On April 16, 2007, the Mark Bradley, the head of the National Organic Program, sent a letter to Marc Peperzak, the CEO of the Aurora Organic Dairy. Mr. Bradley summarized the results of the USDA’s investigation into complaints filed with the Agency by The Cornucopia Institute concerning Aurora’s organic farming practices: During the course of… Read more »
Update on Aurora and Trader Joe’s
We have verified that although some of the milk that Trader Joe’s is buying does indeed come from a factory-farm, milking thousands of cows, that particular farm is not under Aurora’s ownership. All the other brands that The Cornucopia Institute referenced (Wal-Mart, Costco, Target, Safeway, and many others) get all or some of their milk… Read more »
USDA Enforcement Hammer Falls on Nation’s Largest Organic Factory Dairy
USDA Requiring Aurora Organics to Reduce Dairy Herd Size and Remove Organic Label from Some Milk At 7:20 p.m. EST, August 29, the USDA issued an emergency news release announcing that they had sent a Letter of Revocation to the Aurora Organic Dairy. In lieu of revoking Aurora’s organic certification, the Agency has instead entered… Read more »
USDA Releases “Letter of Noncompliance” to The Cornucopia Institute
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. “After… Read more »
USDA Rejects Almond Board’s Request for Delay of Controversial Treatment Plan
The Cornucopia Institute has learned that the USDA has rejected the request by the Californian Almond Board for a 6-month delay in implementation of the controversial almond pasteurization plan. Sources at the Agency told Cornucopia that they had determined that sufficient capacity existed in California to handle the pasteurization of this year’s almond crop with… Read more »
USDA Cracking Down on “Organic” Factory-Farms
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. Aurora operates several giant factory dairies milking thousands of cows each in semi-arid areas of… Read more »
USDA Plan to “Pasteurize” Almonds Has Consumers Going Nuts
Mandate Would Require Use of Chemical Fumigant or Heat Treatment on “Raw” Almonds CORNUCOPIA, WI: Small-scale farmers, retailers, and consumers are renewing their call to the USDA to reassess the plan to “pasteurize” all California almonds with a toxic fumigant or high-temperature sterilization process. All domestic almonds will be mandated to have the treatments by… Read more »
Study: Organic Dairy and Meat Improves Quality of Mothers’ Breast Milk
CORNUCOPIA, WI: A new study, published in the British Journal of Nutrition, showed that organic dairy and meat products in a mother’s diet positively affect the nutritional quality of her breast milk – markedly increasing beneficial fatty acids. Specifically, a diet in which 90% or more of dairy and meat products are organic is correlated… Read more »
Factory Farm Producing “Organic” Milk Shut Down
Industry Coalition Demanding Organic Integrity Prevails PIXLEY, CA: After a seven-year-long battle between organic farmers and consumers and the USDA, the first of a handful of industrial-scale dairies, producing what they claimed was organic milk, has been shut down by regulatory authorities. It was announced today by an organic industry watchdog group that a 10,000-cow… Read more »
Investors Challenge Dean Foods’ Investment in Organic Factory Farms at Annual Shareholders Meeting
DALLAS: Socially concerned investors, who filed a shareholder proposal with Dean Foods, today again questioned the company’s management at its Annual Meeting of Stockholders in Dallas as its marquee organic brand faces increasing competitive pressures and a consumer backlash over its reliance on factory-farm milk production. Investors believe the large-scale dairy operations are damaging the… Read more »
