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 Foods 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:
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.
This post originally appeared on Dan Hanley's website The Gay Vegans. Republished with permission.
