World Plant Milk Day promotes dairy-free alternatives
22 Aug 2017World Plant Milk Day this week marks what ProVeg UK says is the recent explosion in popularity of dairy-free alternatives such as almond, oat, soya, hemp, hazelnut and coconut.
For the first time, plant-based milk is being celebrated with its own international awareness day. World Plant Milk Day this week marks what ProVeg UK says is the recent explosion in popularity of dairy-free alternatives such as almond, oat, soya, hemp, hazelnut and coconut, and raises awareness of their many health, animal welfare and environmental benefits.
ProVeg is an international food awareness organisation with the mission to reduce global animal consumption by 50% by the year 2040.The boom in plant-based alternatives shows no signs of slowing down, the organisation says, with the global industry set to top $16 billion next year. The dairy industry, meanwhile, is in crisis, according to ProVeg: there are now fewer than 9,500 dairy farms in the UK compared with 13,000 a decade ago, and it has been predicted there will be fewer than 5,000 by 2025.“More people than ever before are switching to plant milks to improve their health,” said Jimmy Pierson, Director of ProVeg UK. “We are moving into a new post-milk era, where people make healthier, more compassionate choices that benefit all animals, humans and the planet.”“There has been a big cultural shift away from cows’ milk in recent years with huge numbers of people, particularly the young, realising that there is nothing you can get from cows’ milk that you can’t get from plants, and that alternatives taste great. Many are also questioning whether it is normal or natural to drink the milk of a different species.”Supporters of the first ever World Plant Milk Day UK vegan and animal organisations ProVeg UK, Plant Based News, Animal Aid, Veganuary and Viva!.