Stop drinking almond milk - it's killing bees

Almonds require an incredible amount of water (similar to lettuce), when grown in a desert (IE. California).  Environmentally a disaster. 

Yeah - the second story I linked says 6000 liters of water to produce 1 liter of almond juice.

Funny though - if you google something like "how much water does it take to make almond milk", the first few links give very different numbers that are much more favorable to almond production. I wonder if almond farmers are cooking the google search results somehow.

Hard to say - I don't know what the definitive data is at this point.

Stop eating oranges and broccoli, too. 

https://www.businessinsider.com/amount-of-water-needed-to-grow-one-almond-orange-tomato-2015-4

dave said:

Stop eating oranges and broccoli, too. 

https://www.businessinsider.com/amount-of-water-needed-to-grow-one-almond-orange-tomato-2015-4

 

 now now. let's not get carried away.

I wonder how much water is needed to produce a gallon of water?

I tried to do a little research and it is hard to find the truth, especially because so many variables can be included or omitted.  Generally what I found was that it takes a crapton of water to make almond milk, even more to make dairy milk, and unbelievable amounts to make any beef product.  So, any  one statistic alone may look shocking, but in context it is different.  What is odd is that California produces some 99% of our almonds and 80% of the worlds almonds, despite the arid climate requiring massive irrigation.  By the end I was so depressed I just drank a beer.

https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0959652612001369

Sorry FilmCarp

It looks like Soy and Oat milk are the best choices

https://www.bbc.com/news/science-environment-46654042

mrincredible said:

https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0959652612001369

Sorry FilmCarp

 I had purposely avoided that research.  Now I need a bottle of wine.

FilmCarp said:

mrincredible said:

https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0959652612001369

Sorry FilmCarp

 I had purposely avoided that research.  Now I need a bottle of wine.

 Over here, too many vineyards now rely on irrigation water. So even wine is out Sigh

ETA: home-brewed vodka might be an idea! 

Traditional Indian recipe:

https://www.indianhealthyrecipes.com/almond-milk-for-babies-and-kids-indian-recipe/

And a plain vegan alternative, to make yourself:

https://lovingitvegan.com/how-to-make-almond-milk/

Still not brilliant for bees and water, but removes some of commercial aspects. 

I have been googling around and found a bunch of recipes for homemade vegan milk, including one generic recipe that says that the recipes are all essentially 1 part of "stuff" and 4 parts of water. E.g. 1 cup cashews, 4 cups water = 4 cups (ish) cashew milk.1 cup oatmeal (not cooked), 1 cup cooked rice, etc to 4 parts water. Some recipes recommend adding a date or a tablespoon of maple syrup for sweetness, or a dash of salt. Basically just blend in your blender for a few minutes, then strain through a fine-meshed sieve or cheesecloth.

I haven't tried any of these yet but plan to. Would be curious to hear if anybody else has.

Recently tried Oatly brand oatmilk (the store was out of Skim Plus, and Oatly was on sale). Surprised at how much I like it, especially in cereal (my main use).

HatsOff said:

I have been googling around and found a bunch of recipes for homemade vegan milk, including one generic recipe that says that the recipes are all essentially 1 part of "stuff" and 4 parts of water. E.g. 1 cup cashews, 4 cups water = 4 cups (ish) cashew milk.1 cup oatmeal (not cooked), 1 cup cooked rice, etc to 4 parts water. Some recipes recommend adding a date or a tablespoon of maple syrup for sweetness, or a dash of salt. Basically just blend in your blender for a few minutes, then strain through a fine-meshed sieve or cheesecloth.

I haven't tried any of these yet but plan to. Would be curious to hear if anybody else has.

Yeah, I made almond milk a while back from essentially those instructions. Nut milks are not really my thing, but I recall that it came out OK. You should try it.

Haven't tried Oatmilk but a site I follow  LIVEKINDLY.com mentioned Dunkin' Donuts using it in a new latte. 

Pretty upbeat news on that site. Nothing graphic. Lots of recipes.

https://www.livekindly.co/dunkin-vegan-oat-milk-lattes-all-stores/

I've made a cashew cream in a recipe from The Millennium Cookbook as a base for a pasta sauce: Mushroom, Fennel and Dill Cream Pasta. It was a hit with non-vegans. Happy to cut and paste if anyone is interested.  

https://www.amazon.com/Millennium-Cookbook-Extraordinary-Vegetarian-Cuisine/dp/0898158990

Almond milk production is extremely labor intensive.  Very small udders on the typical almond.

drummerboy said:

 now now. let's not get carried away.

I wonder how much water is needed to produce a gallon of water?

If you use an RO system, the answer is a LOT more than one gallon.

RO - reverse osmosis?

Morganna said:

Haven't tried Oatmilk but a site I follow  LIVEKINDLY.com mentioned Dunkin' Donuts using it in a new latte. 

Pretty upbeat news on that site. Nothing graphic. Lots of recipes.

https://www.livekindly.co/dunkin-vegan-oat-milk-lattes-all-stores/

I've made a cashew cream in a recipe from The Millennium Cookbook as a base for a pasta sauce: Mushroom, Fennel and Dill Cream Pasta. It was a hit with non-vegans. Happy to cut and paste if anyone is interested.  

https://www.amazon.com/Millennium-Cookbook-Extraordinary-Vegetarian-Cuisine/dp/0898158990

 The recipe I linked to above is from that site. Years ago, I learnt to make unsweetened soy milk as I needed it from soy flour. I remember reading variation notes commenting that cashew flour, almond flour etc being suitable for pareve/vegan ‘milk’. I think the book the site quoted is from the Depression.