Silk (milk) is now animal-cruelty free?

I was pretty thrilled this week to get an email from a public relations person who wanted me to know about the new TCBY vegan Silk yogurt (fro-yo) made from almond milk responding to a concern I had about Silk being a product of WhiteWave which is owned by Dean Foods, one of the largest killer of pigs in the country (and maybe other animals).

She was kind enough to approach Silk, who in turn sent her this:

"Silk is actually owned by WhiteWave Foods and their spin-off from Dean Foods was completed last year. WhiteWave is now a stand-alone, publicly traded company."

Why did I not know this? Is this true? It seems it is. 

I am still asking around just to make sure that there is absolutely no connection between White Wave and Dean Foods. As you might know, several years ago Dean Foods, not making great profit from killing animals, bought a vegan friendly company, WhiteWave. Although I have a lot of disgust for Dean Foods, this purchase showed that in the big world of business and money-making, companies that sell vegan products can be profitable. I had pretty much stopped buying WhiteWave products, except for that amazing yogurt, because of this. Now it seems I can go back to buying their products.

WhiteWave still makes Horizon Organic milk and a couple of other non-vegan products. We all know what that means in regards to calves and the veal industry, plus the inherent cruelty that shows up in dairy farms. So the company itself is still not cruelty-free, just not part of a huge, animal production company anymore.

It's tough to find the perfect, all-vegan company. WhiteWave being separated from Dean Foods is a huge step for me.

They no longer make tofu, but their line of non-dairy milks and yogurts is wonderful. And have you seen the super-cute almond milk commercial they produced?

Another great thing about WhiteWave, being that we live in Colorado, is that they are a Colorado-based company.

I have been vegan for 18 years and have been writing this blog for 2 1/2, so I am completely aware that in the vegan community there are a zillion opinions. And that is the main reason I wanted to write this blog post. I would love your thoughts on all of this. And if you know something about WhiteWave being on their own now that I am unaware of, please do tell!

Through all of this I have not lost sight of TCBY and their huge step to make a vegan frozen yogurt. More to come on that.

Thanks for reading!

Not supporting those who fight against gay people

 NOTE: Sometimes I start with a title, like this one about not supporting those who do not support gay people (equality) and the post turns into more. This is the case of this post as I began to write about not only those who do not support equality but also companies that partake in cruelty to animals.

It's not always easy being a voice for the voiceless or supporting equality or being vegan and being up to date with who is on the side of your cause and who isn't.

It's also not fun all of the time. "I really love the product". "I can't wait to go shopping there".  

Sometimes I read about or listen to friends talk about buying something or going somewhere and I cringe.

There are so many examples. One is sitting in our fridge. Several years ago the amazing company White Wave, maker of Silk products, was bought by Dean Foods. Vegan awesomeness meet profiteer of animal cruelty on so many levels. It took us a while to stop buying Silk soy milk and years after the buyout we still purchase Silk creamer. We think about the pigs tortured by Dean Foods all of the time, and yet we still buy Silk soy milk.

We hear from readers all of the time who face the same dilemma.

A coffee house run but religious extremists, or at least promoting churches that are extreme.

A running race supported and promoted by anti-gay religious groups.  Restaurants that serve meat, but have amazing vegan food. On this one, we get it. And we are grateful for restaurants who jump into vegan cuisine. Our favorite restaurants are not vegan-only and serve the best vegan food in town.

Politicians, products lines, whole companies.

What to do, what to do?

Coming out as vegan is a good start. You can see the difference this makes in the huge amount of choices we as vegans have not only in restaurants but in markets and non-food stores. Big change just in the past couple of years.

Coming out as a voice for the voiceless is huge too. "I care about these animals or these people, so I am not going to buy your product or run in your race anymore."

If a company wants to make money, they will listen. Maybe not the first time they hear something, or the second. But eventually they will.

Maybe that's why one of the largest pork producers (an industry losing profit) bought out a soy milk/tofu company (an industry gaining profit).

I write about this a lot. When we use our voices to be a voice for those who have none, we change the world.

Thanks for reading!