Alternative milks are currently more expensive than cow milk (by a long way). If that changes, I can see the dairy industry crashing.
Not that much more if you compare 1l of dairy milk to 1l of alternate at the cheap end:
We buy powdered milk since we live out of town and it's so much more convenient for us. That works out at about $1.70 a litre - so yeah.
I would be interested in a powdered Oat Milk, for a "reasonable" price.
Daiya cheese
Looks interesting, though a quick search doesn't turn up anyone selling it in New Zealand yet.
Though non-dairy cheeses do appear to exist in NZ: third annual Vegan Society Vegan Cheese Awards
Even some in Countdown! Angel Food Cheese (made in NZ) and Veesey Cheese (product of Greece) - at $35.90 and $43.50 a kilo! I might try a small block (220g @ $7.90) of the Angel Food Cheddar Cheese just out of curiosity? Hopefully, in time, competition might drive the prices down a bit?
Part 3 for those who may have missed it: Crown vs Cow part three: Why farming reneged on its deal to cut emissions
Very interesting point toward the end due to proposed legislation of the Free Trade Agreement between NZ and the EU:
if New Zealand can’t reduce its greenhouse gases by 30 percent by 2030 - a very real possibility at this point given its current trajectory - it could be sanctioned, or cut off by the EU.
Thanks for the link. The dowels that they sell might be a better method for us. Inoculate a few logs and wait 6-18 months. We can source plenty of logs and have space. Just need to research how well they survive in the cold.
Bought a medium size bag to see how it goes. The guy selling them says it's still a bit cold to grow them outside down south - frost is the main issue and they grow very slowly in the cold.
So we'll try this bag inside and see how it goes. I'm going to have a go at growing spores after we've done a third harvest off this bag. If I can get some going I'll inoculate some wood shavings. Otherwise I can buy some spores off this guy and try that.
It sounds very much like a trial and error thing until you get just the right conditions and ensure you are fastidious with cleanliness when growing spores.
I really want to try this again, but, I know it's probably just cheaper to buy mushrooms.
I've tried to continue growing my own from purchased blocks before, but couldn't keep on top of it. I am hoping to have another go this time. Can you do it well without sterilization?
Are there any good NZ based resources for 'How To' grow them fairly easily? I'm down South, so it gets cold, but the guy at the market seems to be able to do it. I'll be having a chat with him today. Any tips or links would be great.
Heading out to the Winton market today. Hoping to buy some "grow your own mushrooms".
"he does not resile from the comment because to do so would be to give currency to the idea he was being serious"
Pretty much sums up everything he says?
Labour/Greens have tried so hard, but those in the industry simply won't pay for their pollution. Time for some draconian action or NZ agriculture's value on the world stage will plummet (or perhaps that should be is plummeting) . I bet they will have their hand out then too...
Great summary. Looking forward to part 2.
Living amongst the Southland Dairy community, I can honestly say I cannot believe the influence that they reign on Local Councils (regional and district) as well. They have repeatedly come up with schemes that delay any meaningful change and often claim best practice changes without actually measuring outcomes.
Just reading through the T&C's etc. of my bank and find the nugget below. Relevant to the discussion a little while ago:
The reason I've started going through their T&C's is because they still have not sorted around 21 small unauthorised transactions (total around $50) that occurred around 3 weeks ago. They informed me this morning that they are currently (I suspect they've just started) working through the claim, and they will be in touch in another 4-5 weeks. So much for the Visa Zero Liability guarantee...
Anyway, I won't be using POLI again!
The issue with Oat milk currently is that it's grown here, shipped to Sweden where it's processed into Oat Milk and then shipped back. Take that shipping out of the equation, and surely it will be a more reasonable price? Let's hope this Oat Milk factory gets built soon!