By Barb Lumley
One of the subjects
getting a lot of attention and discussion among dairy farmers and
consumers is “plant-based” milk. It can be found in the
dairy case right alongside the cow’s
milk. Many of the containers are very colorful and
attention-getting. We are also seeing
numerous appealing ads for these “fake milks” on television
and in magazines. All of this has
brought about one of my late night spells of just thinkin’.
Let’s talk about one
of the most popular ones, almond milk. In order to become a
contributor to the production of almond milk, the farmer
must first plant almonds. The
almonds then begin to grow as small trees. When the trees
are mature, they will produce a
crop of almonds. When the almonds are ready they will be
harvested and trucked to a plant
that makes almond milk. They will be placed in a machine
with several parts that work
together to crush the almonds. Water will be added and the
mixture will be allowed to sit until
the proper stage is achieved. It will then be strained to
separate the liquid from the pulp. Then
additives such as sea salt, starch, stabilizer, carrageenan
(made from red seaweed), flavoring,
spring water, calcium carbonate, tapioca and lecithin are
often added to the liquid. When the
desired product is achieved, it is packaged and sent to the
grocery stores. Research is being
done to find ways to incorporate almond byproducts into
other industries. Almond milk is
called a plant-based milk however those almonds come from
trees, so shouldn’t it be referred
to as “tree-based” milk?
Now let’s talk about
the dairy farmer and his contribution to the production of milk. In order
to produce his product, he must first plant seeds to grow
alfalfa, rye, and other forages to
harvest for hay or silage and corn for corn silage. These
plants will come up and grow until they
are ready for harvesting. He will also need a proper feed
ration that will be made from various
grains and ingredients that also come from seeds and plants.
Great care is taken in selecting
the various crops used. The forages and concentrates will
then be fed into a mobile processing
unit that has many working parts. Water will be added and
the plant products will be chewed,
swallowed, and then re-chewed and will work their way
through the mobile processing unit,
where they will be utilized in creating the product. Among
the many parts in the mobile
processing unit are four that are most important in the
processing and finishing of the product.
The product is then extracted using special machines for
that purpose. The product is then
strained and cooled and stored in large tanks where it will
remain until picked up by huge tank
trucks to be taken to the processor. There is no need to put
any additives in the dairy farmer’s
product, as it already contains calcium, protein,
riboflavin, and potassium. No need for
flavoring, as it already tastes good. Waste products that
are left from the mobile processing
unit are all natural and are returned to fields and gardens
to enrich the soil. The dairy farmer
strives to keep his mobile processing unit in good working
condition and turning out lots of the
product.
Milk is not only
consumed by many people, it is used to make numerous different dairy
products – ice cream, cottage cheese, yogurt, butter and
many kinds of cheese. The product
begins with plants and plants are consumed by the mobile
processing unit all through the
process of making milk. Everyone who knows me knows that I
am good at expressing my
opinion! Therefore, after thinking about these facts, it is
my opinion that cow’s milk and all
dairy products made from it should be referred to as “plant
based” and labeled as “plant
based” in advertising. I rest my case!!