Almond milk could potentially be a net carbon sink depending on the source, because having almonds requires planting an orchard, essentially a form of afforestation. Often, almond plantations are planted to replace previously deforested fields, where they are better for the local environment than those fields, including long term carbon fixation in the form of wood production. Obviously it’s still not as good as a natural forest, it’s still a monoculture, but an orchard is better than something like wheat.
However, most commercial almonds are pollinated by captive bees. They will literally truck in hives of bees to pollinate them. Transporting a hive places a lot of stress on it and many bees die in the process, plus, being forced to work in monocultures of a single species is not great for hive resilience or health. Of course, some orchards do have bees on site and don’t rent them, but even then they’re still captive and have their honey extracted. Plus that’s not information available on the packages at the grocery store. Depending on your definition, almonds might not be vegan. Actually, this is true for most flowering crops, namely other nuts, and fruits. In contrast, most grains are wind pollinated so they’re okay. I think the only way to reconcile this completely is to have wild bees and biodiverse permaculture farming, like what Indigenous populations did before colonialism, but good luck with that in our current capitalistic, money over life economy.
Some things about almond milk, a good and a bad:
Almond milk could potentially be a net carbon sink depending on the source, because having almonds requires planting an orchard, essentially a form of afforestation. Often, almond plantations are planted to replace previously deforested fields, where they are better for the local environment than those fields, including long term carbon fixation in the form of wood production. Obviously it’s still not as good as a natural forest, it’s still a monoculture, but an orchard is better than something like wheat.
However, most commercial almonds are pollinated by captive bees. They will literally truck in hives of bees to pollinate them. Transporting a hive places a lot of stress on it and many bees die in the process, plus, being forced to work in monocultures of a single species is not great for hive resilience or health. Of course, some orchards do have bees on site and don’t rent them, but even then they’re still captive and have their honey extracted. Plus that’s not information available on the packages at the grocery store. Depending on your definition, almonds might not be vegan. Actually, this is true for most flowering crops, namely other nuts, and fruits. In contrast, most grains are wind pollinated so they’re okay. I think the only way to reconcile this completely is to have wild bees and biodiverse permaculture farming, like what Indigenous populations did before colonialism, but good luck with that in our current capitalistic, money over life economy.