Milky Ways

But milk buying, as with many things in life, has grown more complex
and you had to decide whether to drink whole milk or one described by
such adjectives as 1 percent, 2 percent, acidophilus, organic,
lactose-sensitive or some combination of those. Predictably enough, a
recent trend has even seen buyers going back to the non-pasteurized
variety, now called raw milk.

One thing all of those choices had in common was that the product
originally came out of a mammal, generally a cow, but sometimes a goat.
Not so today as non-dairy varieties of products called milk have found
favor with drinkers who, due to health concerns over fat content,
lactose intolerance or vegan dietary restrictions, are drinking
beverages made from agricultural products such as soybeans, almonds,
hemp, rice, grains and coconuts. Animal lovers are also turning to
non-dairy drinks over concerns that conditions for cows can be
inhumane, a point driven home by a video released in January of a
Cayuga County dairy farm that led to a cruelty investigation. 

I can’t believe it’s not milk: Alternatives to moo juice are becoming more available, as evidenced by the selection at the Syracuse Real Food Co-op. MICHAEL DAVIS PHOTOS

The website www.godairyfree.org offers plenty of arguments for
making the switch to plant-based drinks by promoting the non-dairy
lifestyle as a healthier, guilt-free and delicious alternative to
drinking milk and using milk-derived products such as cream, cheese,
yogurt and ice cream as well as a wide array of prepared foods from
chocolate candy to cake mixes to frozen dinners and prepared desserts
that contain milk ingredients. In addition to encouraging consumers to
try the non-dairy lifestyle, the site provides product information,
recipes, nutritional data, retail sources, links to other websites and
a resource guide of books on related topics.   

As more consumers move to alternatives, local health food retailers
and supermarkets are responding with increased inventories of products
from such producers as Eden Blend, Diamond, Pacific, Soy Dream, Rice
Dream, West Soy, So Delicious and Living Harvest to take the cow out of
the drinking experience. At the Syracuse Real Food Co-op, 618
Kensington Road, seven five-foot sections of shelving are devoted to
non-refrigerated—the industry calls them “shelf stable”— milk
substitutes, while half-gallon, waxed cartons of rice, soy, almond and
coconut beverages share space in the cooler alongside conventional milk
and other dairy products. 

Consumers who grew up on cow’s milk aren’t likely to find a
substitute among the non-dairy options that will have the same taste,
texture and consistency as milk. A number of the non-dairy choices are
sweetened, one of several important distinctions from the real thing
that often mean a life-long milk drinker won’t find their first glass
of soy, rice or almond products particularly yummy. 

“That’s not realistic at all,” concedes Amanda Gormley, marketing
and member service coordinator at the Syracuse Real Food Co-op. “But I
think the purpose of non-dairy beverages is to pair with other foods.
Soy milk is really good with cereal. You can also use it in baking, but
it does have a different flavor.”

Syracuse Real Food Co-op cheese and deli clerk Matt Considine grew
up drinking Byrne Dairy milk and eating cereal with milk, but found
that, as an adult, gulping a glass of cold milk would lead to
indigestion. “After I moved out of my parents’ house,” Considine says,
“I stopped doing that and ate more real food and didn’t use milk much.
Then, when I started to try to drink it again, I noticed I started
having a lot of problems. The reason why I would prefer to use soy is
sometimes a lot of fat will have a negative impact on my stomach.”

Former Syracusan (and Syracuse New Times music editor) Nathan
Turk, now working in Washington, D.C., uses milk alternatives in
deference to the vegan lifestyle he has embraced for 13 years. “For
cereal I will usually use hemp milk or rice milk,” asserts Turk. “I
like the hemp milk because it has omega-3 fatty acids, which are hard
to find in the vegan diet. Usually you find them in fish. It’s really
to cover my bases nutritionally.”

Health-conscious consumers definitely have to carefully screen their
selections as the substitutes vary in terms of vitamins, protein, fat
content and additives. Vitamin D, for instance, is often added to cow’s
milk, but the real thing is a natural source of calcium and protein,
which must be added to many of the substitutes. 

“There’s no alternative that duplicates the nutrition that’s in
milk,” says certified nutritionist Christine Carlson of Fayetteville.
“The other products do not closely approximate it. You will get some
protein and some nutrients. They should not be called milk. They should
be called beverages—rice beverage, soy beverage, etc.—because people
confuse them and think they are getting nutritionally something similar
to dairy.” 

Individual health indicators mean you should consult with your
physician or nutritionist before making a decision. “The rice milk is
going to be a little higher in carbs,” Carlson says, “and usually we’re
trying to keep carbs down for one reason or another. I usually stay
away from soy milk altogether for numerous reasons. It’s primarily a
GMO {genetically modified} crop. There’s trypsin inhibitors that
inhibit absorption of protein. There are other anti-nutrient qualities
in soy that inhibit mineral absorption. I usually recommend almond milk
if they find that palatable. I’ve seen some almond milks that are
higher in protein. You have to look at individual products and compare.
People need to, with their health practitioner, assess their nutrient
needs and find a product that matches as closely as possible and look
at the labels closely.” 

Although sweetened plant-based milks may taste better, they’re often
not the best choice. “When I have people use an alternate beverage,”
Carlson says, “I usually steer them toward an unsweetened version and
let them alter that taste with some healthier foods, making it into a
smoothie or something, maybe with some fruits that add some antioxidant
benefits and not so much the sugar.”

One more recent entry in the not-quite-milk competition, coconut
milk, is getting raves from consumers for its richer flavor and
smoother texture. “I’ve had some coconut milk,” Considine reports.
“It’s more like the real thing.” 

Turk also likes the coconut version, although he has one caveat.
“That really is my favorite one to drink by itself,” Turk says. “It has
a real nice flavor, but it tends to be really expensive.”

For customers of non-dairy beverages, balancing taste and
palatability, nutritional values and cost can be a tricky proposition.
“You have to figure out what each one provides for you and then think
about the price,” says Turk. “Soy milk tends to be really cheap, but
sometimes it’s not fortified. On the other side of the coin, you can
spend $4.50 for a half-gallon of coconut milk, but then they fortify it
with calcium, iron and B-vitamins.” 

Real Food Co-op customers weigh in on their favorites by using their
purchasing power. “We sell more almond, rice and coconut milk than we
do soy,” Gormley reports. “I’m not sure that’s indicative of an overall
trend. My thought is that it’s most likely the case because soy milk is
so readily available at conventional grocery stores, so people come out
of their way to purchase these products here. Original flavored Almond
Breeze Almondmilk is the most popular non-dairy beverage we offer.” 

The complicated decision-making process may be contributing to a
surprising backlash. “We’re actually seeing a trend back toward dairy
with raw milk and a number of small, local dairy farmers,” Gormley
points out. “They’re farmers that people are starting to trust a little
more, who aren’t putting growth hormones into their milk. So people are
starting to go back toward that. We have a lot of milk and dairy
products where the farmers treat their animals really well. Cobblestone
Valley Farm in Tully sells milk to Organic Valley. They’re great. Their
cows are really healthy and happy.”

Experts are acknowledging that cow’s milk may still be a good
option, depending upon the source. “I don’t encourage liberal use of
commercial milk products,” Carlson says. “Grass-fed organic milk and
ideally raw milk, which is difficult to come by in this state, but is
gaining awareness and popularity, is a better way to go. There are
certified raw milk dairies in New York state and the regulations are
rather stringent.”

No doubt about it, stopping to pick up a half-gallon of milk on the way home has gotten a lot more complicated.

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