All family farmers and consumers have a stake in the raging battle over what it takes to be considered an organic dairy. The Cornucopia Institute, a Wisconsin organization that advocates economic justice for family farmers, has been leading the fight against “corporate organic” mega dairy farms.
Some of the best opportunities for family farmers in the 21st century are in rapidly growing high value markets, including organic and humanely raised products. In these markets, smaller farms often have competitive advantages over mega farms. The buyers of these products care where their food comes from, and polls show consumers trust small family farmers more than big farms to provide safe food. And in some instances it is more practical for family-size farms to adopt the required practices.
But the family farm advantage in the fastest growing segment of the food industry depends on firm standards for what it means to be organic or a family farm. Cornucopia recently challenged Organic Valley Cooperative for temporarily purchasing organic milk from a 7,200 head Texas dairy. Organic Valley dropped the arrangement. That is a victory for family farming because it is a step toward making family farming an explicit part of the gold standard for organic.
Organic Valley is back to its roots as a cooperative of family-size farms, typically with herds of 65-70 cows. The Organic Valley website today proclaims that everything it sells is produced by family farmers.
Cornucopia had previously tangled with Dean Foods, the $12 billion owner of the Horizon Organic label, over milk produced by mega dairies and labeled organic. Cornucopia scored its biggest victory when Dean’s largest supplier, the 10,000 head Vander Eyk dairy, lost its organic certification for failure to provide pasture. It scored a partial victory when the Colorado based Aurora Organic Dairy, which supplied private-label organic milk for many supermarket chains, was forced by the US Department of Agriculture to downsize from 4,000 to 1,200 cows to enable it to provide sufficient pasture.
The expanding markets for organic and natural products reflect a commitment by growing numbers of consumers to vote with their dollars for the kind of agriculture they support. For many consumers of organic and natural foods, that includes family-size farms.
But to turn that into lasting opportunity, we need real standards to ensure consumers get what they pay for. And we need to protect the family farmers providing it from being undercut by less genuine competitors. That requires firm standards for organic and for small family farm.
We would not trust the federal government to establish a credible standard for what constitutes a family-size farm. But it is time for family farm groups, perhaps working in concert with supportive retailers, to establish a clear standard for products of family farms – where the family that owns the production makes the management decisions and provides most of the labor.
Agree or disagree? Send your opinions to Chuck Hassebrook,
chuckh@cfra.org or 402.687.2103 x 1018.
