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Switching to meat and dairy alternatives is not worse for the environment.

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Fact Sheet

Lack of Evidence

The argument that animal agriculture is devastating to the environment is so solid that it can only be expected that the industry and its proponents would argue that alternatives to meat, dairy, and eggs are even worse. But this is no real evidence for this claim.

Almond and other Plant Milks

Claims are often made that plant milks, particularly almond, are worse for the environment than cow milk.

Related: Milk’s Environmental Impacts: Plant (including Almond) vs Cow

  • “Cow’s milk has significantly higher impacts than the plant-based alternatives across all metrics. It causes around three times as much greenhouse gas emissions; uses around ten times as much land; two to twenty times as much freshwater; and creates much higher levels of eutrophication.”[1]Dairy vs. plant-based milk: what are the environmental impacts? University of Oxford, Our World in Data Research Group, Hannah Ritche, Jan 19, 2022. Accessed 2022-06-26
  • This BBC Infographic, using data from the most comprehensive analysis to date on the impacts of farming on the environment, shows that dairy milk has significantly higher impacts than any plant milk, including almond milk.
click to enlarge

Via BBC Science News, “Climate change: Which vegan milk is best?” February 22, 2019[2]Via BBC Science News, “Climate change: Which vegan milk is best?” February 22, 2019

Soy

  • “When someone mentions soy we often think about foods such as tofu, soy milk, tempeh or edamame beans. This feeds into the argument that meat and dairy substitutes – such as switching from meat to high-protein tofu, or from dairy to soy milk – is in fact worse for the environment. But, only a small percentage of global soy is used for these products. More than three-quarters (77%) of soy is used as feed for livestock.”[3]Our World in Data—Soy, University of Oxford, Our World in Data Research Group, Accessed 2022-06-26
  • Percentage of Soy Used for human food:(77% of soy is used as feed for livestock).”[4]Our World in Data—Soy, University of Oxford, Our World in Data Research Group, Accessed 2022-06-26
    • Tofu: 2.6%
    • Soy Milk: 2.1%
    • Tempeh and Other: 2.2%
    • Oil: 13.2%
      • Total: 19.2%

Citations

References

References
↑1 Dairy vs. plant-based milk: what are the environmental impacts? University of Oxford, Our World in Data Research Group, Hannah Ritche, Jan 19, 2022. Accessed 2022-06-26
↑2 Via BBC Science News, “Climate change: Which vegan milk is best?” February 22, 2019
↑3, ↑4 Our World in Data—Soy, University of Oxford, Our World in Data Research Group, Accessed 2022-06-26