Editor's response to an anonymous post ... from Horizon

I received an anonymous comment to the “Corporate Organics” post regurgitating spin from Horizon’s corporate website and questioning the facts presented in that article (which is footnoted btw).  If you want a critical or negative comment posted you should have the courage to sign it and, if it is supported by credible fact, it will be posted. Disagreement is fine but anonymous corporate bull has no place in a truthful discussion. 

Also, it was apparent that the post was from a representative of Horizon (or maybe Dean Foods), not only from the reference to the corporate website, but by the use of the exact phrasing that was used in response to a critical comment from another user on Horizon’s FaceBook wall.   I will take this as a sign that I am doing a good job of exposing corporations that are profiting by misleading consumers. 

In my opinion content on corporate websites does not count as an objective and credible source for data.  The entire purpose of the site is to convince consumers to purchase their products.  If you look at the websites from Aurora and Horizon they both are committed to sustainable organic dairy farming but the facts suggest otherwise.  Does Horizons website reference the fact that they are under the umbrella of Dean Foods, one of the Nation’s largest food companies?  If they do I didn’t see it, maybe it is in small print in an obscure location on their site where they also reveal the source of the 5% of milk they claim isn’t from family farms.  Aurora doesn’t mention being sanctioned by the USDA on their site.  Do you know how bad you have to be to be sanctioned by the USDA?  Bad.  Take a look at my post on Organic Food Safety to get an idea of what can be considered passable on an “organic” farm by the USDA, if you don’t believe me.

Read a first hand account of a visit a Horizon dairy at http://dir.salon.com/story/news/feature/2005/04/13/milk

Corporate Organics

In 2006 Wal-Mart, suffering from negative publicity due to allegations of anti-union and unfair labor practices, huge fines for polluted run-off, and urban blight resulting from store placement, moved towards improving its environmental practices as a way to garner both savings and a more positive public image. (1)  In an effort to revitalize their slumping same-store sales growth and boost stock value by tapping into the then $16 billion annual organic industry, Wal-Mart announced its dedication to increase its offering of organic products.  This announcement included a pledge to provide organic products for only 10% more than conventional items, begging the question of whether the retail giant would apply its economy of scale and logistical might or its traditional, and notoriously ruthless, business model to the organic market.  However, it quickly became apparent that Wal-Mart, in addition to using its logistical strength, strived to attain their low price goal by sourcing products from domestic factory farms, foreign sources and major agribusinesses with little to no history in the organic market. (2)

Wal-Mart is not alone in the quest to profit from the booming demand for organic products. 

Interesting Article Regarding Food Marketing Tactics

Check out this article to see how you may be being manipulated by food retailers including Whole Foods.

http://finance.yahoo.com/family-home/article/113511/how-whole-foods-primes-you-shop-fastco

Voting with Your Food Dollars

While shopping for groceries one late afternoon in August I came upon two types of apricots, one of my favorite summer fruits.  Neither option was organic but one was locally grown in upstate New York and the other came from Washington State.  The local option was more expensive and was only available in containers consisting of smaller apricots while the Washington State apricots were larger, less expensive and available by the piece.  I was faced with a conundrum of stretching our tight food budget by purchasing the Washington apricots that had been shipped across the country or spending more on the apricots grown on a local family farm.  Considering the nature of this blog the choice to support the local family farm may seem like a no brainer but spending more on apricots meant spending less on other foods or omitting something from my shopping list all together. 

Foreign Organics

Foreign organic sources raise concerns for small-scale domestic organic farmers and consumers expecting a safe and superior quality product free of chemicals.  Outsourcing organic ingredients, which many times are available at a fraction of the cost of domestic products, hurts US farmers as a whole but is most harmful to small-scale family farms. 

Harvey v. Veneman, the 80-20 Rule and the Dilution of Organic Regulations

In response to the Final Rule issued in 2000, a producer and consumer of organic foods, Arthur Harvey, filed for declaratory and injunctive relief, alleging that multiple provisions of the Final Rule were inconsistent with the OFPA and weakened organic food production standards. (1) Although the District Court dismissed one claim for lack of standing and granted summary judgment in favor of the USDA on the remaining eight, upon appeal the First Circuit Court sided with Harvey on three counts, affecting the implementation of the NOP by qualifying or invalidating agency regulations.