
The California almond industry is placing a huge strain on bees - ping_pong
https://www.thecut.com/2020/01/almond-milk-honeybee-deaths.html
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merricksb
Earlier discussion of the original article in the Guardian:

[https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=22023578](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=22023578)

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imgabe
Can we stop labeling everything evil? It works or it doesn't. If almonds are
fundamentally unsustainable at scale, fine. Say that. This is not a children's
fairy tale with an evil ogre and a fair prince. Let's stop casting everything
as good v. evil. Works or doesn't work is sufficient.

Whatever the ultimate effects are, I highly doubt that almond farmers are
sinister, malevolent beings who want to destroy humanity. If there's a better
way they can do what they do, I'm sure they'll be happy to do it.

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GuiA
“Work or doesn’t work” is as manichean of a binary as “good or evil”.

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aeortiz
But it doesn't have a moral component, only a practical one.

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viraptor
I'm confused about beekeepers complaining about the issue in the article. They
can refuse to deal with almond farms if they really care about the bees. This
seems like "I care about bees dying, but not enough to stop it". Are there no
alternatives in farms?

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_bxg1
More accurate title: "Pesticides and Unsustainable Farming Practices Are Even
More Evil Than You Thought"

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mac-chaffee
The effect of pesticides and diseases on bees is a new angle I hadn't heard of
before!

The article ends by mentioning the water usage of almond milk, but I wish it
would have contextualized that. Almond milk still uses about half the water of
dairy milk: [https://www.bbc.com/news/science-
environment-46654042](https://www.bbc.com/news/science-environment-46654042)

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Turing_Machine
There's no shortage of water in most major dairy-producing regions.

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mark_l_watson
I like Oat Milk as a good substitute for almond, cashew, or macadamia nut
milk. I think Oak Milk requires fewer resources than tree nuts.

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cryptoz
I find Oat Milk is also the most delicious.

I'm currently addicted to an oatmilk coldbrew latte and I just loove it.

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mortenjorck
If the key impact is declining bee populations, it would seem that the current
ecology of almond growing is unsustainable. But that should give growers an
acute incentive to invest in bee populations, lest bees shoot up in price and
wreck the economics of their orchards. If growers aren’t doing this already,
why aren’t they?

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kevin_thibedeau
> why aren’t they?

They won't do anything until Uncle Sam subsidizes it.

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gbrown
"Almond Milk Is Even More Evil Than You Thought"

This title is garbage, saves me a click. Let me guess though:

-water use

-pesticides

-land use

I'd be willing to bet it still wins over cow milk.

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walshemj
Ever though about the cost of producing milk or what happens to the unwanted
male calves.

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pintxo
They make for good Schnitzels. Sorry.

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pintxo
But you are right. They are a problem. Talked to a farmer a couple years back
(on Christmas Eve in the stable, watching the new born calves). They would get
some 160€ per male calve, barely covering their costs raising them. That’s
probably still somewhat better than male chicken though.

Anyway, we need to find ways for more sustainable meat production and
consumption. This whole thing is unhealthy in pretty much any level. Really
looking forward to all those alternative meat startups.

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terrislinenbach
Buy organic..

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majos
I thought that US produce can be organic so long as no _nonorganic_ pesticides
are used. Is there evidence that this distinction matters to bee health, which
is the big evidence for the argument here?

