“Consumption of milk per capita has gone down every year over the last 30 years,” says Sylvain Charlebois, director of the Agri-Food Analytics Lab at Dalhousie University. “Actually, it’s gone down by more than 20 per cent since 2015.”
While bagged milk is often cited as a unique Canadianism, it’s actually not sold west of Ontario. Those who prefer it, however, say it’s more cost efficient and some even believe it tastes better.
I love bagged milk, but I can’t go through THREE FUCKING BAGS as a family of two.
They’re more eco-friendly than the box or the jug, but I guess that goes against the goal of consuming more raw materials.
More eco-friendly? Where I am we can’t recycle any of the bags whereas the box and jug we can.
It’s worth remembering that being accepted in a blue bag and actually being recycled are two very different things. Much of the plastic we’ve “recycled” over the years just ended up in landfills in China.
Remember the old “Where does it go?” “Away,” PSAs from the late '80s and early '90s? Well, plastic recycling has been that, but at an industrial scale.
As a family of 5, we go through it easily in a week.
How is a plastic bag more environmentally friendly than a cardboard carton?
The cost to make and recycle carton cardboard polymers uses more resources than bags. Bags are found to be the most environmentally friendly. https://www.dal.ca/news/2021/11/29/milk-jugs--cartons-or-plastic-bags---which-one-is-best-for-the-e.html
To repeat: plastic bagged milk is more eco-friendly than cardboard?
Yes, the plastic is quite thin and requires less power to recycle than the waxed cardboard or thick plastic jugs, if your recycling ends up recycled at all.
If your recycling ends up recycled at all.
Big if
In Canada the energy costs are less important than the plastic waste as the majority of our electricity comes from hydro or nuclear.
And the plastic IS waste, “recycled” plastic can only make up a tiny faction of newly manufacture products and most waste is rejected anyway because it’s not “clean” plastic.
I’ll back you up with a source since I just went down this rabbit hole on another comment https://www.dal.ca/news/2021/11/29/milk-jugs--cartons-or-plastic-bags---which-one-is-best-for-the-e.html
Thank you, good read! I just remember finding out a while ago that it was better than the environment (and it does make sense given how little plastic is used), but couldn’t find the source again.
With this new information, will consumers swing over to milk bags? Bagged milk is sold only in four-litre allotments in Canada, which may be too much for some consumers, leading to unconsumed or spoiled milk. This would wipe out any environmental benefits.
Precisely my concern above hahah, I don’t see why they can’t be sold individually with a little stamp on them stating the brand, the quantity and the percentage. We don’t really drink milk, we only use it for cooking and hot beverages.
Also, the cardboard hasn’t been waxed in years. It’s plastic lined
I grew up with bagged milk but don’t have it where I live now. With my two kids and I enjoying breakfast cereal regularly, our recycling bin fills up fast. I miss milk bags. So low waste. I remember we’d slit the end and use them for sandwich bags in our lunch bags. Or use them to wrap blocks of cheese.
I swear I remember my mum freezing sealed bags of milk for the cooler to keep meat cold on the way to the cabin.
I’ve always wondered about the bagged milk… Don’t they get broken a lot? I’m genuinely curious
The plastic feels a bit like a heavy duty ziplock bag, or piping bag material, made as a tube (so strong shape, structurally) then flat sealed on both ends. Quite thick so not that easy to puncture by accident. Once in a while there’s one that leaks but they get removed at the grocery store by stockers, mostly. It’s easy to spot, it just looks flat and at worst (if the hole is on the bottom), there’s a liter and some of milk all over in their fridge.
How do you store it once it is opened? How do you pour it?
Thanks. Someone else described it, but the picture helps. This is a completely different method for milk distribution than we have where I live.
Stores sell sturdy plastic jugs that the milk bags fit into snugly, so it basically pours like a pitcher. You just snip a small corner off the top of the bag once it’s inserted into The jug. The jug lasts forever, though it does get funky over time with any dribbles of milk that make it between the bag and jug.
It happens, but not very often. I used to work dairy in a grocery store, so you’d see it, fairly often, but usually we the workers would catch it (because the bag would be leaking).
I’ve never seen a bag pop, or puncture outside of that.
They’re super tough. Never seen one break.
I’m in my 40s and I can only remember one bag breakingon me, but that’s because my dumb ass dropped it.
That’s why you should always use your hands to carry things!
I’m also in my 40s and I can remember a lot of busted milk jugs over the years… Maybe we should be using the bags instead lol
My mom busted a 4L jug on the stairs. The cap popped off. It’s never the same after.
Are these changing consumer habits mostly being driven by how insanely expensive and low quality milk products are becoming? Canadian cheese and butter are trash and cost an arm and a leg - especially when you get into goat and sheep cheeses that a lot of lactose intolerant west coasters prefer.
Why are you getting down voted so much? You are absolutely right. Canadian milk products (including milk) are complete garbage. We can thank our milk cartels for that, plus the really stupid regulations put into place over concerns of germs that basically limits the amount of raw or non-homogenized milk on the market.
How come most of Europe can produce far superior tasting cheeses and also consume fresh milk from milk vending machines, but there’s an inane control on it in North America?
“lactose intolerant West coasters”
Checks out, I’m from the west coast and I’m intolerant of lactose products of poor quality.
But fuck thoese milk drinkers back east.
As a lactose intolerant west coaster I’m really confused if that’s setting people off. We’ve got a huge Asian population out here and lactose intolerance is much higher among them. Personally, while we’re not of Asian descent both me and my partner are lactose intolerant so finding reasonable dairy products that don’t give us diarrhea is a priority - and we’re not shy of making our own stovetop cheese if all we can get is milk.
We’re talking about milk here, not milk products.
Is milk somehow not a milk product? I think my point stands for milk products in general - goat milk is insanely expensive in Canada and it’s not significantly more expensive to produce than cow’s milk.
How is the quality of cheese relevant to the sale of bagged milk?
You’re not making cheese with dirt and flowers.
Nor are most people making cheese with bagged milk from the grocery stores.
Do you usually make the cheeses you buy in the grocery store?
Your argument makes no sense.
I don’t. That’s my point.
There are probably some slight differences between milk used for further processing and milk sold directly to consumers but it’s of a very similar quality. A lot of cheese in Canada is made from third party milk rather than milk produced on premises.
You can make the argument that the quality of milk in general is dropping, and that’s reflected in the quality of milk products. But to say that poor quality of milk products themselves are driving the decrease in milk consumption? I don’t see how the logic follows.
Having had the cheese available in America, I have to say better grasses makes better cheese.
I refute your assessment of Canadian cheese, my good man, and I shall be available by the flagpole after recess. It’s a duel.
Oh we’re definitely better than America but we should be able to match up against Europe.
Source on Canadian cheese being better.
Have you ever tried Beacher’s cheese? You should try some good quality cheese before dismissing all American made cheese.
I’ve actually had some splendid American cheese but it’s quite the rarity. Grafton is a solid brand and some of their aged cheddars are amazing.
Shit bro getting downvoted by the dairy industry 😂
I prefer kegged milk myself
Milk on tap? Sign me up!
Ooohh… With a nitro dispense system, yes please.
Don’t make me try this … Carbonated milk was inexplicably revolting but nitrogen may actually work.
You’d need a creamer nozzle (like used for Guinness Draft) and a very cold line chiller, but it just might work. Kegging the milk would be the hard part, but it could be done.
You don’t take your milk with an IV while you sleep? Weirdo!
With all the news about microplastics maybe we should go back to glass bottles.
It could happen. It seems to be working for Farm Boy.
Glass’s issue is transportation cost, so you’ll want to make milk supply more local…wait a minute, this is starting to sound like commie shit
There was a local dairy in my hometown and they had a little shack set up on the road where you could buy bottles of milk. It was the best milk I’ve ever drunk in my life.
There’s a dairy in my city that’s really taking off in recent years with the same glass approach too. A lot of restaurants, cafes, etc all using their stuff now and if their social media following is any indication then a fair bit of regular consumers too. I like to remain optimistic that stuff like this continues to inspire more sustainable, local food and beverage companies.
Got `em
Fuck it let’s make our own milk at this point
I’ve got nipples, focker
My wife says no cows, because apparently I underestimate the amount of milk a cow makes. I’m gonna have to get used to goat milk
They make mini cows.
How do you think they make those little quarts of milk?
Then how do they make chocolate milk?
Or just oats?
It is much easier to raise a goat on a small acreage than it is to farm enough oats to extract a worthwhile amount of oat milk.
Also, haven’t liked any oat milk I’ve tried. To be fair I don’t like goat milk either, but it is much closer to what I’m used to, and would definitely be easier to get used to
There is NextMilk and NotMilk brands., both formulated to be similar to actual milk in texture, and taste. You won’t be “Wow, I can’t believe it’s not milk” But it is surprising close compared to oat, soy, or almond milks
That doesn’t exactly help
As in your love of actual cow milk, or the oats takes a lot of farming debate? Not Milk is like pineapple juice cabbage juice and other components that somehow come together to work like milk.
Oats take a lot of space and equipment to farm, and any brand name anything doesn’t help; the idea here was self-sufficiency
Pretty easy & cheap. Just need oats, water, a blender, and a screen
And an oat field, and equipment to harvest them
We have glass bottle milk in vancouver area. $1-$2 deposit on the bottle, good incentive to return it when you get your new bottle.
I don’t know if I can sarcastically say ‘sounds like commie shit’ any harder before it would sound like I’m actually against it
That does sound fantastic. How’s the shelf(/fridge) life of the milk?
It seemed on par with jugged/bagged milk as they were pasturizing it. It tasted much better though more like the milk I remember from the UK as a kid. Not sure if they feed differently or just smaller batches that get to market sooner.
I would guess it’s better feed; more grass, less grain
Used to live across the border in Southern BC. Had access to a glass-bottled, “cream-top” (non-homogenized) milk from a local dairy. Fridge life was in-line with regular jugs. Plus, it tasted better and was likely healthier (homogenized milk contains fat globules small enough to directly absorb into the bloodstream without digestion, possibly contributing to heart disease).
Do you have a source for the fat molecules bit? That is a wild assertion, crazy if true. But I’m pretty sure fat doesn’t work like that.
I was thinking the same thing. Fat isn’t water (read:blood) soluble, and I have a hard time imagining any significant amount emulsing into your blood stream
Indeed. It is worth noting that fat globules in dairy aren’t JUST lipid. They are really a mixture of lipids, glycolipids, proteins, and other stuff. The glycolipids and proteins have polar and non-polar parts and organize into a membrane around the non-polar (hydrophobic) lipid fraction, keeping it from precipitating out of solution. Effectively, milk fat globules come with their own emulsifiers.
Have been looking for a reputable source on that - busy on work projects. Might be something that has been shown to be bunk at this point. I did, however, find a few recent interesting papers characterizing the physical structural changes that occur with homogenization. IIRC, the average globule size gets reduced to ~1μm in diameter.
Okay so it’s false information, that’s what you’re saying.
I would absolutely love the glass bottles.
I worry about breakage and substandard cleaning in the coming era of downsized food safety checkers in the Bitcoin Milhouse cabinet, but a few plebes buying from salmonella will fix that spending … almost.
No different than our returnable beer bottles
Cardboard cartons are compostable.
I dont think any liquids are sold in cardboard. It woukd leak. Usually its lined with plastic, so no longer compostable.
But glass cab be reused.
What about cardboard lined with natural wax?
No no, cardboard lined with glass 🤣
I don’t think cardboard recycling can tolerate anything like that
No, but it would be compostable. And renewables depending on the wax source (eg soy)
Cardboard cartons are lined with plastic.
bagged milk is a pretty wild concept to me, but obviously there are a lot of facets of american life that are fucking bonkers to everyone else (and lots of us) so I cant really speak to it
So Canadians are giving up on milk and just drinking maple syrup now? Sweet!
I once made the mistake of telling my american coworkers that I buy over a gallon of fresh maple syrup from a local sugar shack each year and I was excited for spring because I was running low… I think I warped their perception of the canadian diet.
As an American, I am jealous.
The crazy part is, I don’t consume maple syrup that often. But when I do, it’s always way too much.
It makes a good salad dressing when mixed with balsamic vinegar and oil. Also a decent BBQ sauce of Ketchup, Mustard, Soy Sauce, and Maple Syrup
My wife has a mean marinade using maple syrup. I love to use it with chicken thighs I throw on the barbecue for that sweet caramelization.
Nice. It is also good mixed into vodka :)
I have bottles of Sortilège (maple whiskey) and a Tomahawk maple cream (similar to Bailey’s) on the kitchen bar. I don’t even like whiskey usually, but with maple syrup everything becomes good I guess
Hmm, never tried Tomahawk. I will look for that.
We know in our hearts it’s not true. But we cling to what little magic remains in our minds and hearts and enjoy the fantasy that it is true.
Then if it helps, here are a few things I use it for: crepes, pancakes, French toast, lattes, coffee, maple whipped cream, oatmeal (maple and cream make a mean porridge), I fry eggs in maple syrup and butter, use it in icing, add it to salad dressing, make a glaze from it, sugar/pecan pie tarts, instead of syrup in cocktails, I’ll use it as a topping on ice cream…
It was the primary sweetener in Canada until cane sugar took over, so anything that needs sugar or brown sugar you can substitute maple for.
I usually buy 4L which lasts a year.
I tried explaining this to some Australian friends online and they thought I was trolling.
Name checks out.
You guys drink milk out of bags? We use glass, plastic, or cardboard jugs down in the States.
Some places do things a bit differently. More news at 11
It’s not even all of Canada, just Ontario, Quebec, and the maritimes
Yea, its shipped in a rectangular bag, it goes into a mulk holder that holds the bag snug and you snip the corner off so it pours like a spout. The jug that holds it provides the handle and stability for the bag. When the bag is empty, toss it, put the next bag in.
That sounds like a pretty good system once you have the jug, assuming those bags don’t look like jellyfish to sea turtles.
Is the bag held really well by the milk holder? I’d always worry about the bag tipping out of the milk holder, while pouring.
Well enough. The bag of milk forces enough air that it’s basically suction held until the milk’s almost gone.
In eastern Canada. I’ve never even seen it in western Canada.
I think this is what ended it in AB. People just stopped buying it and bought jugs instead.
With all the price gouging happening and shrinkflation, changing consumer habits could spell the end of food.
You could always just eat the rich!
Lemmy comment
They’re rotten toxic messes, though
So is chemotherapy, but something this malignant merits extreme interventions.
Is this… Milk outside a bag of milk outside a bag of milk…?
Bagged milk was available in MB in the late 80s/early 90s, but it disappeared some time after that.
Tastes better 🤣🤣🤣🤣 those micro plastics sure kick up the flavor a few notches!!
Don’t worry, those plastic jugs and plastic lined cardboard boxes are fulfilling your daily microplastic requirements just fine.
Nearly ever milk receptacle except for glass will be sealed with plastic. Microplastics are not a bagged milk specific problem.
This isn’t a Canadian specific thing. Its common in most of the world.
But the problem isnt milk, its animal milk. Soy and oat milk should be fine.
