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Grassfed Has A Far Better Story To Tell Than Organics
CLA Researchers Says
The Stockman Grass Farmer - Special Sample Edition
Staff Report Page 28

Clay City, Indiana: Dr. Tilak Dhiman of Utah State University speaking at the American Grassfed Association’s convention said that American organic food sales have grown from $7.5 billion in 2001 to $18.4 billion in 2005 and are projected to reach $23 billion in 2007.

“Currently, the organic food section is the most profitable section in today’s supermarket. Even Wal-Mart is bringing out an organic food line,” he said. “And yet, this is happening without any conclusive research that organic food is healthier for you. We have a far stronger and better researched story in grassfed products.”
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Organic Industry Struggles With Identity In Face Of Supply Shortages
By Amelia Buragas

March 7, the “Union of Concerned Scientists released the first comprehensive study that confirms that beef and milk from animals raised entirely on pasture have higher levels than conventionally raised beef and dairy cattle of beneficial fats that may prevent heart disease and strengthen the immune system.”
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What Organic is Becoming
Issue No. 317, December 2005
Joel McNair
The Milkweed

Five-thousand-cow Aurora Dairy, a Colorado feedlot/milk processing operation run by the people who founded Horizon Organic about 15 years ago, continues to play games with organic regulations.  Since opening in 2004, Aurora has flouted USDA organic rules that are supposed to require that lactating cows have “access to pasture.” 

Now, the Cornucopia Institute has filed a complaint to USDA, saying that even the dairy’s contract-raised heifers weren’t on pasture, and that the heifer ranch was not certified under organic rules. 
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SOS: Organic Community and Standards Under Siege
ORGANIC VIEW
A publication of the Organic Consumers Association
Membership Update - Autumn 2005

Organic standards, and the multi-billion dollar alternative food and farming system that the organic community has so painstakingly built up over the past 35 years, are under siege as never before.

This fall, OCA has mobilized its nationwide network to deal with: an industry-sponsored sneak attack on organic standards in the US Congress; USDA inaction towards factory farm dairy feedlots calling themselves organic; continued buyouts of organic brands by corporate food giants; and a looming threat to pack the National Organic Standards Board (NOSB) with “industrial organic” advocates.
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November 10, 2005

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

Contact:  Mark Kastel, 608-625-2042

 Improprieties Alleged at Organic Factory Farm in Colorado

 CORNUCOPIA, WISCONSIN:  The Cornucopia Institute has filed a formal legal complaint with the USDA requesting a full investigation into allegations of multiple violations of federal organic regulations at the nation’s largest organic dairy.  The Aurora Organic Dairy, located in Colorado and with a herd approaching 6000 cows, appears to have violated numerous organic regulations governing the rearing of animals entering its vast factory farm operation.   

“We have filed this complaint following our visit to the site of a nearby ranch that has been supplying – on a contract basis – hundreds of replacement cows to the Aurora Dairy,” said Mark A. Kastel, Senior Farm Policy Analyst for the Wisconsin-based Institute. 

“From our investigation, review of records and extensive interviews with the ranch owner, it appears that the operation has never had its livestock practices certified as organic,” Kastel said.  
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Why is Grassfed Better than Organic? 
Author: Jo Johnson
"Why Grassfed is Best!"

Organic meat, poultry, and dairy products are now available at most supermarkets, which I think is a change for the better.  When you see the organic label, you know the food is going to be free of pesticide residues, synthetic hormones, genetically modified organisms, and a long list of questionable additives. You also have the satisfaction of knowing that the farms that produced that food are eco-friendly.

But organic is not enough.  In fact, if I had to choose between organic and grassfed animal products, I’d choose grassfed every time. Why?

"The main reason is that non-organic grassfed meat, poultry, eggs, and dairy products are nutritionally superior to their organic but grainfed counterparts."   
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Got organic milk? Many stores see shortage
Wednesday, June 8, 2005
By Judith Weinraub and Walter Nicholls
The Washington Post

Looking for organic milk? If you shop at certain supermarkets, you may have seen signs on your dairy case like this one:

"Due to a nation-wide lack of supply, there is a severe shortage of organic milk throughout the country. At this time there is simply not enough federal and state-certified production of organic milk to meet the ever-growing demand. As more farms complete the lengthy federal and state certification process, we hope that more organic milk will become available."

In the past six to nine months, dairy farmers all over the country have fallen short of their buyers' total orders. Katherine DiMatteo, executive director of the Organic Trade Association, estimates that the demand is 10 percent more than the supply.
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Alexis Gersten, a Long Island dentist, never thought about what she poured over her cereal until her son turned 1.

"Having a new milk drinker, I sort of wanted to start him off on the right foot," she said.

Ms. Gersten worried about what synthetic growth hormones, pesticides and antibiotics might do to her child and to the environment. She was concerned about the health of the cows and the survival of local farmers. So she became one of the new mothers who are making milk the fastest growing slice of the organic market. "Some of my friends who don't really think about feeding their children organic food will feed them organic milk," she said.

Milk represents all that is wholesome. Add the word organic, and the purity of milk's image only increases. But a carton of organic milk does not come without complications. It is expensive. Some brands are processed so that an unopened carton can last for months. And an organic seal does not necessarily mean the cows are grazing on pasture or that the milk is local.
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