Are milk substitutes a rip off?

No they are not and they are actually better for you and the planet. Also not all of us have the choice. Some of us can not have dairy so we drink Soya ir Cocanut or Almond Milk.

Almond milk is not good for the planet with the amount of water needed to grow almonds. Not to mention they have to then be shipped half way across the world

Yup. But so is milk.

Milk is for babies. Adults drink water.

Well that's just not true.

Edit: yes they are ridiculously overpriced OP

Milk powder is where it is at. Just mix with water

Oat milk is lovely especially the keep refrigerated ones by Alpro.

It's best before date is for a month + I think. So that saves on wastage

I'm prepared to pay extra for the taste and shelf life

All these milk substitutes are packed with gums and stabilizers. Imo they're not better for you than milk and there's a reason they've a long shelf life. For this reason I've recently switched back from coconut milk to whole milk for my morning porridge.

Don't be weak and just tolerate it

I think Ron Swanson sums it up best:

I can. +1 for lactase persistence! And I don't even drink that much milk, but I do like cheese and ice-cream so I'd be disgusted if I became lactose intolerant. Mad history to it if you go looking, and still as of yet no definite answer. Almond milk needs to die, it's just so bad for the environment to replace something that's allegedly just as bad.

Unless it’s uht milk… but there’s o demand for that coz it’s shite

Let the market find itself.

Let people choose what they want.

But the archaic practice of subsidising farmers, ad infinitum, has to end.

The folks that produce goods that the market want to consume will do just fine.

Farming today is a form of social welfare that is bad for the environment when scaled out of proportion and costs us, as tax payers, to boot.

Let farming find its level. Same as every other industry does.

We live in a country that is a literal garden of Eden when it comes to producing cow milk, so unless you have an actual medical condition your going to have a hard time convincing me that any kind processed alternative is superior in anyway.