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March 22, 2006
Organic Milk By Any Other Name...
I try to buy organic food whenever possible. For one thing, I prefer to put as few chemicals in my body as possible (or at least try to offset the diet soda I consume), and less toxic runoff into watersheds can only be a good thing--no one likes a three-eyed fish (unless it's on the Simpsons).
So I was interested in this report by the Cornucopia Institute's Organic Integrity Project (via Grist):
on the "organic-ness" of 68 dairy name brands and private labels. While cow-conscious consumers might assume that the word "organic" on the label means that their milk mustache comes from a happy cow grazing in non-pesticide-laden pastures, that's not always the case; guidelines for organic certification can be variously interpreted, and the USDA is lax on enforcing regulations. The report finds that while the majority of name-brand organic producers do hold to high legal and ethical standards, 20 percent garnered a "one-cow" substandard rating (out of a possible five).
I found the report truly illuminating. As a suburbanite, I don't have much connection with my food sources, and I have long been curious about the environmental impacts of industrial agriculture. I thought this report gave excellent insight into the trade-offs made by big agricultural companies--particularly in relation to family farms. So if you have the time, you might want to skim over it--I promise you will want to buy local whenever possible.
But just in case you don't want to read the entire 38-page report, I'll just give you the quick and dirty facts.
The best organic dairy labels in the DC area (note that some are milk, yogurt, or cheese only):
Butterworks Farm
Seven Stars
Butternut Farms
Organic Choice
Organic Valley (CROPP)
Cedar Grove Cheese
Amish Country Farms
Nancy's (Springfield Creamery)
Natural by Nature
Humboldt Creamery
Stonyfield (yogurt)
Wallaby Yogurt
Scenic Central Milk Prod. Co-op
Natural Choice
The Cornucopia Institute has also made a nifty tool on its website where you can search by locale or by brand, so if your favorite organic milk label isn't listed above, check it out for more information.
Note that the top companies -- Aurora Organic Dairy and Dean Foods (together controlling ~65% of the organic dairy market), which owns Horizon Organic, Organic Cow of Vermont and Alta Dena -- did not respond to the survey that Cornucopia sent out, for which they received a score of no cows. Personally, I will be avoiding them whenever possible for their lack of stakeholder responsiveness--even if that means giving up my beloved Silk brand soy milk. (Who knew they were owned by evil corporation Dean Foods? This is definitely "greenwashing" taking place.) Also declining to respond: private-label brands (like Safeway and Giant, and even including Whole Foods and Trader Joes), who are notorious for their lack of transparency in sourcing. Avoid them too, if you get the chance.
More on the groups behind the report:
The Cornucopia Institute is dedicated to the fight for economic justice for the family-scale farming community. Through research, advocacy and economic development our goal is to empower farmers both politically and through marketplace initiatives.
The Organic Integrity Project will act as a corporate and governmental watchdog assuring that no compromises to the credibility of organic farming methods and the food it produces are made in the pursuit of profit.We will actively resist regulatory rollbacks and the weakening of organic standards to protect and maintain consumer confidence in the organic food label.
Comments
Dear God! Can a shopper never do right? Just when you think you are doing the right thing plopping that Horizon carton in your shopping cart you find out that isnt good enough. *sigh*
Posted by: La at March 23, 2006 07:22 AM
A related resource about rules for environmental packaging claims, from the Federal Trade Commission: http://www.ftc.gov/bcp/grnrule/guides980427.htm
Posted by: Red at March 23, 2006 11:02 AM
But does this mean Horizon actually does use antibiotics and hormones with its cows, even though they actually specifically say they do not on the carton? I mean options being what they are, I'd at least like to buy the only milk option with the best chance of being from antibiotic/hormone free cows...(Those images from "The Corporation" will never leave me)
Luckily, I will soon be moving to the country. Just this morning, O and I ate fresh eggs prepared by my mother. And by fresh, I mean 2 days ago my mom actually watched chickens lay them in her neighbor's chicken coop, and then took them out from under the chicken. She got 18 eggs of different sizes, some a pale blue color, produced by a special breed of "Easter Egg" chickens. Apparently they can be kept for up to 3 months in a fridge-- Just to give you some perspective on how non-fresh most eggs are by the time they make it to your grocery store.
Posted by: Red at March 23, 2006 01:53 PM
I hope you all don't start avoiding Horizon products, you see I sell my CERTIFIED ORGANIC MILK to Horizon, and have been doing so for quite a few years. We pasture our cows rotationally, which means they have fresh pasture, in our case,
3X a day. Is this worth the extra work? YES!
In the early AM after the cows are let out, they are in pasture#1, at noon they move to a fresh area, and in the evening, a fresh pature again.
Our milk has recieved some of the highest quality awards in the nation. Horizon has 375 FAMILY run dairy farms, and another 175 that are getting ready to start shipping to them soon.
This will make over 500 FAMILY RUN dairy farms in
total. You might be interested to know that the Cornucopia Institute is directly CONNECTED to ORGANIC VALLEY, the major competition to HORIZON.
They are the "PR" side of Organic Valley.
SO reader beware of where your "Organic Info" is coming from, it just might have a dirty little adgenda behind it!!! If you take time on the internet, look at how many NEGATIVE articles CI writes about its competing milk companies. Coincidence? I think NOT.
Posted by: Kasey at April 10, 2006 07:56 PM
