By far the largest producer of almonds is the USA, I think California mostly, which in itself has a large environmental impact, not least because of the water required. I am in the UK so I can reasonably assume that a lot of the almond milk I see in supermarkets comes from Californian almonds somehow shipped half across the world, whereas there are cows within walking distance from my home. And, of course, in any case there is no actual dietary need for people to drink either milk or milk alternatives (though most people here would argue that milk is required in tea...)
Frankly, this is no more than commercial interests vs. other commercial interests and most people are not interested in complexity, they want simple 'solutions' to feel good.
For instance, it states that producing one litre of dairy milk requires more water than producing one litre of almond milk. OK, and? In itself it means little. Almond farming is creating big water pressure in California, which is already water-stressed. Is having cows in England creating the same water issue? I don't know.
It's not clear what the proportion of transport is in the total emissions. 'Transport' is also vague as it can go from local to intercontinental, as mentioned.
> If you want to reduce the environmental footprint of your diet, switching to plant-based alternatives is a good option.
That strikes me again as avoiding the glaringly obvious option: reduce/stop milk consumption. Otherwise, it sounds like marketing for one product over another one.
Alfalfa: Beef/Dairy
Pasture: Beef/dairy
Corn: Beef/dairy
Grain: Beef/dairy
Alfalfa alone uses more water than almonds… it’s just called alfalfa instead of beef.
https://pacinst.org/wp-content/uploads/2015/04/CA-Ag-Water-U...
The way you formulate this statement makes it sound like there is some controversy or room for interpretation here.
Put yourself in the position of a typical milk producing cow. Imagine giving birth to a child that's taken away from you and you never see him/her again (usually to be instantly slaughtered). All just so you start lactating and the milk can be extracted from you.
I still drink mill and eat cheese, but it's pretty damn gruesome if you put any thought into it.
Gen Z has been encouraged to ditch milk to cut back on industrial cattle farming and methane emissions. They're also told that farming cattle is inhumane.
The milk alternatives (almond, etc.) have been framing it this way commercially, but there is also a lot of grassroots campaigning.