Agriculture has enabled the existence of civilization—today, approximately 40 percent of our planet is farmland. So it goes without saying there’s a LOT to cover when it comes to talking about modern food production. Dan starts small with something a little more digestible: which milk is best, for you and for the planet? He’ll teach us how to sip sustainably, then take us on a journey through a “perfect” sustainable farm of the future and what we can do to make it a reality. Find the text transcript for this episode at go.ted.com/TC7

TED Climate is produced and edited by Sheena Ozaki, mixed by Sam Bair, and hosted by Dan Kwartler. This episode adapted two lessons originally produced in animated form by the TED-Ed team: “Which type of milk is best for you?” written by Jonathan J. O'Sullivan and Grace E. Cunningham, with fact-checking by Joseph Isaac. And “Can we create the perfect farm?” was written by Brent Loken, with fact-checking by Eden Girma. Both pieces were produced with editorial support from Emma Bryce and Elizabeth Cox. Special thanks this season to Alex Rosenthal, Gerta Xhelo, Michelle Quint, Banban Cheng, Anna Phelan, Sarah Jane Souther, Alex Segell, Emma Taubner, Will Hennessy, Peter Zwiefel, Jonathan Mallow, Nicole Edine, Valentina Bojanini, Ama Y Adi-Dako, Erin Gregory, Micah Eames and Marie Kim for their work on this season.

If you liked this episode, you can also check out “Is Drinking Milk Essential for Building Strong Bones?” on TED’s new podcast, Body Stuff with Jen Gunter.