Big losses for dairy giant as plant milk popularity increases – Vegan NZ

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As Fonterra is projecting multi million dollar losses for the second year in a row, it is clear the writing is on the wall for dairy as more and more Kiwis turn to plant milks. 22nd August is International Plant Milk Day and there is now a different plant milk for each day of the week available right here in New Zealand. As the country’s green credentials are, like the cows, dragged through the mire over the winter cropping issue, diversifying into crops is becoming a very sound alternative for many dairy farmers.

Even here in New Zealand, it can take up to 2000 litres of water to produce just one litre of milk, not to mention the problems in certain areas of nitrate runoff causing river pollution, reducing our water quality, all the while taking up precious groundwater in traditionally dry areas of the country. The fact that so many cows exist is pushing up our greenhouse gas emissions, burping methane in huge quantities and of course breathing out carbon dioxide. Then there’s their consumption of palm kernal extract adding to the deforestation of Indonesia and orangutan habitats.

As people become more aware of the need to change the way we live, certain choices are being made. When you choose a plant milk you can be sure the resources used were far lower than the dairy counterpart (no matter what Fonterra scientists will try to spin to you). Many Kiwi dairy farmers are already exploring growing plants alongside their current dairy business. Hemp is often a great choice for such people as it grows in a diversity of environments, doesn’t require pesticides, herbicides or much in the way of fertiliser. We need government incentives to help farmers diversify and not bear the brunt of the cost. They need to be rewarded for doing their part for the Zero Carbon Bill.

Today’s plant milks are no longer just soy, rice and almond, now there are milks made from oats, coconut, cashews and even hemp, the next new delicious and nutritious milk out on the market. Hemp has a great protein profile and with omegas 3 and 6 in the right balance, it is ideal to keep your skin and tissue supple and supplies all the essential amino acids. Whichever plant milk you enjoy, you are not getting any saturated fats or cholesterol, while some such as soy and oat, actively reduce your blood cholesterol.

Why not take up the dairy free challenge for the week 22nd to 29th August to celebrate Plant Milk Day and get your chance to try one of the 34 vegan cheeses available in NZ!

4 COMMENTS

  1. Everyone loves a militant vegan.
    If you are on Facebook you should definitely subscribe to “animals are people too”.

  2. ” and of course breathing out carbon dioxide.”
    Totally disingenuous statement given that every single molecule of CO2 breathed out by cows was fixed by grass/silage/palm kernals etc that have pulled said CO2 out of the air. That particular process is 100% carbon neutral (i.e there is no net contribution to CO2 air concentration).

  3. As a farmer, now embarrassingly without a farm, ( gee thanks one time and now dead manager of BNZ Timaru, you fucker. How’s burning in Hell working out for ya?) I would agree with you re cows shitting. It’ll be a great day for cow kind when they don’t need two gut’s and can shit nice dry briquettes and piss champaign dahling.
    But one can only imagine what cow kind think of us lot. Not only did we tank the biosphere we must share with all living things but we kill and eat them too, but worse! We upholster our swanky car seats and house furniture with their skins! We must be the monsters in the horror stories they tell around the camp fire. I’ve seen the most wretched things down this here a-ways of cows guts deep in freezing muds and looking exhausted because they can’t lie down to take a weight off for the lattes that can be found along Ponsonby Rd. Did you know? That the lean, premium mince you buy at boutique prices at the Price Gouger Palisades AKA supermarkets is the flesh of those poor animals? Lean because no fat because they’re cold ( Burn fat as energy) and hungry because the corporate cowsploiter has them on a subsistence diet until spring growth. Then, they’ll give birth to calves they’ll love and will howl and bellow in their grief as suddenly their calves are taken away. Some of whom will be killed, sometimes with a mallet or a claw hammer while others are castrated then fattened for the prime beef that’s scorched for the polite pallets at fancy restaurants. The price a cow pays so as we can eat their flesh and sit on their skins is a high price indeed and the sooner we no longer bedevil the poor animals the better. Preferably with a significant reduction in OUR ever burgeoning numbers.
    The bottom line is a simple one. Farmers know what they’re doing and have the experience and skills to feed many people efficiently where as city people don’t.
    Biting the hand that feeds one is a dangerous irony.

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