I made my own plant-based milk to see if it was cheaper

Plant-based milks have skyrocketed in popularity. But they're still more expensive to buy than cow's milk. Lucy Sherriff explores if it's cheaper just to make her own.

I often like to say that I was drinking plant-based milks before it was cool. I've had a dairy allergy my entire life, but it used to be pretty hard to find dairy-free alternatives – the only option I had for my morning cereal was a particular brand of soya milk – a thick and slightly sweet grey liquid. It didn't bother me because I never knew any different.

But how times have changed! The choice of plant milks is now intimidatingly large. Along with their popularity has come controversy too, including an EU-wide ban on giving products dairy-like names. 

This popularity is partly driven by consumers' growing preference for more sustainable food and drink choices. "They're attractive to people who are concerned about climate change and want to lower the carbon footprint of their diets," says Aviva Musicus, adjunct assistant professor of nutrition at Harvard's T H Chan School of Public Health.

Producing a glass of dairy milk results in almost three times more greenhouse gas emissions than any plant-based milk and it uses nine times more land, a 2018 study found.