Veg News about American "choice"

From Jan/Feb Veg News

Big Vegan Business
another reason to avoid processed foods is that many vegan companies
have been bought out by mega corporations that have less than
stellar reputations. Here are a few examples that might surprise
you:

Lightlife:
owned by ConAgra who is one of the nations 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: Hebrew National Beef
Franks, Chef Boyardee, Butterball Turkey, Hunt's Manwich and Slim
Jim.

Cascadian Farms and Muir Glen
Owned by General Mills who makes many nutritionally-deficient
cereals aimed at children. Also, the company's main shareholders
include Phillip Morris, Exxon-Mobil, General Electric, Chevron,
Nike, McDondald's, Monsanto, Dow Chemical and PepsiCo

Boca owned by Kraft. Kraft is owned by Altria, formerly known as
Phillip Morris. Do you really wnat your food dollars supporting
such a notoriously deceptive tobacco company? Also, most Boca
burgers are made with genetically-modified soy.

Odwala owned by Coca-Cola is notorious for contaminating the water
supply in developing countries such as India. Coca-Cola has also
been implicated in the murder of labor activists in Colombia. If
that's not enough, the company hooks children on its sugary,
nutrionally 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, Phillip Morris, Exxon-Mobil, Coca-Cola,
Wal-Mart and PepsiCo

Finally, quite a few vegan products are now under the umbrella group
called "The Hain Celestial Group" including Terra Chips, Garden of
Eatin' Health Vally, WestSoy, Earth's Best, Westbrae Natural,
Imagine (Soy and Rice Dream) and Yves Veggie Cuisine. H.J. Heinz
owns about 20% of Hain, and other investors include Phillip 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.