US organic watchdog the Cornucopia Institute has revealed its intention to file suit against the US Department of Agriculture, accusing the agency of ignoring organic regulations and failing to enforce legislation governing organic production.
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According to the Wisconsin-based lobby group, legal action is the last resort in a dispute concerning organic milk production that has raged for seven years.
“A wide cross section of the organic industry has repeatedly petitioned the USDA to crack down on an increasing number of industrial-scale factory-farms that are producing ‘organic’ milk,” said Mark Kastel, senior farm policy analyst at the Cornucopia Institute.
Cornucopia has particularly highlighted intensive farming production methods employed by Dean Foods and Aurora Dairy, who collectively control an estimated 70% of the organic milk sector. These dairy giants have been accused of confining their herds, instead of pasturing than as regulations require.
“There are five sections in the federal organic standards that relate to pasture and grazing. Taken together they leave little doubt as to what is expected of organic livestock producers,” said Jim Riddle, of the University of Minnesota and former chair of the National Organic Standards Board.
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By GlobalData“It’s no coincidence that except for the handful of mega-farms, all of the nation’s organic dairy farmers, and most of the certifiers that inspect them, understand that grazing is required and operate their farms in accordance with the law.”
“It appears that the USDA is looking the other way by allowing these confinement dairies to not provide pasture for their lactating cows,” Riddle concluded.
In a letter to the USDA dated yesterday (20 February), Cornucopia said that the department had failed in its duty to enforce laws passed by Congress to protect consumers. Through legal action, the Institute hopes to draw attention to what it perceives as big business flouting organic regulations and the USDA’s impotency in dealing with such violations.
