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Organic Farmers Claim Soybean Victory
"They took what once was a pioneering 100 percent organic brand, before they acquired the company in 2003, and cheapened the product at the expense of American farmers and consumers. Now they are paying a price for their naked profiteering,"
- Mark Kastel, Cornucopia's senior farm policy analyst
In a real-life example of the mythical story of David vs. Goliath, organic soybean producers and The Cornucopia Institute are claiming victory over Dean Foods, the maker of Silk soymilk drink.
The Cornucopia Institute, a public interest group that promotes family scale farming, first reported in May 2009 that Dean Foods had switched its soybean sources from American farms to cheaper organic beans from China.
Following publication of the report, the natural/organic foods retailer Whole Foods Market switched its organic soymilk source from Dean Foods to Earth Balance. In August, the national retailer told the Denver Post it wanted Earth Balance's soymilk products to contain only domestically grown soybeans carrying the organic label.