Factory-farmed org. milk boycott:Horizon/Aurora (CostCo Wild Oats Safeway)

[lindisfarne]

ORGANIC OUTLAWS LABELING FACTORY FARM MILK AS "USDA ORGANIC"
In April OCA launched a boycott of two leading organic dairy brands and distributors, Horizon (a division of Dean Foods) and Aurora, for mislabeling their products as "USDA Organic." All of Aurora's and much of Horizon's "organic" milk is coming from factory farm feedlots where the cows have been brought in from conventional farms and have little or no access to pasture. After three months, thousands of consumers and a number of co-ops and natural food stores have joined the boycott. Now it's time to expand the boycott to five grocery chains selling bogus organic milk from Aurora Organic:

Costco's "Kirkland Signature"
Publix’s “High Meadows"
Safeway's "O" Organics brand
Wild Oats' organic milk
Giant's "Nature's Promise."
In addition OCA is calling for a boycott of Horizon's sister soy brands--Silk soymilk and White Wave tofu--which have begun turning away from U.S. organic farmers and instead importing cheap organic soybeans from China and Brazil, where labor rights and environmental standards are routinely violated.
Please send an email message to the Shameless Seven, telling them to stop violating organic standards and to source certified organic foods and ingredients from North American family farmers. And please forward this email to interested friends and colleagues. Take Action: http://www.organicconsumers.org/rd/aurora.cfm

[nam78_two]

1. k & r

[bananas]

2. 2 more votes needed for the greatest page

to increase awareness of the issues.

[megatherium]

3. What organic milk or soy milk products are good to buy? nt

[bananas]

5. The article has a link to a rating list

"Organic Dairy Report/Ratings Arranged by Cow Star Ratings."
http://cornucopia.org/dairysurvey/index.html

[megatherium]

6. Thanks!! nt

[yodermon]

13. Organic Valley!

(see post 10)
They are fantastic, and have lots of products too.
http://organicvalley.coop/

[Pooka Fey]

4. Done, K & R no. 5

[girl gone mad]

7. I stopped buying Horizon...

as soona s I read this. Haven't bought their milk for 6 months and I used to buy it 2 or 3 times a week.

[JudyM]

8. K&R. Impt for folks who try to influence change with their wallets. nt

[myrna minx]

9. Oh bummer!

These a products that I use all of the time. :-(

[Bushfire]

10. I only buy from Organic Valley, a family farm co-op

Organic Valley is a farmer-owned cooperative producing the highest quality, best tasting organic milk, cheese, eggs, meat, soy milk, juice, ...

http://organicvalley.coop/

[Straight Shooter]

14. Same here. I stopped buying Horizon and O when I learned the truth.

Gawd, I am sooo angry with Horizon for misleading me. And, yes, I will let them know.

As far as O, since it's Safeway, no big surprise there. I was buying their brand in the hope that it would encourage them, one customer at a time, to carry more organic products. Unfortunately, as usual, with Safeway it's caveat emptor.

[dalloway]

11. I highly recommend a book I am reading right now

"The Omnivore's Dilemna" for a very insightful look at our food chains, including "Industrial Organic" where factory farms like those supported by these companies use the cloak of "organic" without any of the ethos expected by the purchasers of the product.

If you care about these issues, this book is a GREAT READ (and I'm only half through!)

[wildeyed]

15. Must be a popular read.

I checked the library catalog online to see if I could get it, and there are 58 holds for maybe 10 copies. I signed up for 59th spot. Should get it in a few months.

[Pokey Anderson]

12. Yeah, bummer.

I just had some Horizon milk for breakfast.

More suggestions on who is true blue organic, please? Do we know?

[lindisfarne]

16. See msg. #5 for ratings of organic milk producers. n/t

[Pokey Anderson]

17. Thanks!