New Report on Organic Soy Released!
Hey all!  The non-profit I work for (The Cornucopia Institute) just
released a super report on organic soy, along with a scorecard that
rates the integrity of all the organic soy products on the market.
Please visit their site to check out both – some really important and
helpful information in it.  Well-researched.
Site: www.cornucopia.org
link to report: http://www.cornucopia.org/2009/05/soy-report-and-scorecard/
link to scorecard: http://www.cornucopia.org/soysurvey/
Below is also the press release we sent out about it, for those who
may be interested.
Thanks!  Contact us if you have questions!
Lynn

May 18, 2009
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Contact:
Mark Kastel 608-625-2042
Charlotte Vallaeys 978-369-6409

New Report: Many Organic Soy Food Brands
Importing Beans from China

We no longer trust these imports to feed our pets
They have no place in organics

Cornucopia, WI: Tremendous growth in the organic soy foods industry
has occurred over the last two decades as consumers seek healthy
dietary alternative sources of protein. Many companies touting their
"natural" or "organic" soy brands have found favor in the supermarket.
A new report, released this week by The Cornucopia Institute, lifts
the veil on some of these companies, exposing widespread importation
of soybeans from China and the use of toxic chemicals to process soy
foods labeled as "natural."
The report, Beyond the Bean: The Heroes and Charlatans of the Natural
and Organic Soy Foods Industry, and an accompanying ratings scorecard
of organic brands, separates industry heroes—who have gone out of
their way to connect with domestic farmers—from agribusinesses that
are exploiting the trust of consumers.
Part of the meteoric rise in organic food sales has been built on the
expectation from consumers that organic foods support a more
environmentally sound form of agriculture and one that financially
rewards family farmers through their patronage. "Importing Chinese
soybeans or contributing to the loss of rain forests by shipping in
commodities from Brazil just flat-out contradicts the working
definition of organic agriculture," said Mark Kastel, Senior Farm
Policy Analyst at The Cornucopia Institute.
Through a nationwide survey of the industry, onsite farm, and
processor visits, plus reviews of import data, Cornucopia assembled a
rating system aimed at empowering consumers and wholesale buyers with
the knowledge necessary to support brands that respect the fundamental
tenets of organics.
"The good news in this report is that consumers can easily find,
normally without paying any premium, organic soy foods that truly meet
their expectations," said Charlotte Vallaeys, a researcher at
Cornucopia and the primary author of the report.
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.
“White Wave (the operating division of Dean Foods that markets Silk
and Horizon organic milk) 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,” said Merle
Kramer, a marketer for the Midwestern Organic Farmers Cooperative.
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.
After reports from cooperative and independent natural foods retailers
around the country Cornucopia visited a Whole Foods store in downtown
Milwaukee, Wisconsin and found only one of 25 Silk soymilk products
was organic. "This is a radical departure by a brand that was widely
viewed as an organic market pioneer," lamented Kastel.
Cornucopia's Vallaeys warned: "Health conscious shoppers should no
longer associate Silk with organic, and should seek the green USDA
Certified Organic seal when purchasing soy products.”
"As a vegetarian, for health and ethical reasons, I am appalled that
some large corporations are profiteering on my trust in their brand,"
said Joan Levin, a Chicago consumer who says she is fiercely committed
to organics.
Meanwhile, highly committed companies like Eden Foods, one of the
country's largest organic soy foods producers, Small Planet Tofu, and
Vermont Soy work directly with North American organic farmers.
“Small Planet Tofu has bought organic soybeans from me and other
farmers I work with for the past 17 years,” said Phil Lewis, an
organic farmer in Kansas. “This relationship is priceless, because I
know that I can count on them even if I have a bad year with droughts
or floods,” Lewis added.
“The top-rated companies that nurture relationships with American
organic farmers should be rewarded in the marketplace. We hope that
organic consumers will use Cornucopia’s soy scorecard when deciding
which organic soy foods to buy,” said Kastel.
Some soy food makers that did not participate in the scorecard study
may have been hesitant to share their sourcing information because
they also buy organic soybeans from China. “Their reluctance to
disclose their sourcing information makes sense, given the USDA’s weak
oversight of certifying agents working in China,” noted Kastel.
The USDA waited five years before sending auditors to China to examine
the practices of that country’s certifying agents. And even when in
China, the USDA’s auditors visited only two farms in the entire
country. On these two farms, they found multiple noncompliances with
U.S. organic standards. USDA auditors also discovered that Chinese-
based organic certifying agents did not always provide a translated
copy of the U.S. standards to clients who apply for organic
certification.
The Chinese findings support concerns that American farmers have
raised for years, which is that organic imports from China may not
always be held to the same strict standards as American crops. They
also raise serious questions about whether Chinese farmers are
adequately informed about the USDA organic standards and
requirements.
“If the reputation of organic food is impugned through illegal and
fraudulent activities in China, and an incompetent level of oversight
by the USDA, it will be the domestic farmers and entrepreneurs that
built this industry who will be harmed,” added Kastel.
Hexane: The Dirty Little Secret of the Natural Soy Foods Industry
Behind the Bean also exposes the natural soy industry’s “dirty little
secret”: its widespread use of the chemical solvent hexane. Hexane is
used to process nearly all conventional soy protein ingredients and
edible oils and is prohibited when processing organic foods.
Soybeans are bathed in hexane by food processors seeking to separate
soy oil from the protein and fiber of the beans. It is a cost-
effective and highly efficient method for concentrating high-protein
isolates. But hexane is also a neurotoxic chemical that poses serious
occupational hazards to workers, is an environmental air pollutant,
and can contaminate food.
Residue tests reveal that small amounts of hexane can and do appear in
ingredients processed with the toxic chemical. The government does not
require that companies test for hexane residues before selling foods
to consumers, including soy-based infant formula.
"Consumers who are concerned with the purity and healthfulness of
their food should continue to seek out organic alternatives as part of
their diet and support the many high-integrity brands outlined in our
study," Vallaeys stated.
The full Cornucopia Institute report, or an executive summary,
including the scorecard of organic soy brands, can be found at
www.cornucopia.org
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MORE:
Pacific Foods, another major organic manufacturer, for example, puts a
“Certified to the Source™” seal on its organic soymilk packages, yet
refused to share with customers and Cornucopia researchers any
sourcing information. Additional Cornucopia research of available
import databases indicates that Pacific Natural Foods buys hundreds of
thousands of pounds of organic soybeans from China. "Obviously,
Pacific Foods knows their customers well enough that they felt sharing
this information openly with them would not reflect well on their
reputation," added Vallaeys.
"When consumers choose to invest in organic food, they think they are
choosing a safer and more nutritious product for their families,” said
Cornucopia’s Kastel.
Dean Foods has also been the subject of industry scrutiny and USDA
investigations for their dependence on giant factory farms, some with
over 10,000 animals, producing "organic" milk while violating federal
standards.
The Cornucopia Institute, a Wisconsin-based nonprofit farm policy
research group, is dedicated to the fight for economic justice for the
family-scale farming community. Their Organic Integrity Project acts
as a corporate and governmental watchdog assuring that no compromises
to the credibility of organic farming methods and the food it produces
are made in the pursuit of profit.www.cornucopia.org