Remember when milk was simple? Did you peel the paper caps off small bottles of (gasp!) cow’s milk in the elementary school cafeteria as I did—the only one they offered and the one everyone drank? Back then, stores offered whole or watery, blue-tinged skim. We used to be a lot more, well, homogenized.

Growing up, our neighbors were dairy farmers. We’d take our own two-gallon Tupperware container down the road and fill ’er up. This fresh milk was extremely handy, until that gigantic tub spilled—twice: once in the living room and once in the car. 

Don’t cry over spilled milk, the saying goes. We were too shocked to sob! Those were dairy disasters of epic proportions in my childhood home and in our brand-new, late ’70s Oldsmobile Delta 88, requiring arduous cleanups.

“Got milk?” the ’90s ad campaign asked, featuring celebrities proudly sporting milk moustaches. “It does a body good,” sure, but it’s complicated. 

Milk—and I use that term loosely—has evolved. These days, you might be a bit of a curiosity if you drink regular old milk from Bessie. There are milks from nearly every nut, grain, seed and legume known to humankind. 

Almond milk? So yesterday. Now there are nut milks from cashews, pistachios, hazelnuts, walnuts and macadamias. Grain milks from buckwheat, quinoa, spelt and barley. There are milks from hemp, sesame, sunflower, flax and pumpkin seeds. Legume milks include peanut, lupin and cowpea. Even coconuts, bananas and potatoes are fair game.

When my 1-year-old firstborn had rotavirus, the doctor suggested we avoid dairy and prescribed rice milk. I bought a carton of Rice Dream and dutifully filled her bottles, with a little shot on the side for me. 

My sip was thin and diluted—kind of “meh”—but not bad. If I’m drinking a beverage made with rice, I’d prefer an horchata. Delicioso! Amazingly, my baby girl chugged those bottles right down.

She grew up to be a health nut. When she was a young adult, we were grocery shopping, and she plunked a carton into the cart. 

“Want to try pea milk?” she asked. 

You’re seeing this written down, but I just heard it. Wow, I thought. They’ll make milk out of anything these days. 

She saw my stricken face and laughed. “It’s P-E-A. Pea milk, Mom!” 

Popularity-wise, the gold, silver and bronze trifecta of alternative milks are almond, oat and soy. Soy is closest to cow’s milk nutritionally. Pea and oat mimic its taste and texture. Most alternative milks are fortified with calcium.

There’s 314 mg. of calcium in a cup of 1% milk—but a few foods contain even more, like tofu, yogurt and canned salmon and sardines. 

Leafy greens contain calcium, but you’d need to graze all day if they were your sole source. 

Seniors, especially women, need more calcium than their younger selves. Since bones lose calcium with age, consuming enough helps prevent osteoporosis and fractures. The recommended daily dose for women 51+ is 1,200 mg. For men, it’s 1,000 mg. for ages 51-70 and 1,200 mg. over 70. Calcium supplements can help you reach that.

Almost half of U.S. households bought a plant-based milk in 2023, and what a boon for the lactose-intolerant among us. Women are more adventurous: 60.3 percent bought a milk alternative in the past six months compared to 39.3% of men.

Despite the growth in plant-based milk sales, cow’s milk experienced a 0.8% rise in 2024. The new and the moo—there’s room for both.

Whether you choose oat milk or goat milk, enjoy it!

Just don’t spill it.