Parents want what’s best for their kids, their communities and the planet. And you may wonder if the nutritional benefits of organic milk differ from other choices. Organic milk mirrors the benefits of all dairy milk. It’s a minimally processed, naturally nutrient-rich beverage that contains a mix of important nutrients you and your kids need. From B vitamins for energy and high-quality protein for lean muscle to vitamin A for a healthy immune system, no matter which type of organic milk you choose, each packs the same nutrient punch.

What Is Organic Milk and How Does it Nourish an Organic Lifestyle?

Every day you face many choices, from what to eat and drink to where to go and how to get there. When you choose an organic way of living, you make a positive impact on your family, your community and our planet. Every day, there seems to be a new food that claims to best power your clean-eating lifestyle, but oftentimes, organic living is really about getting “back to the basics.” You want local, natural and simple options that you can feel good about.

Organic milk is a simple choice that fits your lifestyle because organic standards reflect what you want from your food. They determine how farmers care for their cows and how they choose to farm. The feed and pasture must be organic — genetically modified crops and synthetic fertilizers and most synthetic pesticides are not allowed — and organic dairy farmers do not use growth hormones or antibiotics.

How Is Organic Milk Produced?

USDA organic farming guidelines stipulate that farmers only can use organic-approved substances to care for their crops and livestock. That means no synthetic fertilizers and avoiding most synthetic pesticides. Farmers are not allowed to use growth hormones or antibiotics, and they never use genetically modified crops or feed for their cows.

What Is the Difference Between Organic Milk and Non-Dairy Options?

Real organic milk is an important staple that is part of a wholesome diet for both kids and adults. However, with so many other “milk” options available, it can be challenging to make sense of what the best choice may be for your family. Seemingly healthy choices can actually be highly processed with several ingredients including added sugar, salt, thickeners and stabilizers.

If you are shopping for organic foods and beverages, it’s important to pay attention to ingredient labels. Real organic dairy milk is remarkably simple — organic milk, fortified with vitamins A and D — so you always know what you get when you pour a glass. Other non-dairy options often have as many as 10 or more ingredients, including added salt and sugar, and stabilizers and emulsifiers like locust bean gum, sunflower lecithin and gellan gum.

If you are considering plant-based alternatives to dairy milk because you’re a vegetarian, there are real nutritional benefits when you add organic milk at meals. It’s naturally nutrient-rich like no other beverage. It’s an excellent source of calcium, a complete protein and contains other essential nutrients that can be hard for vegetarians to add to their diets. In addition, substituting milk with non-dairy calcium sources like fortified soy milk and leafy greens can lead to gaps in other key nutrients like protein, vitamin D, phosphorus, riboflavin, potassium, magnesium, vitamin A and vitamin B12.

While non-dairy alternatives, including almond, soy and coconut, are labeled as milk, it’s in name only. This is because milk has a standard of identity (as defined by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration) which includes that milk is obtained by milking cows, rather than harvesting crops.

Take soy milk for example: It’s made from soybeans and filtered water, but also contains added ingredients, flavors and thickeners, such as gellan gum. Like many other non-dairy milk alternatives, soy milk is often fortified, and different brands have different amounts of nutrients that naturally occur in milk. There’s just no substitute for organic milk, and here are other differences on the nutrition labels to consider: