Uh-oh. Bad news about some veg friendly companies...
As a side bar in an article in the Jan/Feb '06 issue of Veg News was a rather depressing column on Big Vegan Business. Depressing mostly because of the investors of what was my fav veg friendly company (The Hain Celestial Group) are all mostly business that I do not support. I don't know what to do b/c one of their products is Celestial Seasonings tea and oh how I love their herbal (caffeine free) teas!! This company also makes Terra Chips, is the owner of Westbrae Natural, Garden of Eatin' and many other things we love. I am a dork and I pretty much read everything I can on food packages so I noticed within the first month or two of being officially vegan that this same group owns all of these companies and I was like, "WOW! This company rocks. All of the products they make are healthy." Oh how sad I am now. They own a shit ton of stuff so avoiding them will be hard, but with both Philip Morris and Wal-Mart as investors... :'( I think I have to. I bought a box of Celestial Seasonings without even thinking about it b/c it was on sale and I realized it at the check-out but was like, "Oh well - yummy tea - I am sick - I want tea. I like this tea. I'll try and be better about this next time." And I bought a bag of Terra Chips and er just realized it was Hain right now as I type this up and look over the article agian. EDIT: 11:44 am on 1/22 - never mind that was a bag of Kettle chips! :-P *lol*
I knew Odwalla was bad, but the other companies listed surprised me. They may surprise you as well! Probably the worst shock was that Boca is owned by Kraft. However, avoiding Boca is easy for me as out of all the vegan veggie burgers theirs are my least favorite. I like my veggie burgers with actual veggies in them and theirs are just striaght up soy patties. Still I always thought Boca was a friendly company - um - guess again!! Oh and White Wave - Wal-Mart is one of their investors - sh***t - cuz they make the soy milk that is the most well known.
I've been meaning to post this for about three weeks now and I am finally getting to it. Here is that side bar from page 43 of the current issue of VegNews. :'(
(The article was on processed vegan foods and why it is a good idea to avoid them most of the time.)
Big Vegan Business
Lightlife owned by ConAgra. ConAgra is one of the nation's top beef producers. In 2002, the company recalled almost 19 million pounds of beef due to potential E. Coli contamination. Also, ConAgra is the parent company of numerous meat-containing brands including: Chef Boyardee, Butterball Turkey, Hunt's Manwich and Slim Jim.
Cascadian Farms and Muir Glen owned by General Mills. General Mills makes many nutritionally deficient cereals aimed at children. Also, the company's main shareholders include Philip Morris, Exxon-Mobil, General Electric, Chevron, Nike, McDonald's, Monsanto, Dow Chemical and PepsiCo.
Boca owned by Kraft. Kraft is owned by Altria, formerly known as Philip Morris. Do you really want your food dollars supporting such a notoriously deceiving tobacco company? Also, most Boca burgers are made with genetically-modified soy.
Odwalla owned by Coca-Cola. Coca-Cola is notorious for contaminating the water supply in developing countries such as India. Coca-Cola has also been implocated in the murder of labor activists in Colombia. If that's not enough, the company hooks children on its sugary, nutritionally deficient beverages by forming exclusive contracts with desperate school districts.
White Wave (Silk soy products) owned by Dean Foods. Dean Foods is one of the nation's largest dairy companies and makes several misleading claims about the health benefits of dairy, including extolling its weight-loss benefits. Also, Dean Foods' main investors include Pfizer, Philip Morris, Exxon-Mobil, Coca-Cola, Wal-Mart and PepsiCo.
Finally, quite a few vegan products are under the umbrella group "The Hain Celestial Group" including Terra Chips, Garden of Eatin', Health Valley, WestSoy, Earth's Best, Westbrae Natural, Imagine (Soy and Rice Dream), and Yves' Veggie Cuisine. H.J. Heinz owns about 20 percent of Hain, and other investors include Philip Morris, Monsanto, Exxon-Mobil and Wal-Mart.
In contrast, when you purchase organic, locally grown whole foods, you support your local markets and farmers, thereby contributing to the health and wellbeing of yourself, the environment and the local economy all at once.
::whimpers::
I knew Odwalla was bad, but the other companies listed surprised me. They may surprise you as well! Probably the worst shock was that Boca is owned by Kraft. However, avoiding Boca is easy for me as out of all the vegan veggie burgers theirs are my least favorite. I like my veggie burgers with actual veggies in them and theirs are just striaght up soy patties. Still I always thought Boca was a friendly company - um - guess again!! Oh and White Wave - Wal-Mart is one of their investors - sh***t - cuz they make the soy milk that is the most well known.
I've been meaning to post this for about three weeks now and I am finally getting to it. Here is that side bar from page 43 of the current issue of VegNews. :'(
(The article was on processed vegan foods and why it is a good idea to avoid them most of the time.)
Big Vegan Business
Lightlife owned by ConAgra. ConAgra is one of the nation's top beef producers. In 2002, the company recalled almost 19 million pounds of beef due to potential E. Coli contamination. Also, ConAgra is the parent company of numerous meat-containing brands including: Chef Boyardee, Butterball Turkey, Hunt's Manwich and Slim Jim.
Cascadian Farms and Muir Glen owned by General Mills. General Mills makes many nutritionally deficient cereals aimed at children. Also, the company's main shareholders include Philip Morris, Exxon-Mobil, General Electric, Chevron, Nike, McDonald's, Monsanto, Dow Chemical and PepsiCo.
Boca owned by Kraft. Kraft is owned by Altria, formerly known as Philip Morris. Do you really want your food dollars supporting such a notoriously deceiving tobacco company? Also, most Boca burgers are made with genetically-modified soy.
Odwalla owned by Coca-Cola. Coca-Cola is notorious for contaminating the water supply in developing countries such as India. Coca-Cola has also been implocated in the murder of labor activists in Colombia. If that's not enough, the company hooks children on its sugary, nutritionally deficient beverages by forming exclusive contracts with desperate school districts.
White Wave (Silk soy products) owned by Dean Foods. Dean Foods is one of the nation's largest dairy companies and makes several misleading claims about the health benefits of dairy, including extolling its weight-loss benefits. Also, Dean Foods' main investors include Pfizer, Philip Morris, Exxon-Mobil, Coca-Cola, Wal-Mart and PepsiCo.
Finally, quite a few vegan products are under the umbrella group "The Hain Celestial Group" including Terra Chips, Garden of Eatin', Health Valley, WestSoy, Earth's Best, Westbrae Natural, Imagine (Soy and Rice Dream), and Yves' Veggie Cuisine. H.J. Heinz owns about 20 percent of Hain, and other investors include Philip Morris, Monsanto, Exxon-Mobil and Wal-Mart.
In contrast, when you purchase organic, locally grown whole foods, you support your local markets and farmers, thereby contributing to the health and wellbeing of yourself, the environment and the local economy all at once.
::whimpers::