Dairy producers violating organic milk standards

by Heather Craven (Subscribe to Heather Craven's posts) Apr 28th 2006 10:33PM

Categories: Farming, Business, Stores & Shopping, Did you know?, Eating & Nutrition, Development

I first hopped on the organic food bandwagon when my daughter, now nine, was 18 months-old. A friend of mine gave me an article about children entering puberty earlier and earlier due, in part, to the many growth hormones given to cows so that they reach adulthood more quickly. My daughter was already a 24/7 handful by that time and I in no way wanted to see her reach puberty before she was due. That being said, I have made every effort possible to feed my children organic foods over the past seven years. So I was especially distressed when I recently read an article on the Organic Consumers Association site questioning the methods of producing organic milk.

Dairy farms claiming to produce organic milk just might be pulling a fast one on consumers. In a report issued by the Cornucopia Institute in late March of this year, a couple of the major producers in the organic milk production business have been accused of underhanded practices. With a "wink and a nod from the USDA" these companies are wantonly violating the strict standards to which all organic products must adhere. Two of the largest producers, Horizon Organic, a subsidiary of Dean Foods and Aurora Organic, a supplier to the likes of Costco, Safeway, Giant and Wild Oats, have been buying their milk from large feedlots where the cows are not raised in an organic manner and they do not have any pasture to graze. These large feedlots routinely purchase their calves from farms where a common practice is to wean the young animals on blood as well feed them slaughterhouse waste. The calves are also fed genetically engineered grains and given large doses of antibiotics.

These practices go against everything that organic farming represents. Horizon Organic and Aurora Organic control 65 percent of the organic milk market. Not only are they dooping the consumers but they are also a threat to the farms that truly do raise their cows to comply with the USDA standards. This sort of dishonesty is absolutely unacceptable. What do you think?

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Sharon 4-29-2006 @ 8:14PM

We were buying Horizon organic skim milk at Whole Foods and Publix but lately it has not been available. I wonder if this is why. We switched to Organic Valley, so this ended up being a good thing! I am extremely ticked off that consumers are being deceived. So many companies are looking for the cheap, easy way to make as much profit as possible and have no conscience about deceiving us - it's despicable!

About a year ago we started buying only organic, hormone-free meats for the same reason; we don't need our girls going through puberty earlier than necessary, not to mention hearing that these hormones can potentially mess up women's periods, menopause, etc. I just hope that we aren't paying these premium prices for this organic meat and still being deceived.

LS 4-29-2006 @ 10:06PM

It's time we started making noise in places other than this board, not that this board isn't interesting and fun... It's time we start really harrassing our legislators and the retail food industry - MAKE them understand that we are absolutely committed and serious about eating *good* food, not just whatever they put out there, or whatever is cheapest.

Karrie Welborn posted a question about a group letter. I think it's a stellar idea, but I also think that individual letters, phone calls, etc. from each one of us, and our friends, relatives, etc., would be helpful. It's time we put some burrs under some saddles and get results.

Not only do our legislators need to hear of our disappointment in the USDA and their less-than-rigorous standards for Organic Certification, but the stores need to hear about it as well. Write to your local stores and to the president of the chain. Make a pest of yourselves. It's the only way things get done.

Jen 4-29-2006 @ 10:42PM

This makes me so angry! We sacrifice so many things so we can buy organic products for our selves and our 2-year-old son! Our grocery bill is outrageous, but it always seemed "worth it" when we considered what we were putting into our bodies. I don't even know where to begin, but something needs to be done at a higher level.

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