the extinction of nearly all life on earth. I don't buy the "it's natural" argument - the earth's environment "naturally" swings enough to kill most life on it now and then, both as a result of one species growing uncontrollably, or from inorganic factors such as volcanic activity and metors. There's evidence that we're no different as a species than any of the others throughout history.

Originally Posted by Xist

I paid an excessive amount for cashew milk a few months back. I finished the carton, but hated every drop of it. Rice milk has all of the nutrients you would expect from watered-down rice, but I think I will make my own and try it anyway.

Or just make horchata!

As with dairy, other milks are acquired tastes. I expect most people could grow accustomed to drinking any of the "milks".

That said, it should come as no surprise to anyone that almonds, which have a reputation for being one of the least environmentally friendly foods grown, are environmentally unfriendly when used to make a milk alternative.

Not all plant-based foods are more "sustainable" and low-impact than animal-based foods. It's better to look at things on an individual basis, than to say things like, "well, I guess almonds are bad for the environment so I should just eat lots of steak instead."

[Frank Lee]

As one who did not create three or more spawn, I can eat whatever and however much I want and still have a wee little footprint vs the quiverfullers.

[SH@UN]

1) Cow poop = methane

2) Methane = bad for environment

3) Bad for environment = bad for us


Of course, all the cow feces in the world isn't probably as bad as one day of car exhaust from a city like New York or Los Angeles. It's all relative.

[Ecky]

Originally Posted by SH@UN

1) Cow poop = methane

2) Methane = bad for environment

3) Bad for environment = bad for us


Of course, all the cow feces in the world isn't probably as bad as one day of car exhaust from a city like New York or Los Angeles. It's all relative.

On a molecule to molecule basis, methane is 23x (or 84x, depending on who you ask and how you calculate it) more potent than CO2 as a greenhouse gas. It doesn't hang around forever though - it breaks down into CO2 after a few decades.

This is just a random source I found on google, but at a glance the math checks out:

Are cows the cause of global warming? | Time for change

A cow does on overage release between 70 and 120 kg of Methane per year. Methane is a greenhouse gas like carbon dioxide (CO2). But the negative effect on the climate of Methane is 23 times higher than the effect of CO2. Therefore the release of about 100 kg Methane per year for each cow is equivalent to about 2'300 kg CO2 per year.

Let's compare this value of 2'300 kg CO2: The same amount of carbon dioxide (CO2) is generated by burning 1'000 liters of petrol. With a car using 8 liters of petrol per 100 km, you could drive 12'500 km per year (7'800 miles per year).

Let's assume these figures are remotely close. There are about 50% more cows out there than vehicles, so cows are, in total, responsible for more greenhouse gas effects than all of the cars, trucks, and busses in the world.

[freebeard]

Or just make horchata!

Now we're talkin'. Yum! What I go to once the coffee pot is empty is apple cider vinegar, honey and stevia diluted about 5 to 1 with filtered water.

Frank Lee — Marxist feminist-like typing detected. Sad.

I'm in the same boat, but I didn't ask for this. And I could stand to lose some weight.

[Frank Lee]

freebeard; trumpian post detected.