Keeping an Eye on Organic Dairy
Hooray for organic dairy!
Boo to ‘big organic’ dairy companies who break the good organic rules!
According to the Cornucopia Institute, a respected sustainable farm watchdog group …
Since 2005, a handful of giant factory farms, each milking thousands of cows, have been accused of skirting strict federal organic regulations and creating a surplus of cheap “phony” organic milk flooding the market and driving down profit margins for legitimate industry participants. The Cornucopia Institute estimates that as much as 30-40% of organic milk is now coming from giant industrial operations, milking as many as 7000 cows each.
Spoiling organic dairy even further is a class-action law-suit that was recently rejected by a St. Louis judge.
These consumer law suits claimed fraud in the sale of “organic” milk coming from Aurora Dairy, which the suit claims violated 14 different federal organic regulations. Consumers from 40 states sued alleging fraud in store brands in Wal-Mart, Target, Safeway, Costco and other national chains served by Aurora. Lawyers will appeal the judge’s rejection.
Milking the System for the Best Organic Milk
Good news for you: The Cornucopia Institute’s recently updated online scorecoard can help you make smarter consumer choices when buying your organic dairy products.
Check out the report and take advantage of 110 ratings of all organic brands (listed alphabetically) based on their ethical and legal approach to milk production. While ‘big organic’ may be shortcutting the rules, the report shows that 90% of organic milk, cheese, butter and yogurt marketers are subscribing to the “spirit and letter of the organic regulations.”
Sneak peak: Organic dairy kudos go to Organic Valley, a farmer-owned cooperative that garners a four-cow rating in the Cornucopia scorecard.”
Read More: Organic Food Supermarket Trends: Got Milk?
