this post was submitted on 24 Aug 2023
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So overall soy is really the best, and almond is a close 2nd.
Almond is really unsustainable climate wise. Nearly all of it is grown in California almost exclusively using aquifer water which is rapidly depleting.
Combine that with wildfires and the correct answer is oats. (Soy is also great)
The problem with soy is knowing where it comes from. Apparently a fair amount is farmed in deforested parts of the Amazon. I'm in the UK and tend to favour oat as the production is local. If you know the provenance of your soy, though - it's good.
In the US at least you can be pretty confident that it comes from somewhere within the country, since it exports ~$28bn and imports only $0.4bn worth of soybeans. In the rest of the world though that's definitely an important consideration.
Data: https://oec.world/en/profile/hs/soybeans
Ironically, the vast majority of soy production goes to livestock
Most soy from the Amazon is apparently sold to China as livestock feed
Soy milk is actually pretty big in China among consumers as well; it's a drink you can find in almost every street stand that sells drinks.
In the US at least you can be pretty confident that it comes from somewhere within the country, since it exports ~$28bn and imports only $0.4bn worth of soybeans. In the rest of the world though that's definitely an important consideration.
Data: https://oec.world/en/profile/hs/soybeans