Should somebody point out that cows actually produce milk, while soybeans do not? Seems like a pretty easy choice. Half & half in my coffee, thanks.

Sure, cows produce milk. So do bats, dogs, opossums and every other mammal. The fact that something produces milk naturally (although there is little that is natural about modern dairy production) is not in and of itself a reason to consume it, or not consume something else. Modern humans do not need to drink the lactic secretions of other animals to get adequate nutrition, including calcium. We mainly do so today because of marketing and habit/custom. There is nothing about the milk of cows that makes it specially suited for human nutrition. The ONLY reason we drink the milk of cows is that cows are large, docile animals that produce lots of milk.

Another thing the article does not mention is the link between the dairy industry and the insanely inhumane veal industry. Male calves born to dairy cows are the primary source of veal. Just something else to consider.

a quick disclaimer: i don't enjoy cow's milk and prefer the taste of soy milk. and i'm with you regarding the dairy industry fueling the veal industry, but i don't see how there's any strong case environmentally for soy milk- at least if you live in a place like upstate NY. When i buy Upstate Farms' brand milk that comes from cows on farms i drive by on a regular basis, i don't see how that could be more environmentally taxing than soy milk. Now if i lived somewhere that doesn't have a million dairy farms, it might be another story.

Soya is not earth friendly. It requires enormous amounts of processing to make the proteins in it bioavailable. Unprocessed, it contains potent toxins.

I live in dairy country and yes, veal is a result of dairy farming (the old 'one man can impregnant ten women but one woman and ten men still just means one baby') but it does not have to be cruel. Around here, veal calves live in 'veal boxes': little cow dog houses out in the pastures. Want to stop factory farming of veal? Don't buy it 'out of season'. Cows calf in February and March. Buy veal after April and you are encouraging false calving schedules, factory farming and host of other evils.

Methane is a waste product only in the developed world. Everywhere else, it is fuel for heating houses and cooking and generating electricity. We just vent it into the air. THAT is something that has frosted my cake since I was ten and saw all the vent pipes in landfills in Queens.

Soy is high in phytoestrogens. Eating a diet high in soya products can increase the incidence of breast cancer, premature puberty in girls and the feminization of boys.

Tofu

is

Soya is not earth friendly. It requires enormous amounts of processing to make the proteins in it bioavailable. Unprocessed, it contains potent toxins.

I live in dairy country and yes, veal is a result of dairy farming (the old 'one man can impregnant ten women but one woman and ten men still just means one baby') but it does not have to be cruel. Around here, veal calves live in 'veal boxes': little cow dog houses out in the pastures. Want to stop factory farming of veal? Don't buy it 'out of season'. Cows calf in February and March. Buy veal after April and you are encouraging false calving schedules, factory farming and host of other evils.

Methane is a waste product only in the developed world. Everywhere else, it is fuel for heating houses and cooking and generating electricity. We just vent it into the air. THAT is something that has frosted my cake since I was ten and saw all the vent pipes in landfills in Queens.

Soy is high in phytoestrogens. Eating a diet high in soya products can increase the incidence of breast cancer, premature puberty in girls and the feminization of boys.

Tofu is

Sorry, my system burped. Too much Silk. Anywho, Tofu is NOT and has NOT BEEN a significant part of the Asian diets. It has been used in times of famine and war to supplement protein from fish and as a texturizer in soups. Fermented soy such as MISO is a natural part of the Japanese diet. Breakfast, actually. The staple proteins at the low end of the economic scale in most Asian diets comes from fish, chicken and pork. ANIMAL proteins.

The American obsession with vegan and vegetarian diets is AN INDUSTRY. Just cuz the sign says Healthy Grocer doesn't mean it isn't a business. There are no extra rays in your halo for eating all that junk food I see at my local health food store just because it uses soy and rice instead of lard and wheat. It is still junk food. You all buy pigs-in-a-poke because you don't understand the basic issues. My latest irk is Kefir. Been drinking it for thirty-five years, off and on, and went to check out the version in my local organic market only to find it wasn't kefir, it was milk with added yoghurt cultures. There really is a biochemical difference between culturing milk and milk with added cultures. If the lack of a bite wasn't enough to clue you in....Ya'll need to admit that it is mostly the newest religion, the newest way to feel holier than them.

Me, I think we need global zero population growth. Most of the modern problems would self-resolve in forty years if no humans bred.

Well at least you have a realistic solution to the world's problems. That plan is working out super well in China.

The "zero population growth" tag was a throw-away, a snide remark. Actually, China didn't implement the 'one child' policy until the early 80s and so the effect is not visible as far as pollution goes. Current pollution levels ARE NOT the effect of excessive population GROWTH in China (where population is clustered heavily in some areas and thin as mist in others) but in rampant unregulated economic growth. Much as liberals and libertarians like to talk about keeping government out of things, it is one of the tools for which government works best. Human beings are not very enlightened and will often offer to pay you Wednesday for a hamburg you buy them today. Throughout our history, we have been more Whimpie than Prometheus. Population growth in China, as in much of the world, is not an effect of birth rates but of falling death rates.