BlueRidgeNow.com
By James Shea
Times-News Staff Writer

Do you want fresh vegetables all summer, but don’t want to toil in the garden? A local organic farm has started a program in Henderson County where residents get a box of fresh vegetables every week.

Cane Creek Valley Farm, located in Fletcher, is a multi-generational farm. The land was purchased by the family in the early 20th century. Three years ago, Amanda and Jeremy Sizemore started a small organic farm on the family land. They have gone from two and a half acres of vegetables the first year to a planned 25 acres this summer.

“We came back to the farm to diversify it and transition to the next generation,” Amanda said. Read Full Article »

Posted in Lawsuits & Legal Actions Involving Aurora, Media/News

azcentral.com
By Liane Kufchock, Bloomberg

At least 15 lawsuits accusing Aurora Dairy Corp. and retailers of selling milk mislabeled as organic will be grouped together in a federal court in St. Louis, a panel of judges decided.

Target Corp., Costco Wholesale Corp., Wal-Mart Stores Inc., Safeway Inc., and Whole Foods Market Inc. are alleged to have sold milk produced by closely held Aurora that didn’t meet organic standards set by the United States Department of Agriculture. Read Full Article »

Posted in Lawsuits & Legal Actions Involving Aurora, Media/News

Seattle Post Intelligencer
By Gene Johnson
Associated Press Writer

SEATTLE – Some of the nation’s biggest retailers and grocery chains – Costco Wholesale Corp., Wal-Mart Stores Inc., Target Corp., Safeway Inc. and Wild Oats Markets Inc. – sold “organic” milk that wasn’t organic, according to recently filed lawsuits.

The federal complaints focus on the stores’ sale of milk from Colorado-based Aurora Organic Dairy, which recently agreed to change its practices after the U.S. Department of Agriculture found more than a dozen violations of organic standards.

The stores sell Aurora’s milk under their own in-house brand names, such as Costco’s Kirkland and Target’s Archer Farms, in cartons marked “USDA organic,” typically with pictures of pastures or other bucolic scenes.

“That’s not even close to the reality of where this milk was coming from,” said Steve Berman, a Seattle lawyer whose firm is among those suing. Read Full Article »

Posted in Lawsuits & Legal Actions Involving Aurora, Media/News

Agency Fails to Take Enforcement Action against Industry Giants

Cornucopia, WI – The Cornucopia Institute sharply criticized the conclusion by USDA that an 8000-head factory dairy in Idaho was operating within the federal organic standards. Cornucopia had requested an investigation based on its site visit to the giant industrial-scale dairy, owned by Dean Foods, and the gathering of evidence from other industry professionals with first-hand knowledge of the operation.

The USDA informed Cornucopia today that it had closed its investigation into Dean Foods, Horizon dairy in Paul, Idaho and another corporate-owned facility in Kennedyville, Maryland. The USDA investigation was in response to a formal legal complaint filed by Cornucopia in 2006.

“We know from our visit to the Idaho facility that they had no functional pasture meeting legal requirements and were unable to graze their huge dairy herd,” said Mark Kastel, codirector of the Wisconsin-based Cornucopia Institute. Read Full Article »

Posted in Cornucopia News, Lawsuits & Legal Actions Involving Aurora

Just which attorneys will handle the lead case, and where it will be heard, could take weeks to decide

by Sustainable Food News

A judicial panel will consider a motion to consolidate six class action lawsuits filed this month against the nation’s largest producer of private label organic milk.

A class action suit filed by a single plaintiff, Ilsa Lee Kaye, in New York City Tuesday was the latest in a rash of legal action against embattled Aurora Dairy Corporation, doing business as Aurora Organic Dairy (AOD).

Class action suits have been filed in Missouri, Florida, California and two in Colorado alleging AOD sold milk labeled as organic, at prices much higher than nonorganic milk, when it knew it didn’t meet standards for organic certification. The suits seek class action status and unspecified monetary damages, along with the injunction. Read Full Article »

Posted in Lawsuits & Legal Actions Involving Aurora, Media/News