The Oatly Chronicles Part 1: The Big Dairy Problem
Oct 18, 2023
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This podcast episode explores the rise of oat milk as a sustainable alternative to dairy and discusses the environmental impact of the dairy industry. It also dives into Oatly as a case study of green capitalism and the complicated European dairy industry. Can a Swedish start-up save us all through capitalism?
The podcast highlights the environmental impacts of dairy farming, including land use, water pollution, greenhouse gas emissions, and animal welfare concerns.
It discusses the need to reduce dairy consumption in Europe and presents oat and soy milk as more sustainable alternatives.
Deep dives
The Rise of Oat Milk
This podcast episode delves into the rise of oat milk, specifically focusing on the Swedish oat milk company, Oatly. Oatly's rebranding and marketing efforts have sparked conversations about the impact of dairy on the planet, highlighting issues such as land use, water pollution, greenhouse gas emissions, animal welfare, and political influence. The episode emphasizes the need to reduce dairy consumption in Europe, where dairy consumption is still increasing. It also discusses the benefits of plant-based milks, with oat and soy milk emerging as more sustainable options. The episode explores the tension between EU policies promoting plant-based diets and the powerful dairy lobby, and raises questions about the potential for green capitalism to address these environmental concerns.
The Impacts of Dairy Farming
This podcast sheds light on the environmental impacts of dairy farming. It highlights that dairy farming requires substantial land, contributing to deforestation and loss of wildlife habitats. The episode discusses water pollution caused by excessive animal waste and the release of methane, a potent greenhouse gas, from cows. It also addresses concerns about animal welfare, the exploitation of workers in the industry, and the political power of big dairy companies. The podcast emphasizes the urgent need to reduce dairy consumption and presents plant-based milks, particularly oat and soy milk, as more sustainable alternatives.
The Challenges of Reducing Dairy Consumption
This podcast episode explores the challenges and implications of reducing dairy consumption. It highlights the disproportionate dairy consumption in Europe and the conflicting messages from EU policies. The podcast discusses the difficulty of giving up cheese and the need for further research on the long-term health impacts of plant-based diets. It emphasizes the importance of reducing dairy consumption to mitigate climate change and suggests that even reducing dairy, rather than eliminating it completely, can have a positive impact. The episode also raises questions about the power of the dairy industry, the influence of subsidies, and the role of companies like Oatly in promoting sustainable alternatives.
In 1994, the world’s first oat milk company was born in Sweden. Three decades later, Oatly is on a high-stakes mission to defeat the dairy industry – by growing into the biggest plant-based brand the world has ever seen.
Can a start-up from Malmö save us all through capitalism? This is the first episode in a three-part series, ‘The Oatly Chronicles’. This week we’re asking: just how much damage is our dairy addiction doing to the planet?
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Credits
This episode was reported, written and produced by Katz Laszlo. Editing came from Katy Lee, as well as Justine Paradis, visiting from NPR’s excellent podcast, Outside/In. Editorial support came from Margot Gibbs, Dominic Kraemer and Wojciech Oleksiak, and mastering, scoring and sound design also came from Wojciech.
Thanks for talking to us: George Monbiot, Thin Lei Win, Elsa Guadarrama, Sonalie Figueiras, Ashley Allen, and Sofia Ehlde.
Special thanks to lovely neighbours Joris Klingen and Thomas van Dijk, for letting us use their very nice studio. You can find their music under Bovenburen.