Organic Soymilk Taste Test

  I have been thinking about buying an organic milk or an organic milk substitute like soy milk for some time but the price always stopped my good intentions. But a few days ago I finally bit the bullet and purchased this half gallon of organic plain soy milk which was on sale at Fry’s for $2.99. The price wasn’t too terrible but at the same time I bought our regular gallon of 2% milk for $2.67.  I had to say to my frugal self that I’m paying for a healthier choice!
I was excited to try it for the first time and to see what my kids thought of the change. I really didn’t mind it myself. It had a different texture and consistency than cow’s milk and it was also a bit sweeter with a light chalkiness. My oldest really liked it and was willing to have it on her plain cereal. My youngest didn’t care for it as much but she did say that it tasted like “chocolate chip cookie dough”. Which oddly enough, once she made that correlation  I could taste it as well.
I do not know if organic soy milk will become a permanent product we purchase to replace regular milk or not. I would still like to try organic cow’s milk which has an average price of $6 a gallon (we use about 6 gallons a month, more or less depending on the time of year). I think I will continue taste testing organic milk options for awhile. I might ease into it and try replacing a few of our gallons each month with an organic choice.
I read an interesting article published by the Harvard University Gazzett which can be found here: http://news.harvard.edu/gazette/2006/12.07/11-dairy.html
This article was published in 2006 but I have been interested in the recent 2011 talk surrounding the evidence that the hormones in milk, dairy products and meats have caused the puberty rate of young girls to drop to as young as 7 or 8. This is the youngest average puberty age in recorded history. Having a daughter in that age range I can say that she is already much more developed and is experiencing changes that I did not start seeing until around age 12 or older. Also, as this article mentions there is evidence that these products are linked to certain kinds of cancers because of the hormone levels they contain which is another concern for me as cancer runs heavily in my side of the family. These are current reasons why I am looking to make major changes in the food we purchase and to be an informed consumer.