history of soy yogurt, soy acidophilus milk and other ... - SoyInfo Center

Asheville, North Carolina: Huckleberry Mountain Press. 223
p. Index. 23 cm. [94 ref]
• Summary: This book looks very commercial because it
mentions many natural products by brand name. We wonder
if companies paid to be mentioned. Contains scattered
recipes for branded products, and scattered sidebars titled
“Hippie wisdom.” Discusses: Almonds, almond butter,
almond milk, American Miso Co., antibiotics (used in
agriculture in 4 different ways; prevention, treatment, and
control of disease, and growth promotion. In 1998 the
European Union banned the use of antibiotics to promote
growth in livestock. In Oct. 2000 the FDA proposed a ban
on two antibiotics also used to treat humans), antioxidants,
Bifi dobacterium (bifi dus), bovine growth hormone, bovine
somatotropin (BST), Bragg Live Foods, Bragg Liquid
Aminos, breast cancer, calcium, canola oil, celiac disease,
cereal & Kellogg Brothers, cheese alternatives, dulse,
edamame, Eden Foods (says “Eden Foods opened shop
in 1968. By 1969 they were grinding their own fl ours and
bottling their own oils and nut butters”), FDA, fl axseed oil,
Galaxy Foods (says they “started in 1972 when founder
Angelo Morini invented a new way to make a cheese
product free of saturated fat, cholesterol, and the milk
sugar, lactose”), genetically engineered foods, ghee, ginger,
gluten sensitivity, glycemic index, GMO [genetically
engineered] crops, Graham–Sylvester, heart disease,
hippie foods, Horizon Organic, hormones, Lactobacillus,
lactose intolerance, Lappe–Francis Moore, Lightlife Foods,
magnesium, Maine Coast Sea Vegetables, Messina–Mark,
milk–problems with, miso, Miso Master brand, nutritional
yeast, oils, olive oil, omega-3 and omega-6 fatty acids,
organic farming, palm oil, phytochemicals, phytoestrogens,
prostate cancer, protein, Red Star nutritional yeast, quinoa,
saturated fat, sodium, soymilk, soy products, soy sauce, soy
supplements and concerns, soy yogurts, spelt, Stonyfi eld
Farm, tahini, tamari, tempeh, trans fats (hydrogenated oils),
WholeSoy Company. Near the back are many color coupons
for the companies mentioned in the book by name. Address:
MPH, RD, Asheville, North Carolina.
1293. Ridenour, Jeremiah. 2005. The merger of Wildwood
Natural Foods and Pulmuone in April 2004 (Interview).
SoyaScan Notes. Feb. 13. Conducted by William Shurtleff of
Soyfoods Center.
• Summary: Jeremiah met Tom Lacina and his partner
/ brother-in-law one day when they showed up at the
Wildwood plant in Santa Cruz. Jeremiah took them on a tour
of the plant, then they went out to lunch. Tom was one of
those rare people who was both an attorney and a farmer. He
owned a farm and had built a small tofu shop on his land.
He was selling about $50,000/year worth of soy products
at the most. They said they were struggling in Iowa trying
to make their tofu plant work, and they were loosing tons
of money. Somebody (Shurtleff) had told them that if they
HISTORY OF SOY YOGURT & CULTURED SOYMILK 500
© Copyright Soyinfo Center 2012
wanted to be successful, they should model themselves after
Wildwood. After visiting Wildwood, they visited San Diego
Soy Dairy and Luke Lukoskie. He then called Jeremiah and
said that if he was ever in the Midwest, he was welcome to
stop by for a visit. On a trip to the East, Jeremiah stopped in
to see Tom, who introduced him to venture capitalists (VCs)
in Des Moines who scouted for companies potentially suited
for Iowa state money. The VCs grilled Jeremiah about his
business. To get money from the state of Iowa, a company
had to have more than $5 million/year in sales. Jeremiah
really liked Tom and the Soy Sisters (Tom’s wife and sister).
Wildwood had run out of capacity, working around the
clock 7 days a week, so it was “grow or else.” Wildwood
and Midwest Harvest Corp. (Tom’s company) ended up
merging, becoming an Iowa corporation and getting money
from the state of Iowa for job creation in Iowa and valueadded
products made in Iowa from Iowa farm crops. A
certain percentage of that money had to be spent in Iowa, but
Jeremiah was able to get enough to buy a used meat-packing
plant in Watsonville, about 25 miles southeast of Santa
Cruz. First the new corporation bought 10 acres of land in
Grinnell, Iowa, 1½ miles down the road from Tom Lacina’s
farm and in 2001 built a state-of-the art plant (22,000 square
feet) where only soymilk and cultured foods (such as soy
yogurt) were made–the only such plant in the USA. Jeremiah
has long had a strong commitment to organic farming and
the use of organic ingredients wherever possible in his
products. On his 320-acre farm, Tom Lacina grows some
of the organic soybeans that Wildwood makes into cultured
soyfoods in Iowa. This is the type of vertical integration that
Jeremiah had long sought. Jeremiah used to contract with
various organic farmers, but he gradually found problems
keeping the protein levels of his two select varieties high
enough and ensuring the cleanliness of the soybeans he
wanted. So 5-6 years ago he started to buy his soybeans
through a broker, and giving very clear specifi cations–such
as at least 43% protein in the soybeans to be used in making
tofu. That system has proven to be much better.
While building his fi rst factory in Iowa, Jeremiah
bought an old meat-packing plant in Watsonville, California
and began to renovate it for food processing. Building two
plants at once turned out to be a big mistake. The usual cost
overruns occurred. After building plans had been approved
by the inspectors and the meat-packing plant renovation was
almost fi nished, inspectors came back in and said that about
$1 million worth of earthquake retrofi tting would have to be
done. Jeremiah did the work and fi nished the plant. But now
he needed the last million dollars of marketing money that
he had been promised by Iowa. But Iowa refused to pay that
money, arguing that it would take more than that amount for
the company to reach the break-even point. What Wildwood
couldn’t see, was that politics was at work behind the scenes;
Iowa wanted to get out. The money guys told Jeremiah he
would have to fi nd a strategic partner. Jeremiah suddenly