Oat milk makes a splash

No more dairy default 

JAYLYNN CHOI / CONTRIBUTOR / THE USD VISTA

MIKHALA KASEWETER / CONTRIBUTOR / THE USD VISTA

In recent years, oat milk has taken the world by storm, and for a good reason: oat milk is the most sustainable, inclusive and ethical choice compared to dairy products and plant-based alternatives. Coffee chains such as Blue Bottle Coffee and Pachamama Coffee have announced that they will welcome oat milk as the default in their milk-based beverages. 

Of plant-based drinks, the oat    milk    industry  has  seen the     most   growth   by    far,   with mainstream coffee businesses like Starbucks offering oat milk-exclusive specialty drinks. This industry  trend has since spread  to  college  campuses; University College London has adopted   an   oat   milk  default  in four of   their    campus    cafes.   And now,   USD   is   at   the   forefront        of the movement to adopt oat milk as the default for colleges and universities in the United States.

The “Oat Milk Initiative” project that won the 2021 Changemaker Challenge was proposed by third-year students Julia Kanamine Surrick and Catalina Martinez. In the spring of 2022, a team of students — part of the Changemaker Hub’s Design Lab: Climate Alliance Edition — took on the project and further developed the idea. Over the past year, they worked with Dining Services and nonprofits Farm Forward and Better Food Foundation to design and test the viability of the oat milk default project. The team behind the initiative and the pilot include students Jessica Lefford, Sophia Arena, Cassandra Gonzalez, Julia Humphrey, Colton Landaiche, Katherine Power, Maria Guadalupe Mendez Arroyo, and myself. 

Prior to April, milk alternatives such as almond, soy and oat cost an extra 75 cents at all of USD’s dining services, which is often a barrier for students who are vegan, lactose intolerant, allergic to soy/almond, practicing members of certain religions, or just prefer plant-based alternatives in their beverages. 

During the month of April and in celebration of Earth Day, the Oat Milk Default pilot will run only at Aromas Cafe, switching the default milk from dairy milk to oat milk at no additional cost. (Note: students will be able to opt into dairy milk and other plant-based alternatives such as almond and soy still cost 75 cents). This is a major achievement for USD, as it will be the first university in the United States to implement oat milk as the default in their cafe and aligns with USD’s commitment to sustainability. 

Just like countless other cafes, dairy has always been the default at Aromas. Dairy has historically been the norm in American society. In an interview with Vox, author Alissa Hamilton explained how milk has been marketed as more necessary than it actually is. 

“Milk is the only food that makes up an entire food group,” she wrote. “If you look at it logically, it doesn’t deserve that special status any more than pumpkin seeds deserve that just because they’re high in magnesium — which is an essential nutrient Americans are low in.”

Most people accept the health benefits of milk as common knowledge, and for good reason; coffee menus have been structured to make dairy the norm and make plant-based alternatives cost slightly extra. It’s what we’re used to, but that doesn’t mean it’s the way of the future. Flipping the default doesn’t eliminate options; it just changes the norm, so the sustainable option is served automatically and affordably.

Having oat milk by default is not just accommodating vegans or those with food sensitivities, but it is a part of a bigger movement that allows USD to meet its own carbon-reduction goals. According to a study by the University of Oxford, dairy milk by far has significantly higher environmental impacts than any other plant-based alternative. Almond milk famously requires a lot of irrigation, but all plant-based milks have much smaller land and carbon footprints than dairy. In comparison to dairy milk, the production of oat milk emits three times less carbon emissions, requires nine times less land and three times less water. This is essentially important as Southern California is currently in a years-long drought.  

To put things further into perspective, it’s estimated by the Better Food Foundation that one non-dairy latte saves 0.143 kg CO2. That means if one person bought a plant-based coffee every weekday for a month, they would save almost 3 kilograms of carbon dioxide. Rather than settling for the option of oat milk, making it the standard allows students to participate in sustainable food choices at higher rates and no extra cost. 

Oat milk as a default is not only the best option for the environment, but it is also more beneficial for marginalized communities. The dairy industry runs on the labor of the working class, such as Black and Latinx communities, who are disproportionately affected by climate change. Immigrant workers make up nearly 75% of the dairy farm workforce and depend on the industry for their livelihoods. However, it is also important to acknowledge that immigrants, most of whom are undocumented, are subject to wage theft and harsh working conditions according to an article by Documented. On the other hand, no statistics reveal the exploitation of workers in the oat milk industry, and most oats are imported from Saskatchewan, Canada. 

Non-dairy milk benefits marginalized communities on the consumption side as well. According to an article by Intermountain Healthcare, lactose intolerance is most common among minorities, with 75%-90% of African American, Mexican American and Asian Americans unable to digest lactose while northern Europeans have a lower rate at 18-26%. As USD’s student body   is  becoming  more diverse, institutional changes in    the   form   of   inclusive     food policies such as the oat milk default are important to creating an inclusive campus. 

Lastly, oat milk is more heart-healthy than dairy milk. During the pilot, Aromas will be using Silk Original Oat Milk as the default which is free from dairy, gluten, nuts, and soy, and contains 50% more calcium than dairy milk. (Just like how dairy milk is fortified by manufacturers with Vitamin D, plant milks are often fortified during production to have just as much or even more calcium as dairy).

 Also, oat milk has lower saturated fat and more fiber than dairy milk, and like all other plant-based milks, has zero cholesterol. While other plant-based milks such as pea or soy milk have higher protein content, oatmilk remains a favorite of the coffee industry, because its rich creaminess is best at mimicking the fattiness of dairy milk. 

As the oat milk default pilot will occur only during the month of April, the voices of students will determine whether or not this should be a permanent change. 

Whenever they need a morning    cup  of  coffee, students   and  faculty  can provide feedback   by  visiting  https://bit.ly/oat-feedback  or scanning the QR code at the Aromas register. 

This oatmilk initiative is an important hallmark worth celebrating. Using oatmilk by    default  advances  the university’s mission by making our  community   more    inclusive,   and  aligns with  USD’s official  vision by  “confronting  humanity’s urgent challenges”: climate change, racial  justice,  public health, human  rights and animal welfare.