Strawberry Soymilk and Life Lessons

May 25, 2007

by IsaChandra

I like the term “accidentally vegan” because it makes me think that once the manufacturers realize their mistake they’ll go ahead and fix it. Sprinkle in some vitamin D3 or maybe a little whey if they’re feeling cheeky.

Brooklyn is home to the ziggurat* of accidental veganism but I’m not going to tell you where it is because I don’t want you gentrifying it and magically turning my one dollar avocados into three dollar ones**. “Accidentally vegan” also tends to mean “loaded with hydrogenated fats and a healthy dose of high fructose corn syrup” but I still can’t help reading the ingredients on all the packaging just because it’s satisfying; croissants, halvah, cookies – all vegan!

Enter strawberry soymilk. This seemed like an okay choice, all natural ingredients and even some of those omega-3s. As a kid I always opted for strawberry milk over chocolate, partly to set myself apart from the masses, partly because pink is prettier and partly because it tasted good, like the leftover milk after eating Fruity Pebbles. So I thought this would bring back fond childhood memories. Instead it just reminded me that I hated my childhood. It’s not that it tasted bad exactly. It was more like that part of my life is over and it’s time to move on. I’m past my strawberry years, even past my coffee years, and well into my chai years, and I’m okay with that. But I wonder if the actual milk were pink would I have felt any different?

*7th grade social studies I have not forgotten you!

**Also, I’m writing something else about the store so I don’t want to dilute my message.

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Comments (15)

May 25, 2007 at 6:15 am: Tracy
I’ve always wondered why strawberry soymilk doesn’t taste like strawberries blended with soymilk.
May 25, 2007 at 9:31 am: Amy
There’s a strawberry soymilk in Australia that is my current food obssession. I like regressing to my childhood with a popper (I believe other countries call them juice boxes?) at morning tea….

I never thought about it until now, but strawberry milk to me has always been milk (or soy milk) and Quik (it’s a milk flavouring powder). And that never tasted like actual strawberries, more like sugary powder…..
May 25, 2007 at 1:49 pm: Emmie
Oh. Straaaaaawberries! I loved strawberry milk when I was a kid. But honestly, where the hell is my pink?
May 25, 2007 at 5:54 pm: girl least likely to
hooray for the chai years! i have never tried strawberry soymilk, but i just have to say that i think that’s the cutest carton i’ve ever seen in my entire life.
May 25, 2007 at 10:16 pm: rachaelrayforever
it’s because Natur-a is a Canadian company.We fork everything up.
May 26, 2007 at 3:47 pm: cherie
I was making strawberry-cherry smoothies for a while with Silk strawberry, but, then, they discontinued it. Fast-forward a few months and I find Trader Joe’s strawberry soymilk, but guess what – they added carmine to it. No fucking joke!

Those cupcakes below look GREAT.
May 29, 2007 at 9:32 am: VincentG
I actually really like Natura’s strawberry soymilk, but I was the kid that never wanted the strawberry icecream in the neopolitan. I especially like it because it’s not pink. Not that I have anything against pink. I just think the absence of pink reminds me of how constructed ‘strawberry milk’ actually is.
May 29, 2007 at 5:01 pm: Devil's Lunchbox
Does it taste like Strawberry Quick?
May 29, 2007 at 6:49 pm: K
Not sure if I’m revealing your secret spot but over in Williamsburg, south of the bridge where all the Hassids live = LOTS of vegan stuff in their stores.
May 30, 2007 at 2:06 pm: isachandra
K…that is not my secret spot! But I know the stores of which you mean.
May 30, 2007 at 3:34 pm: bazu
Isa, you have just introduced me to a new paradigm- the chai years! Now I’m bugging the hell out of my coffee-loving partner, teasing him that it’s only a matter of time before his… CHAI YEARS. hee hee.
June 5, 2007 at 4:11 pm: bethie
ah yes, childhood in a box. i’m not a vegan yet, and i’m not quite a vegetarian either but anyway, i respect vegans so can’t we all get along? so i bought a box of organic back to nature shells and cheese and oh my goodness it tasted so dang good, yes it tasted like the blue box mac n’ cheese but for me i had a positive experience, it was like a childhood food memory in a box…. sorry yours didn’t go as well…..
July 31, 2007 at 4:04 pm: Leonore
I am so happy I found this blog…I didnt know you guys were on line…i meant you gals,

well I have found much motivation to get baking ..and cooking for myself…I’m vegetarian however I am leaning more toward the vegan lifestyle as I want to wipe the dairy products out clean…just feels right to me…when it does come down to grabbing your items from the markets what are your favorite markets to shop?? Is there some I don’t know sell certain products..because it seems I can’t find certain things..like soymilk with different flavors…soy ice cream…cheese…mockmeats
September 18, 2007 at 6:23 pm: gattonfratton
Vitasoy makes a strawberry-banana soymilk that is pretty yummy.
February 28, 2008 at 3:13 pm: Nicole
Omg I loved this strawberry soy milk it was effin awesome. Tasted like the powdered Quick stuff…I’m totally know what you mean about the childhood business though…it DID make me think of that. But this brand is one of my favorites.