# "Inorganic" Soy Milk? **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [October 10, 2008, 2:31am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/inorganic-soy-milk/467275 "2008-10-10T02:31:42Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 19\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![caveman](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/caveman/32/7242_2.png) [@caveman](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/caveman)\ **Post date:** [October 10, 2008, 2:31am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/inorganic-soy-milk/467275/1 "2008-10-10T02:31:42Z")
Over the past several months, I’ve taken a liking to the taste of soymilk, and have tried Silk, as well as the store brands at both Costco and H-E-B. All of these brands claim to be “organic,” a quality that I don’t really care about. I have noticed, however, that other organic products tend to be more expensive than their non-organic counterparts, and I’d prefer to have the savings over the organic-ness. Does anyone market a soymilk that is not organic? ---
**Author:** ![Harmonious\_Discord](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/74df32/32.png) [@Harmonious\_Discord](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Harmonious_Discord)\ **Post date:** [October 10, 2008, 1:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/inorganic-soy-milk/467275/2 "2008-10-10T13:34:28Z")
Inorganic does not mean what you think it means. You can’t have inorganic soy milk. > **[Definition of INORGANIC](https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/inorganic)** > > being or composed of matter other than plant or animal : mineral; forming or belonging to the inanimate world; of, relating to, or dealt with by a branch of chemistry concerned with substances not usually classed as organic… See the full definition ---
**Author:** ![tiltypig](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/dbc845/32.png) [@tiltypig](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/tiltypig)\ **Post date:** [October 10, 2008, 1:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/inorganic-soy-milk/467275/3 "2008-10-10T13:44:46Z")
That’s why he put “inorganic” in quotes. ---
**Author:** ![Mr.Moto](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/9de0a6/32.png) [@Mr.Moto](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mr.Moto)\ **Post date:** [October 10, 2008, 1:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/inorganic-soy-milk/467275/4 "2008-10-10T13:57:19Z")
If you really want to save money, you can make soy milk yourself for about 1/5 the cost of buying it. Basic steps are easy to look up, and you can even buy soy milk makers to semi-automate the process. ---
**Author:** ![Harmonious\_Discord](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/74df32/32.png) [@Harmonious\_Discord](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Harmonious_Discord)\ **Post date:** [October 10, 2008, 2:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/inorganic-soy-milk/467275/5 "2008-10-10T14:08:05Z")
> [@tiltypig](#): > > That’s why he put “inorganic” in quotes. Quotes make it mean something it doesn’t? ---
**Author:** ![spingears](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/ebca7d/32.png) [@spingears](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/spingears)\ **Post date:** [October 10, 2008, 2:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/inorganic-soy-milk/467275/6 "2008-10-10T14:33:08Z")
> [@caveman](#): > > Does anyone market a soymilk that is not organic? Say what? Like asking for white black beans! ---
**Author:** ![susan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/susan/32/17537_2.png) [@susan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/susan)\ **Post date:** [October 10, 2008, 2:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/inorganic-soy-milk/467275/7 "2008-10-10T14:40:44Z")
My understanding is that soy is a crop that’s quite heavily sprayed with pesticides, which, if true, is an argument for organic. ---
**Author:** ![CookingWithGas](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cookingwithgas/32/485_2.png) [@CookingWithGas](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CookingWithGas)\ **Post date:** [October 10, 2008, 3:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/inorganic-soy-milk/467275/8 "2008-10-10T15:51:47Z")
Many people who get soy milk are interested in a healthier alternative to milk from hormone-laden cows eating pesticide-laced grass (I know, I am creating a straw man). So to reach that market the producers make a product that is organically grown. I guess there is a segment that is lactose intolerant that doesn’t care about the organic angle but it’s probably easier to paint the market with a broad brush. > [@Harmonious Discord](#): > > Inorganic does not mean what you think it means. You can’t have inorganic soy milk. Oh, c’mon people. Stores label food grown without chemical fertilizers or pesticides as “organic.” Well, of \*course \*food is organic, if you look it up in the dictionary. It’s shorthand for “organically grown.” The OP is using quotes to mean, “I want to say the opposite of ‘organic’ so that is logically ‘inorganic’ but that can’t possibly seem right but I want to finish this post instead of spending all day figuring out how to word it.” ---
**Author:** ![Harriet\_the\_Spry](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/e56c9b/32.png) [@Harriet\_the\_Spry](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Harriet_the_Spry)\ **Post date:** [October 10, 2008, 5:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/inorganic-soy-milk/467275/9 "2008-10-10T17:31:32Z")
Considering that a lot of the market for soy milk would be people who also preferred the organic product, it is probably not cost effective to market standard soy milk. There might not be enough people in a single area who would prefer the lower price, so it would be a niche product and distribution costs could drive the price back up. On the grammar hijack, from the Chicago Manual of Style “Quotation marks are often used to alert readers that a term is used in a nonstandard, ironic, or other special sense […] They imply ‘This is not my term’ or ‘This is not how the term is usually applied.’ Like any such device, scare quotes lose their force and irritate readers if overused.” I thought \*\*caveman’s \*\*use was appropriate. ---
**Author:** ![SpoilerVirgin](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/4491bb/32.png) [@SpoilerVirgin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SpoilerVirgin)\ **Post date:** [October 10, 2008, 11:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/inorganic-soy-milk/467275/10 "2008-10-10T23:33:00Z")
[8th Continent](http://www.8thcontinent.com/home/default.aspx) is a non-organic (I think that’s the term you were looking for) soy milk. I’m not sure of the price, but it is available at WalMart and other lower-priced stores. ---
**Author:** ![Kent\_Clark](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kent_clark/32/105_2.png) [@Kent\_Clark](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kent_Clark)\ **Post date:** [October 11, 2008, 1:22am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/inorganic-soy-milk/467275/11 "2008-10-11T01:22:15Z")
> [@susan](#): > > My understanding is that soy is a crop that’s quite heavily sprayed with pesticides, which, if true, is an argument for organic. Not by the time the plants have set the bean pods. And most of the pesticides used earlier in the growing cycle have relatively short active lives, so will mostly be broken down by the time the plants set the pods and the actual soybeans develop. ---
**Author:** ![Interconnected\_Series\_of\_Tubes](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/13edae/32.png) [@Interconnected\_Series\_of\_Tubes](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Interconnected_Series_of_Tubes)\ **Post date:** [October 11, 2008, 2:41am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/inorganic-soy-milk/467275/12 "2008-10-11T02:41:14Z")
I dunno. Most soymilk tastes pretty inorganic to me. ---
**Author:** ![Hunter\_Hawk](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/50afbb/32.png) [@Hunter\_Hawk](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Hunter_Hawk)\ **Post date:** [October 11, 2008, 3:05am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/inorganic-soy-milk/467275/13 "2008-10-11T03:05:20Z")
It looks like WestSoy has several varieties that are not organic. ---
**Author:** ![Szlater](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/90ced4/32.png) [@Szlater](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Szlater)\ **Post date:** [October 11, 2008, 3:27am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/inorganic-soy-milk/467275/14 "2008-10-11T03:27:25Z")
> [@CookingWithGas](#): > > Stores label food grown without chemical fertilizers or pesticides as “organic.” “Organic” food production does actually involve both pesticides and fertilisers. It’s just that the ones that are approved are old fashioned. For instance, copper salts are commonly used as pesticide. ---
**Author:** ![Raguleader](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/258eb7/32.png) [@Raguleader](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Raguleader)\ **Post date:** [October 11, 2008, 4:20am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/inorganic-soy-milk/467275/15 "2008-10-11T04:20:42Z")
> [@CookingWithGas](#): > > Oh, c’mon people. Stores label food grown without chemical fertilizers or pesticides as “organic.” Well, of \*course \*food is organic, if you look it up in the dictionary. It’s shorthand for “organically grown.” The OP is using quotes to mean, “I want to say the opposite of ‘organic’ so that is logically ‘inorganic’ but that can’t possibly seem right but I want to finish this post instead of spending all day figuring out how to word it.” Why do you hate science? 😃 (I keed) I’d be curious if there were a cheaper variety of Soy Milk available than the “ZOMG ORGANIC!!1!” soy milk, but since the PX on post here only has Organic Soy Milk, I’m assuming “regular” Soy Milk is a bit harder to come by, at least on a national distribution level, or that as said before, there’s not a huge market for it (I’d imagine the military has a disproportionate number of potential health nuts, what with our mandatory physical fitness requirements). Incidentally, I buy the vanilla flavored stuff, and just make no attempt to pretend that it is milk, and just enjoy it for what it is: One of the thickest and most food-like beverages I have ever had. ---
**Author:** ![Cagey\_Drifter](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/b2d939/32.png) [@Cagey\_Drifter](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cagey_Drifter)\ **Post date:** [October 11, 2008, 11:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/inorganic-soy-milk/467275/16 "2008-10-11T23:50:15Z")
> [@Harmonious\_Discord](#): > > Quotes make it mean something it doesn’t? You’re nitpicking unnecessarily. We know what he means. Besides, do you think that organic food products are touting the fact that they contain carbon? ---
**Author:** ![Mangetout](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mangetout/32/19_2.png) [@Mangetout](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mangetout)\ **Post date:** [October 12, 2008, 12:07am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/inorganic-soy-milk/467275/17 "2008-10-12T00:07:03Z")
But, but… each word can have one and only one meaning… 😕 ---
**Author:** ![caveman](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/caveman/32/7242_2.png) [@caveman](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/caveman)\ **Post date:** [October 12, 2008, 2:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/inorganic-soy-milk/467275/18 "2008-10-12T14:41:33Z")
Just to confirm, I’m well aware of the technical definitions of organic and inorganic; I was just making a funny, as well as poking fun via feigned ignorance at the silliness of the use of “organic” as a marketing term. Thanks to SpoilerVirgin and Hunter Hawk for finding the elusive quarry. ---
**Author:** ![spingears](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/ebca7d/32.png) [@spingears](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/spingears)\ **Post date:** [October 13, 2008, 2:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/inorganic-soy-milk/467275/19 "2008-10-13T14:40:42Z")
> [@tiltypig](#): > > That’s why he put “inorganic” in quotes. I assume he meant or wanted “organically grown” but didn’t know how to express that characteristic. If you want 10 or 1oo# of organically grown soy beans they can be had for the shipping charges. Have been is dry storage for ~30 years. Very hard dry condition.😃