A new report uncovers several “organic” soymilk makers importing cheap Chinese soybeans, focusing in particular on Silk brand:
One company that had an excellent opportunity to meet consumer expectations by supporting the growth of organic acreage in North America was Dean Foods, makers of the industry’s leading soymilk, Silk. Instead, after buying the Silk brand, Dean Foods quit purchasing most of their soybeans from American family farmers and switched their primary sourcing to China. This cost-cutting move helped them build their commanding soy milk market share using soybeans of questionable organic certification from China…And now Dean, the $11 billion agribusiness behemoth and the nation’s largest dairy concern, has quietly abandoned organic soybeans in most of the Silk product line, switching to even cheaper conventional soybeans without changing UPC codes for retailers or lowering pricing to consumers.
Along with Asia’s long history of growing soybeans, I get that local companies have to tighten their belts and pay slightly less for products like sulfur-infused drywall or melanine-tainted milk or lead-painted toys from China to stay in business than paying slightly more for better-quality, or at least better-regulated, American products.
At least be honest about it, Silk. You don’t deserve to be photographed with Obama cookies anymore.
“Obama likes transparency”
Funny joke!
Obama likes secrecy, murder, and torture, just like any other imperial manager.
Organic is becoming more and more mainstream, so risky imports affect larger populations of Americans than ever before. I’ve noticed more stores and brands disclosing where foods originate, and Silk/Dean should have come clean before being exposed in this report.
Obama likes transparency, so this is right up his alley, and since Vilsack pushed hard on local farm support and conservationism when in Iowa, sneaky import schemes from an agriculturally unreliable country should be up his, too.
Didn’t Obama appoint a monsanto man to head the Department of agriculture? I don’t think he cares about organic.