Xanthe Clay visits the Better Food shop in Bristol
milks” over the last year are up 11 per cent with oat “milk” alone up nearly 90 per cent.
But reports of the end of milk as we know it are greatly exaggerated. The amount of cow’s milk we are buying is down less than half a per cent; 99 per cent of households still have it in the fridge. Sales of cow’s milk last year topped five billion litres, with dairyfree alternatives selling only around six per cent of that.
Now it seems milk is fighting back. A study from Harvard University suggested that children who are given full-fat milk are 40 per cent less likely to be obese – a reminder that milk is good stuff for kids, a sound nutritional package, for the majority of us in the West who can tolerate it. Cow’s milk has more protein than plant-based alternatives – only soy and pea versions come close. It is high in iodine, vitamin B12, riboflavin and, of course, calcium. Sure, the vegan “mylks” are quick to trumpet that they have these goodies too, but their high levels are from added fortification, which may not be as beneficial as naturally-occurring nutrients – just as most dietitians agree that it’s better to get your vitamins from fresh food than from tablets.
The way we are buying it is changing though. For the first time in 40 years, sales from milkmen are rising, according to the largest player in the field Milk & More, owned by the German-based Müller. They have signed up 75,000 customers in the last year, making a total of half a million. Nor are they the only doorstep deliverers: small players are seeing an upswing too. If you are interested, you can track down a local milkman via findmeamilkman.net, many of whom are local farms so you will be able to check out the quality of their milk too.
One of the major reasons we are turning back to the milkman is to ditch plastic and go back to glass bottles. While Milk & More can provide plastic bottles, they say the vast majority of customers opt for glass. But before we get too misty eyed about a good old “pinta”, it’s worth remembering that high-density polythene milk bottles are one of the most successfully recycled plastics, mostly processed here in the UK and with about 30 per cent of each bottle being made from recycled plastic (they can’t currently be made with 100 per cent recycled plastic). It is much easier to recycle than “composite” materials like, say, the plastic/aluminium/paper sandwich that a Tetra Pak is comprised of.
Nonetheless, reusing is better than recycling, so washing out a glass bottle and refilling it makes good sense. Sure, a glass bottle is more costly to produce, so it needs to be used at least 20 times
WALTER ROSE AND SON
21-22 Sidmouth Street, Devizes, SN10 1LD 01380 722335; walterrose andson.co.uk
ECO LARDER
200 Morrison Street, Edinburgh, EH3 8EB theecolarder.com
LOCAVORE GLASGOW
349 Victoria Rd, Glasgow G42 7SA 0141 328 3303; glasgow locavore.org
SIOP ELLIS SPAR IN LLANGEFNI, ANGLESEY
‘We’ve had machines six months and will save 10 to 15 thousand plastic bottles over the year’
Church St, Llangefni LL77 7DU 01248 751117; facebook.com/ siopellis
NOURISH TOPSHAM
67 Magdalen Rd, Exeter EX2 4TA 01392 757200; facebook.com/ nourishzero waste
THORNTON’S BUDGENS
199-205 Haverstock Hill, London NW3 4QG 020 7794 0163; thorntons budgens.com
can be bought from refill stations across Cornwall