Plant-based dairy alternatives typically have lower direct animal welfare impacts than conventional dairy, though all food production systems have environmental and welfare trade-offs.
Choosing plant-based dairy alternatives is one of the most impactful dietary changes for directly reducing farm animal welfare harms. Dairy production inherently involves reproductive manipulation, calf separation and the welfare compromises of high-production milking. Plant alternatives avoid these harms to dairy cows and calves. However, no food production system is without indirect welfare implications — habitat destruction, pest control and wild animal deaths occur in all crop production. The comparison strongly favors plant alternatives on direct animal welfare grounds, with environmental considerations adding further weight to this conclusion.