I am not clear on why one would want to substitute a soy product for a dairy product - as mentioned in another thread soy chocolate milk, for instance. I can see it in the case of lactose intolerance, but why else?

I like milk and I use either 1% or reconstituted non-fat dry milk. I notice that I don't consume nearly as much milk when I am not eating cookies, cake and peanut butter sandwiches all the time.

So, as a moderate milk drinker, should I consider switching? This sounds like a political question .

I don't think so. Some people like the soy for the extra nutrients, (I think) but regular dairy has nutrients too. I don't like soy milk and so I stick with milk from cows. It's yummier and the cals are about the same. Of course, vegans have their own reasons and there are probably issues with the hormones they feed to cows, but for non-lactose-intolerant non-vegans, I see nothing wrong with drinking moderate amounts of cow's milk.

I stay on the dairy side because I'm hypothyroid and my doctor has advised me to avoid soy products because they can decrease thyroid production. Most of my dairy is cottage cheese and yogurt rather than milk.

DH is lactose intolerant and I use some soy products for him, mostly the cheeses and sour cream. There also are a variety of LactAid products that he enjoys, especially their chocolate ice cream.

I hadn't thought about the vegan issue.

Reasons to not use dairy...

Hormones, higher carb content and desire not to ingest dairy

There are other options as well. One of my favorites is almond milk which is about half the calories.

I've never heard of soy sour cream. I don't think I've ever seen it either. Where do you get it?

Almond milk? Where do I find that? Does it taste like almonds?

What about rice milk? I've never had it but I may look into it now.

I used to drink Eighth Continent Chocolate Soy. I stopped when all the bad news came out about soy. However, I think I may go back to Eighth Continent for my cereal. I don't like the vanilla but will use it for my cereal and 1 container will last about a week here. I can't stand Silk soy milk.

My Christmas present (thank you DH) - a Soyabella milk maker. It makes soy, almond, rice, cashew, etc milk at home. It also grinds grains, beans, and nuts to make meal; and even has a tofu press to make homemade tofu. Now all I have to do is find recipes that use the okara (leftover soy pulp).

Why did I ask for this for Christmas? As a vegetarian, I try to use as few animal products as possible. Also, I am tired of milk spoiling in my refrigerator. Small quantities are quite expensive, and I'm not a fan of frozen and thawed cow's milk. Also, I like the idea of trying different milks. I think it will be fun to try different flavorings and recipes.
That reminds me - I need to add agave nectar and tofu coagulent to my shopping list this week

What Nelie said. I do consume some milk products, but I make sure they are organic or at the very least rBGH free. I don't want hormones or antibiotics in my food if I can help it.

Of course, I was allergic to milk as a child (an allergy I out grew), so I never got a taste for milk.

Mare, the soy sour cream that I buy is called Sour Supreme and is made by Tofutti (they make a lot of dairy substitutes). It's in the health food section of my grocery store.

My almond milk (Pacific brand) has about the same amount of calories as my skim milk. Slightly more fat though. Is there a brand that has half the cals? I'm a calorie counter, so that would be nice

I use almond milk with my (low-sugar) breakfast cereal to make it really sweet and flavorful. It's delicious and almost like a dessert because it tastes so sweet, but a bowl of cereal and milk is still under 300 cals.

Reasons for not using cow dairy:
the hormones used in cow farms
inadvertently supporting the veal industry (that is where a lot of the males go)
Digestibility problems

Reasons for it:
Calcium
Taste

I use goat milk and goat cheese. As far as I know, the male goats don't have an equivalent fate, but maybe my ignorance is bliss? I prefer to think that they are used as weed abatement. At least at this point there is not such a huge demand so I can't imagine that the feedlot horrors apply to them.
Also it is generally more digestible for humans than cow dairy. And it is a good calcium source.

Am I understanding correctly that you can get cow's milk without the hormones and antibiotics by buying organic?

Hmmm....hormones and veal - I am thinking Omnivore's Dilemma again.

The only thing that I really "need" milk for is my coffee. I am reluctant to use the non dairy stuff because then you run into all that HFCS stuff.

We keep talking about getting a goat. It would be more of a pet than anything useful. Maybe we could get a milk goat.

Laura,

I use Blue Diamond, I believe it is 40 calories for 8 ozs? The soy milks I buy tend to be 80-90 calories for 8 ozs so that is about half.

Gail,

I've never seen HCFS in non dairy milk. Unsure what brand you are buying?

Awwww. A milk goat. I would love to live in a place where I could have a milk goat.

I think she is referring to the coffee creamers that are non-dairy. Coffee-mate, International Delight, etc.