5 Reasons to Make Nut Milk Right Now
At this point, nut milk has been written about on the blogosphere enough times that it’s no longer a “new” or “trendy” topic. We get it: it’s healthy, it can be a contentious topic, and yeah, it can be pretty pricey. So why am I taking up blog real estate to talk about it? Because I feel like it. I promise I’ll share the recipe I use, how about that? Here are 5 reasons to make nut milk right now.
1) You are choosing to remove yourself from a vicious, non-renewable, resource-driven packaging cycle.
You know me and my loathing of all things shrouded in unnecessary plastic…hate to break it you, dear reader but your beloved milk of choice, regardless if it’s dairy or non, comes packaged in plastic. If cow milk is your bag, this should be pretty obvious: All milk containers are typically composed of #2 plastic, aka HDPE, aka “high density polyethylene” aka I am a total nerd and love writing out “high density polyethylene.” Sure, it’s recyclable but come on, we’ve had this discussion before. Recycling is not the answer! And if you’re sitting there feeling all high and mighty about your purchase of a carton of coconut milk, well…that’s plastic too. Rip apart one of those cartons next time you sip the last drop and tell me that’s just layers of paper covered in wax. Maybe 30 years ago before we decided shrink-wrapping everything was a good idea, but not these days. That carton…is also plastic. The DIY version requires no plastic at all. 🙂
2) You are concerned about your health.
I realize this is a very sticky subject for most people so I’ma tread carefully here…but I’m still not sure why we have gotten so wrapped up in cow’s milk that to even consider another option is basically sacrilege. It’s just a white liquid that happens to have a bunch of calcium and other nutrients in it! Nutrients that, as it turns out, we can get from other sources. Like plants. Now, I’m not going to tell you to stop drinking cow milk and eating cheese, because I value my life. I am suggesting, however, that maybe there’s other options out there that are possibly healthier than drinking a cup full of cow milk. Who’s saying you have to switch forever and ever? Not me! Just an occasional walk on the wild side. I am juuust saying. O:-)
3) You are concerned about your wallet.
Helloooooo, nut milk! I live in British Columbia now and here, a gallon of milk is over $4. $4!!! Buy nuts in bulk and thank me later. YES I know, dry nuts can be a pricey in bulk…but they last infinitely longer than a gallon of milk does, and can double as a mid-day snack, so think of it like a long-term, multi-use investment.
4) You love kitchen hacks.
Who doesn’t?! Have you ever had fresh-made nut milk? Once you do, you won’t even want to touch the carton variety. Infinitely creamier, fresher-tasting, and you are in absolute control of the process. It helps that watching a blender pulverize nuts is infinitely satisfying. It’s a DIY-ers dream! Get thyself to the kitchen!
5) You love the planet.
You knew I had to go here, right? I’m not going to go all PETA on you, but at this point, we know that conventional agriculture is totally screwing up the planet. Any time you have a massive amount of animals confined to a (relatively) very small piece of land, you will have problems. Conventional (large-scale) dairy production is no different. Conditions are often not great, and why does nobody question the fact that we are purposefully keeping a whole buncha lady cows in a constant state of lactation? I dunno about you, but if someone made me do that, I’d be pretty pissed. Again, just saying, do what you want…but think about it. And yes, there have been arguments made that almond production is highly water-intensive in often drought-stricken regions. Valid point and I used to be in this camp! With the help of the Internet, I found some data to validate both sides. Check out the excerpt from the Paste Magazine article below (and read the full article here, as it’s quite good!)
“Claims beyond the “weirdness” of producing milk with almonds include environmental concerns. It takes 23 gallons of water to produce a single gallon of almond milk. And when 80 percent of the world’s almonds are produced in drought-ravaged California, there’s cause for consternation. But on the other hand, it turns out a single gallon of dairy milk requires 30 gallons of water, due to the water required to grow cows’ food. So almond milk is still the more environmentally friendly of the two.”
So there you have it. 5 reasons to try something new and go whip up a batch of fresh almond milk juice. Here’s a recipe to get you started (for almond-lovers out there).
PS – allergic to nuts? NUT a problem (heehee). Try seeds! Try rice! Try anything!
PPS – Maybe this really isn’t your thing, this whole DIY milk concept. Fine. I now challenge you to go find milk that isn’t wrapped in plastic. If you were successful, how far out of your way did you have to go to find it, and how much did it cost? Was it worth it? I’m not saying this to be argumentative, because I applaud dairies that are bringing the glass bottle back! I myself have been known to pick up a bottle of chocolate milk packaged in glass every so often. What I’m trying to say is that at some point, all the driving around and searching to find that perfect bottle of milk is going to add up, make you wonder why you even bothered, and convince you to get to the bulk section of your nearest grocery store and buy some dang raw almonds already… 😉
