Milk is not something that we are naturally meant to consume, but milk has become an essential part of our diets. The dairy industry has grown and continued to grow in recent years to just quench our thirst for milk.
Now startups are looking to disrupt how we get our milk and meat.
Humanity’s procurement of animal-based foods has remained stagnant for a long time. In the case of milk, we grow massive amount of crops using large swaths of land and other resources. We then raise cows, feed them those crops, medicate them, impregnate them, milk them, and eventually slaughter them. It’s intensive, requiring huge quantities of land, water, fossil fuels, and other resources.
The excessive growth of diary animals is bad for the environment and resource heavy. The incumbents in the industry are trying to get these products branded artificial and limit its rise in the market. These products are not artificial, they just happen to be plant based rather than animal based. It is inevitable that they will rise and grow and eventually replace the old ways.
They will have cost and scale advantages that traditional dairies and farms will just not be able to compete with. Also, it would be enormously beneficial for the environment, it may not be for those who are currently engaged in the dairy industry. Jobs will move and what effects it has on the hinterland remains to be seen.