Coffee can be produced in a climate-neutral way, but using conventional cow's milk in a cappuccino has a much greater impact on the ecological footprint. So what should we do? Stop drinking cow's milk and only drink plant-based drinks? We've made a documentary.
Whether it's espresso-based milk drinks or a splash of milk in coffee, product communication almost always focuses on the coffee itself. After all, it's what roasters and cafés like to emphasize—the story behind the bean, the flavor, and the producers.
But when we look at the ratios of the drinks, the focus on coffee in no way reflects the large preponderance of milk. In a cappuccino, we have about one part coffee and up to five parts milk. In a latte macchiato, it's even more extreme, with almost eight times as much milk.
It's clear that for many people, the taste of coffee is important, and milk can enhance the coffee's flavor. This applies to us as well. At the same time, however, we set ourselves the standard of being as strict in our selection of ingredients as we try to be with our coffee.
From “Who grew the coffee” to “where exactly does this milk come from?”
Cow's milk can be produced extremely industrially, as this documentary clearly demonstrates, or it can be produced on medium-sized and smaller farms. When we buy milk from regional brands, or even directly marketed milk, we can access information about the milk's origin much more easily. From "coffee origin" to "milk origin."
If we ask ourselves the same questions as with coffee, we would have to ask:
- Who produces our cow's milk, where and under what circumstances?
- How good/harmful is this for the climate?
- Who earns how much here?
And that's exactly what we did. I drove to Jonas Plattner in Reigoldswil, who supplies milk for our Café Frühling and the Kaffeemacher Café at Basel train station.
Jonas Plattner in the cowshed.
I was accompanied by Elias Kaiser from Metaproductions , who co-conceived and produced the film. Caroline Siefarth from Delica placed milk in a scientific context, and Daniel Baertschi discussed milk in the context of climate change.
Dr. Caroline Siefarth, Delica
The day with Jonas felt similar to a visit to a coffee farm. I tried to ask similar questions, and this overview emerged.
Small-scale organic milk production in Switzerland, using the example of Jonas Plattner, Reigoldswil, BL
The yard
- Jonas lets his cows graze on 30 hectares of land
- He owns 15 cows and 1 bull
The cows
- The cows are a dual-purpose breed: they produce less milk but a little more meat when they are older
- Jonas' cows live to be about 15 years old, which is very old in milk production
- the bull is part of the cow herd
- the cows give milk twice a day, a total of about 10l per cow
- In one week the cows produce about 900l
The food
- The cows eat only grass, in winter hay
- Concentrated feed such as soy or corn is not used, Jonas also does not use silage
The price
- Jonas markets his organic milk exclusively directly
- we pay him 1.85 CHF/l
- In the supermarket in Switzerland, 1 liter of organic milk costs about the same
- The purchase price for organic milk in Switzerland is currently (November 2021) 80 centimes per liter. The purchase price for conventional milk is approximately 65 centimes.
- Jonas can therefore redeem about 1 franc more because he markets directly
The subsidies
- Swiss agriculture is heavily subsidized
- Jonas lives almost 100% from milk sales
- In reality, however, this 100% is only 50%, because the other 50% are the subsidies he receives as a farmer
- in this respect, the cost-true, subsidy-free price for 1l of Jonas' organic milk would be double, i.e. 3.70 CHF
Key statements by Caroline Siefarth
- Milk powder is becoming more and more available, especially in emerging and developing countries
- Milk is extremely nutritious - milk fat, milk sugar, milk proteins, minerals
- There are different types of milk foam - protein foam (voluminous and firm) and fat foam (fine-pored and shiny)
- We absorb cow hormones. As long as we consume milk in regular amounts, it's not harmful to our health at all, because we barely absorb it and break it down quickly. Compared to the hormones humans produce, the hormones in milk are very small and diluted.
- However, more hormones can get into the milk through the feed, as can antibiotic residues.
Jonas' cows have horns because it makes sense to him.
Key statements by Daniel Baertschi
- Good milk = Ideally, the animal has only eaten grass and has been outside a lot
- there is too much milk, especially from cows fed with concentrated feed
- There are agricultural areas that are not suitable for arable farming - but are ideal for cattle farming
- “feed no food” - we have competition for land, it makes little sense to grow food (land) that is then fed to the cow
The cow is not a climate-damaging animal if it doesn't eat concentrated feed. It's part of a cycle. If the cow eats grass and stands outside, it's not a climate sinner.
- all who eat are connected to agriculture
- Regenerative agriculture is a system in which nature is revived - no standard, no certification, with the focus on healthy soils
- It aims to harmonize the ecosystem with agricultural production and regenerate
Cow's milk - where is it going?
Cow's milk, and cows in particular, have become increasingly the target of climate debates in recent years. When cows are used as meat producers, they have the greatest impact on greenhouse gases. When they are considered a dual-purpose breed, serving as both a milk producer and, in old age, as a meat producer, their carbon footprint is lower.
The discussion is complex.
Whether cow's milk is climate-friendly should not seem like a pointless question to us – rather, we can see opportunities to question things in everything we consume.
We should do this especially in the coffee industry, as we have such a strong focus on coffee and its origins. We need to be fair to milk and recognize the opportunities.
Alternative milks, or plant-based drinks, aren't just a trend; they're the best alternative for anyone who avoids cow's milk for health, ethical, or sustainability reasons. However, there are significant differences – soy performs worse than oats because oats can be produced locally. You can find a good study on this here from the Albert Schweitzer Foundation . If you want to get a good overview of the greenhouse gas emissions from coffee, you can find a good graphic here at The Conversation.
