FOIA Document Indicates Why CA Factory-Farm Lost Organic Certification
CORNUCOPIA, WI: Pursuant to a request under the Freedom of Information Act (FOIA), The Cornucopia Institute recently secured the Letter of Noncompliance issued by the country’s largest organic certifier, Quality Assurance International (QAI), prior to the decertification of a giant California dairy producing organic milk.
Country’s Largest Dairy Likely to Lose Certification
CORNUCOPIA, WI: The Cornucopia Institute has learned that the USDA appears about to revoke the organic certification of the nation’s largest industrial dairy operator, Aurora Organic Dairy, with corporate headquarters in Boulder, Colorado.
Improprieties Alleged at Organic Factory Farm in Colorado
For More Information, Contact: Mark Kastel, 608-625-2042
CORNUCOPIA, WISCONSIN: The Cornucopia Institute has filed a formal legal complaint with the USDA requesting a full investigation into allegations of multiple violations of federal organic regulations at the nation’s largest organic dairy. The Aurora Organic Dairy, located in Colorado and with a herd approaching 6000 cows, appears to have violated numerous organic regulations governing the rearing of animals entering its vast factory farm operation.
“We have filed this complaint following our visit to the site of a nearby ranch that has been supplying — on a contract basis — thousands of replacement cows to the Aurora Dairy,” said Mark A. Kastel, Senior Farm Policy Analyst for the Wisconsin-based Institute.
“From our investigation, review of records and extensive interviews with the ranch owner, it appears that the operation has never had its livestock practices certified as organic,” Kastel said. Read Full Article »
CORNUCOPIA, WISCONSIN: The Cornucopia Institute, today, filed a formal complaint with the USDA’s National Organic Program asking them to initiate an investigation into alleged violations of the federal organic law by a factory farm operating in Colorado. At issue is whether it is legal to confine cows in an industrial setting, without access to pasture, and still label milk and dairy products organic. Similar factory farm operations in Idaho and California are also under investigation by The Cornucopia Institute and will likely be targeted with formal complaints to the USDA in the near future.
