Eden Foods bills itself as the “oldest natural and organic food company in America” and is best known for its EdenSoy line of organic soy milk.
Most of Eden’s products are organic and nearly all are vegan.
It’s a very familiar brand in health food stores and marketing studies have shown it to be a favorite of female and liberal customers.
These customers, to put it mildly, are not pleased with the news that Eden hired the Thomas More Law Center to file a lawsuit against Kathleen Sibelius, Secretary of Health and Human Services, and other government parties, associated with the Obama administration’s rule on contraception.
The lawsuit claims the contraception rule violates Eden Foods owner Michael Potter’s religious freedom under the First Amendment and the Religious Freedom Restoration Act by requiring him to provide his employees with medical coverage for contraception.
Potter believes contraception “almost always involves immoral and unnatural practices.”
Irin Carmon at Salon.com launched the story yesterday (April 11, 2013). Predictably enough, it has gone viral, with a massive outcry on Facebook and other social media.
In brief, protesters are not pleased by Eden’s pursuit of a right-wing ideological agenda and its espousal of Catholic church teachings on the evils of contraception. Thousands of people have already voiced their intent to stop buying Eden products, including Facebook commenter Cheryl DeMarco who summed up the issues particularly well. “Now that you’ve sued to avoid providing birth control coverage to your employees based on bogus science, I don’t trust you to provide me with clean food based on good science. I won’t be buying your products.”
As yet, the debaters have not pointed out the supreme irony of Eden Foods — one of the top manufacturers of soy milk — coming out against birth control. All soy milks — including organic soy milks — include high levels of the plant estrogens known as isoflavones. Over the past seven decades, scientists have linked isoflavones to reproductive problems in all animal tested, including the human animal. For women, soy contributes to anovulatory cycles and other symptoms indicative of infertility; for men, it causes adverse effects on the quality and quantity of sperm.
The illustration posted by Salon.com — and posted here — was surely not intended to be literal. But yes, this product can make birth control unnecessary!
Indeed, in the 1970s the World Health Organization funded a $5 million study through the University of Chicago and sent researchers out in the field in search of all-natural contraceptives. The idea was to find a safe and effective alternative to the high-dose birth control pills of that era. Researchers visited dozens of native cultures to discover which herbs and plants were being used to prevent pregnancy, examined hundreds of plants and analyzed their phytochemicals. Although they found many contraceptive plants — soy, prominently among them — they ultimately abandoned the project. Not because “natural” methods didn’t work, but because the side effects were similar to — and just as serious — as those of the birth control pill.
The obvious conclusion here is that customers who consume EdenSoy “soy milks” are unwittingly —and almost certainly unwillingly — swallowing liquid birth control. Lest any readers at this point think soy milk might a good “all natural” form of contraception, however, my advice is don’t count on it! Soy isoflavone content varies from carton to carton, and any contraceptive effects would depend as well on the amount and duration of consumption.
Eden Foods furthermore has a shabby track record in terms of supporting the health of babies. In 1990 the FDA investigated after a two-month old girl in California was hospitalized with severe malnutrition. Her parents had fed her EdenSoy brand soy milk instead of infant formula. Because of this and a similar incident in Arkansas involving the SoyMoo brand of soy milk, the FDA issued a warning on June 13, 1990, stating soy milk was “grossly lacking in the nutrients needed for infants.” The FDA asked — but unfortunately has never required — all manufacturers to put warning labels on soy milk so that they would not be used as formula substitutes.
Since these tragic incidents, most brands of soy milk — but not EdenSoy — include warning labels in tiny print on their packaging.
Sadly, babies continue to be hospitalized and die because of EdenSoy and other brands of soy milk. At least four couples have been found guilty of the deaths of their babies fed soy milk in lieu of soy infant formula. Many of these parents were health conscious, well-meaning vegans who truly thought they were doing a good thing for their babies by choosing organic soy milk instead of commercial soy formula. The myth that soy is a health food and Eden’s irresponsibility led to these tragic deaths.
How many more unnecessary and tragic cases of malnutrition and deaths will occur before Eden takes the right action? For me, the “right action” is clear: Boycott Eden Foods.
Sources
For more information about Eden’s lawsuit:
http://www.salon.com/2013/04/11/organic_eden_foods_quiet_right_wing_agenda/
For more information about soy formula and the effect soy milk and other products containing soy vegetable protein on reproduction, The Whole Soy Story: The Dark Side of America’s Favorite Health Food.
Life begins at conception. God decided that. I didn’t. Grateful that Eden foods is standing by that. I didn’t know about this case. I’ll be supporting this company even if I don’t consume soy.
Can you point me to the source for that statement? I’ve read my bible front to back many times, and I’ve never seen that statement.
Biblical references usually say something about life beginning with breath, and the punishment for causing a miscarriage in a woman are much different than that for killing a man – more of a property violation, which kind of makes sense, since both women and children were pretty much viewed as property..
EXACTLY! Also, while I am 100% in agreement that soy is terrible for you and a big source of infertility, people who drink soy milk still do get pregnant and raise children (I know many who do). Drinking a carton of soy milk is not the exact same as taking the pill. This discrepancy is due to poor education rather than any hypocritical standards like the author is claiming. I must say – I am getting more and more tired of these poorly written guest articles on the HHE blog.
You make a judgement about hypocrisy, then claim no one should make a judgement about someone’s beliefs…..ummmm….?
I think there’s a log in your eye.
Whereas I may not agree with his values, I respect his decision based simply upon freedom of choice. If women shall have freedom of choice of birth control, then business owners should also have freedom of choice of living their value system. If you don’t like it, then don’t buy Eden products and find a different company to work for (if you work for Eden)…even better yet, start your own business and be your own boss.
Personally, though, I believe women’s freedom of choice of what they do with their bodies trumps someone’s religious beliefs. I won’t be buying any more Eden products.
Pd, As soon as a women has conceived it is no longer just her body. If this issue was just about an individuals right to do what they want with their own body, no one would be arguing this. Abortion and all abortificients kill another human being. I believe in the dignity of every person, born and unborn. We should never have the”right” to kill another person because they are not convenient to us.
A woman’s “freedom of choice” is not the issue to Eden Organics. The issue is THEIR freedom. They’re not suing to make birth control illegal. They’re suing to not violate their conscience by going against their beliefs and being forced to provide birth control to women. A woman can make the argument that it’s her right to take birth control, but where is it also her right to have someone who is morally opposed to birth control (or anyone for that matter) pay for it for her?
I’m also a practicing Roman Catholic who believes life begins at conception. I totally want nothing to do with an insurance company that pays for the Morning after pill, IUD’s, or any kind of chemical “birth control”. “Birth Control” has 3 ways it works. It has high levels of steroids that are supposed to stop ovulation. The really high level steroids were originally found to be dangerous to women and were pulled from the market after women were killed and debilitated. The second way it works is buy thinning the lining of the uterus and not allowing the newly formed child “fetus” from implanting. The third way it works is by thickening the cervical mucus preventing the sperm from reaching the egg. So, “birth control” also can be classified as an abortificiant like the other types I’ve mentioned. I support Eden Soy’s decision even though I don’t eat Soy. I really thought the Catholic bashing was inappropriate. I might boycott The Healthy Home Economists though and let all of my Catholic friends know how you feel about us.
Well, I hope you don’t live in one of the 26 states that ALREADY require by state law prescription drug coverage (w/ a co-pay) for birth control. No insurance for you! I’ve said it once and I’ll say it again: If you don’t believe in the use of birth control, then don’t buy it and don’t use it! But you don’t have the right, religious or otherwise, to make that decision for someone else. And, no, individual companies cannot opt out of providing prescription coverage (w/ their insurance company) for birth control in these states. Their only option is not to provide health insurance at all. I’m not Catholic, but I attended a Catholic university, and even they had to adhere to state law, and they didn’t make a big, gigantic fuss about it because they realize that since nearly 80% of their staff were decidedly not Catholic, the resulting uproar would be too destabilizing to the university. It’s a Jesuit university, and they also decided that not providing health insurance at all is not a Jesuit ideal. In a country like the USA, with so much religious freedom, and so many different belief systems, and so many more pressing issues to be concerned with, fighting over birth control is kinda lame.
What is lame is equating birth control with health care. I agree that there are many pressing issues in our country, this being one of them, as it is an attack on the freedoms of private business owners who should be able to offer -or not- benefits (look up the word) to encourage employees to work for said owner. If the potential employee doesn’t like the offer they are free to refuse.
“But you don’t have the right, religious or otherwise, to make that decision for someone else.” Faulty logic, no one is making a decision that you can not have your birth control, only that they do not want to pay for it. I would suggest that no one should have the right to tell you that you should have to pay for something that goes against what you believe to be right.
Roxanne,
Just because they say they are Catholic and say they are Jesuit doesn’t mean they know or live the Faith. Most ‘Catholic’ and ‘Jesuit’ universities aren’t really either. They are wolves in sheep’s clothing. What you said proves they aren’t living the faith–the fact that they would put the destabilizing effect on the university above living their faith illustrates this point.
I think Kayla’s mentioning the Catholic faith at all was totally inappropriate and unprofessional.
“Eden’s pursuit of a right-wing ideological agenda and its espousal of Catholic church teachings on the evils of contraception.”
Yikes! Is this really necessary? As an Orthodox Christian, this article came across as being disrespectful & hurtful. I understand the point they were making about soy, but the author went about it in the wrong way. Is this website about food, healthy living, nutrition & science or is it about bashing peoples religious beliefs?
Agreed! You said exactly what I planned too! We tend to buy very little processed foods, but we will in the future, purchase from Eden when we do need something.
He may be completely unaware of the fact that soy can cause fertility issues (allegedly). At the same time, he is obviously aware that birth control can cause early term abortions. Therefore, he is taking a moral stance regarding the information he is privy to. Kudos to him.
Sarah, I absolutely love your blog, but this post is aberrant in that your style is usually tactful and logical.
You believe in the right of people to choose the food they wish to consume, particularly as it concerns nutrient dense food straight from the farm. People can choose to drink soy milk, just like we choose raw grassfed cows’ milk. Companies who do not see the problem with soy can choose sell it, consumers can choose to buy it. If the consumers are absolutely ignorant, and feed a baby plain soy milk instead of a form of formula, that is the consumers choice, their mistake, and they are liable. Not the company. EdenOrganics has not marketed their product as formula, so they have no liability in the matter.
And the difference between soy milk causing disruption in hormones and thereby fertility is a very different matter from intentionally causing a conceived child to be aborted due to the lack of uterine lining to sustain the life. This is a form of abortion. It is not a form of infertility. Two very different issues here.
The owner should not be forced to purchase a product for his employees that violates his religious beliefs in the sanctity of life. I find it abhorrant that you are supporting a boycott on a fellow American citizen operating in a free marketplace in a “free” country, where he should have the right to choose what he purchases, and to live and work within the framework of his religious and moral convictions. I don’t think you or Ms Daniels would enjoy being forced to purchase soy milk.
Kudos to the owner for standing up for his beliefs, and his rights in the free marketplace of ideas.
This article seems a little biased at least. In regards to the court cases where the PARENTS were found guilty, not the company, unless the company was specifically claiming this could be used in place of infant formula then it’s the mother and father’s responsibility to know what they’re feeding their children and the nutritional value of these items. Blaming big corporations for personal negligence is just part of the problem. On a Vegan note, and I have no ill feelings against them or anyone else’s personal decision on what they put in their bodies, this kind of diet has shown time and time again to have very serious adverse effects in growing children, including female reproductive organs. I still can’t figure out why instead of teaching women to have integrity and respect for their bodies we’re helping them degrade and defile them. Since when is it society’s responsibility to keep women’s legs closed? That’s my rant. 🙂