Word: farm
(lookup in dictionary)
(lookup stats)
Dates: all
Sort By: most recent first
(reverse)
Cornucopia's first complaint, filed in January 2005, alleged that the Platteville, Colo., farm owned by Aurora Organic Dairy, one of the nation's largest organic milk producers, confined thousands of organic cows in factory-like conditions with little access to pasture for grazing. Cornucopia followed up with two other complaints regarding Aurora's operations...
Kastel lives in a white two-story house across from an organic dairy farm in the rugged hills of southwestern Wisconsin. A former farm-equipment salesman, Kastel has become a leader of the organic-food movement. In 2004 he helped found the family-farm advocacy group Cornucopia Institute, which has filed seven complaints with the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) over the last two years - against Wal-Mart and some of the nation's largest organic milk producers - for failures to meet federal organic standards...
...were raised, and mixed regular cows with organic cows. The government and the company reached an agreement under which the company will be allowed to keep its organic certification if it makes adjustments that include reducing the number of its cows - from about 2,200 to 1,200. The farm also plans to expand its grassland to about 400 acres from 325. Clark Driftmier, a spokesman for Aurora, said these plans had been in the works for at least two years and that its customers - whom he declined to name - have expressed support. Says Bruce Knight, undersecretary for marketing...
Under current federal guidelines, set by the USDA's National Organic Program, organic cows must have access to pasture, although how much is fiercely debated. So, a farm with 10,000 cows is as organic as one with 10 cows. But the growth of large-scale organic farms with thousands of cows has drawn the ire of purists like Kastel...
Last year, Cornucopia issued its first organic dairy industry "report card," grading about 70 producers and brands on a scale of one to five "cows." High marks went to small organic milk-producing operations like the family farm Organic Pastures, near Fresno, Calif., which has donated money to Cornucopia and supplies milk to Whole Foods. Organic Pastures received a "five cow," or "outstanding," rating. Large brands like Whole Foods' private-label 365 organic milk got ratings of "good," but with "questionable long-term commitment to organics." Cornucopia says it later upgraded Whole Foods' rating to a four-cow, or "excellent...