One of my colleagues, Derek Markham, over at Eat.Drink.Better just put up a post about an exposé of factory farm dairy producers and how the various producers of organic milk rated. I'm very pleased that the organic milk that I buy from Wegmans came out on the high end, but there were some very disappointing and disturbing findings for other brands. If you regularly buy organic milk, you'll want to read Derek's post:
What’s the integrity of your organic milk?
The Cornucopia Institute’s Organic Dairy Products Scorecard pulls no punches in its ratings of organic milk producers. Which brands are at the bottom? The factory farms of Horizon, Aurora, Woodstock, Natural Prairie, and Shamrock.
The recently updated Organic Dairy Scorecard rates 107 organic dairy producers based on their answers to an in-depth survey asking about:
* the milk supply source (farmstead or open market)
* the amount of pasture time for the herd
* the use of hormones and antibiotics
* the health and longevity of the cows (cull rate)
* the source of replacement animals (organic or conventional farms)
* their organic farm certifier
2 comments:
OK, Robin. Here's my issue with organic buying. I'm CHEAP. And organic food is EXPENSIVE! So, if I were to add a little bit to my shopping budget and purchase SOME organic foods, which would you suggest is most important? I'm thinking milk -- the hormone thing with the girls -- but then I'm wondering if they've already been drinking those hormones for a decade or more, will it really make any difference now. What do you think?
gjk - I'll be answering your question in tomorrow's post, so check back.
Post a Comment