Horizon Dairy Under Fire
Lorraine Heller of Food USA reports that one of the nation’s largest organic dairy farms, Horizon Organic, is under fire for alleged failures in its organic practices. The Cornucopia Institute, which conducts agricultural policy research, filed a complaint with the United States Department of Agriculture arguing that “Horizon Organic is violating a number of provisions under the National Organic Program (NOP).” Among the charges aimed at Horizon by the Cornucopia Institute are charges that Horizon (1) does not provide sufficient pasture for the cattle, (2) does not provide required living conditions to “accommodate the health and natural behavior of the animals,” and (3) misleads investigators by changing conditions when being investigated. Horizon argues that the allegations are “completely without merit.” A spokesman stated:
“We work closely with our certifiers on an ongoing basis to ensure that each dairy is fully certified organic and meets the USDA national organic standards, which are the most stringent in the world.”
Cornucopia, a non-profit organization, has made a habit recently of filing such complaints - they have filed four in the last 20 months. Of its previous complaints against other industry heavyweights such as Aurora Organic, one was dismissed by the USDA and three others are in the preliminary stages of review and investigation.
The Organic Consumers Association is supporting Cornucopia’s complaints against both Horizon and Aurora. But other organic dairy farms, including ones rated as “excellent” by Cornucopia, have spoken out in support of Horizon and Aurora:
Organic Valley told FoodNavigator-USA.com that it “absolutely does not support what Cornucopia is doing with its complaint to the USDA about Horizon and Aurora.”
“We do not support the boycott. We are discouraged and unhappy about how Cornucopia is handling this matter. It is not to the advantage of the organic industry to handle things in this way,” it said.
Time will tell whether the charges against Horizon and Aurora are substantiated. The integrity of the USDA seal is one of the most important aspects of the National Organic Program, so hopefully the resolution with be both quick and fair.
I am reporting bad processing procedures on Geneva Meats in Geneva, MN. They put more than 70 percent fat in a quarter beef we had processed lately. The meat looks like pork sausage. I am taking it back tomorrow. We have done business with this store for almost 40 years and never had hamburger look like this. Somebody made off with a lot of meat that they replaced with fat in our hamburger. I wish I could show a local fed. inspector the meat.