“Behind the Bean” (pdf) - Cornucopia Institute

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Silk appears to be moving away from supporting organic agriculture. Its familiar cartons no longer contain organic soymilk, but “natural” soymilk, with organic soymilk in a newly designed carton. Unlike “organic” claims, there are no standards for “natural” farmers, and “natural” soybeans in Silk soymilk may be produced on monoculture farms, using inputs such as synthetic fertilizers and pesticides that would be strictly prohibited in organic production. “We proposed to work diligently within the Kansas Organic Producers cooperative and partner with several other OFARM member cooperatives to supply superior quality beans with guarantees of being U.S. grown through the established organic audit trail process. While they ‘talked the talk’ about purchasing the beans from U.S. producers, when the pricing structure was proposed to make the venture modestly profitable for the U.S. growers, the bottom line answer was that if we weren’t willing to provide the beans at a price equal to or less than the cost of available beans from China our proposal couldn’t be considered further. End of negotiation.” Merle Kramer, a marketer for the Midwestern Organic Farmers Cooperative, observes, “Companies like White Wave had the opportunity to push organic and sustainable agriculture to incredible heights of production by working with North American farmers and traders to get more land in organic production, but what they did was pit cheap foreign soybeans against the U.S. organic farmer, taking away any attraction for conventional farmers to make the move into sustainable agriculture.” Today, WhiteWave is moving away from using organic soybeans altogether, claiming that there is an organic soybean shortage in the United States. It is clear, however, that WhiteWave is not an innocent victim of this shortage. Years ago, the company had the opportunity to work with American farmers to convert farm acres to organic soybean production, but they chose instead to source from China. Ironically, Dean Foods’ Silk brand is the marquee sponsor of the annual Farm Aid concerts—an event that purports to support family farmers and fight “factory farms.” Since Dean Foods acquired WhiteWave, its founder, Steve Demos, has left the company, along with almost all of the pioneering management—those who believed in “green” values. According to Demos, the company is now all about “green, with the dead presidents on it.” 59 The Cornucopia Institute’s investment in the research behind this report, which has been widely known within the soy foods industry for the past year, might already have had, even before its release, an impact on American farmers and con- 28 Behind the bean: The Heroes and Charlatans of the Natural and Organic Soy Foods Industry.
sumers. Recently, WhiteWave claims on its web site that it sources all its soybeans from North American farmers. But the company refused to participate in the Cornucopia Organic Soy Scorecard project, not willing to share its sourcing information. Instead of lowering the cost of producing their soy products by sourcing raw materials from China, it now appears that they might be lowering their costs by purchasing conventional, non-GMO soybeans, switching over some of their product line from organic to “natural.” In January 2009, the familiar Silk soymilk cartons lost the green “USDA Organic” seal and now state “natural” where they once said “organic.” The carton’s design is the same, and many loyal Silk customers who associate the brand with organics 60 may not be aware that they are now buying a nonorganic product. Silk’s organic soymilk is now in a newly designed carton. Instead of supporting North American organic farmers, or encouraging farmers to switch from conventional to organic production, Dean Foods is doing the opposite by buying fewer and fewer organic soybeans. Unlike the use of the organic label on foods, the word “natural” is not stringently regulated. “Natural” soybeans in Silk soymilk may be produced on monoculture farms, using inputs such as synthetic fertilizers and pesticides that would be strictly prohibited in organic production. No government or third-party entity regulates the “natural” claim, so a “natural” soybean is essentially a conventional, nonorganic soybean. Silk claims that its soybeans are produced in a sustainable manner, but there is no accountability without the organic label. Their unwillingness to use certified organic soybeans apparently stems from the simple fact that nonorganic soybeans are much cheaper. Instead of supporting North American organic farmers, or encouraging farmers to switch from conventional to organic production, Dean Foods is doing the opposite by buying fewer and fewer organic soybeans. On some of their nonorganic products, including Silk Live ® and Silk Yogurt ® , White Wave/Dean Foods lists “organic soymilk” and “organic soybeans” as the first ingredient. According to a Silk spokeswoman, not all soybeans in these products are in fact organic, 61 these products are made with some organic soybeans, but not enough to qualify them for “made with organic soybeans” status. To qualify for the “made with organic soybeans” status, at least 70% of the ingredients must be certified organic. Either Silk is using some organic soybeans, but not all, or their yogurt contains more than 30% nonorganic fruit and other ingredients, which disqualifies it from the “made with organic” label. Consumers who associate Silk with organics, see that “organic soybeans” are listed as the first ingredient, and assume that this yogurt is an organic product are mistaken. This product contains more than 30% nonorganic ingredients and, possibly, nonorganic soybeans. 62 Consumers who purchase organic soymilk in order to avoid supporting companies that are involved in animal agriculture should be aware that Dean Foods, owning over 50 dairy brands in the United States, also owns the Horizon Organic dairy brand. The Cornucopia Institute has filed legal complaints against Dean Foods for violating the organic standards governing organic dairy production. Under their Horizon Organic brand, Dean Foods sells milk from dairy farms—including a corporate-owned, 8,000-head dairy in Idaho—that allegedly fail to provide appropriate outdoor access to the cows, among other violations. the Cornucopia Institute 29
Page 1 and 2: Behind the Bean The Heroes and Char
Page 3 and 4: Contents Acknowledgments .. . . . .
Page 5 and 6: Executive Summary Wi t h t h e c o
Page 7 and 8: Introduction In t o d a y ’s glob
Page 9 and 10: Part I: The Organic Soy Scorecard C
Page 11 and 12: terials and practices that enhance
Page 13 and 14: vironment and family farmers. The c
Page 15 and 16: The claims by biotechnology corpora
Page 17 and 18: ages, others like Small Planet Tofu
Page 19 and 20: USDA organic standards. It was an i
Page 21 and 22: Brazil is a major producer of conve
Page 23 and 24: Company Ratings in the Organic Soy
Page 25 and 26: Teeter soymilk participated, we wer
Page 27: where their Chinese organic soybean
Page 31 and 32: Part II: Unmasking the “Natural
Page 33 and 34: Soy Isoflavones as Estrogen Mimicks
Page 35 and 36: tive effects or birth defects, or a
Page 37 and 38: protein content and increased cost.
Page 39 and 40: Clif Bar & Company writes on its we
Page 41 and 42: Nutritional DHA and ARA Oils On or
Page 43 and 44: Mead Johnson currently charges more
Page 45 and 46: Appendix A: Scorecard Ratings Soy S
Page 47 and 48: Manufacturing 100 All manufacturing
Page 49 and 50: Appendix C: List of Companies Brand
Page 51 and 52: Brand Name Corporate Affiliation Ad
Page 53 and 54: Soybeans and cotton genetically eng
Page 55 and 56: 64 Sally Fallon and Mary G. Enig, T
Page 57 and 58: =EntrezSystem2.PEntrez.Pubmed.Pubme

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