The Organic Consumers Association announced Friday it was “expanding its boycott of Horizon and Aurora organic dairy products to include five national ‘private label’ organic milk brands supplied by Aurora, as well as two leading organic soy products, Silk and White Wave.” Aurora, who supplies “organic” milk for Costco, Safeway’s ‘O” brand, Publix, Nature’s Promise, and Wild Oat’s “organic” dairy line was found to be violating animal welfare law. In truth, Aurora operates like a factory farm, milking 2,000 to 10,000 cows, confining cattle to feedlots, ordering replacement cows, and potentially using antibiotics.
A farmer the OCA spoke with said “real organic dairy farms don’t need to buy replacement heifers.” The new cattle are brought in only on industrial scale farms where cows are pushed to high levels of milk production, sometimes slaughtered after only a year or two after they stop milking often due to stress. Check out the report to read more on how Bush kept Aurora rolling under the mask of the “organic” label.
If this makes you want to switch from organic milk to soymilk, think twice before buying Silk brand (or White Wave tofu for that matter). The OCA argues Silk sources a percentage of their soy from Brazil and China, not only increasing their carbon footprint but also buying from a country whose soy industry is destroying the Amazon. To find out more about the downsides of soy, surf here.
Alex Smith
9 Responses to Put Down That Glass of Organic Milk and Forget about Sipping Silk Soymilk!: USDA Labeling Challenged by the Organic Consumers Association
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Do you have any specific recommendations on non-dairy milks with higher organic standards? It’s hard when Silk is the most widely available one, and the only one at my local corner store.
Sure thing! Here is a more recent post on non-dairy milk that has lots of options worth checking out:
http://eatdrinkbetter.com/2010/02/02/eating-vegan-tasty-milk-alternatives/
[...] Put Down That Glass of Organic Milk and Forget About Sipping Soy Milk! USDA Labeling Challenged by t… [...]
[...] Organic: the certification process under the regulations of the U.S. government. While we recently discussed troubling loopholes in the USDA guidelines, there is still credibility to this [...]
Do you have any specific recommendations on non-dairy milks with higher organic standards? It’s hard when Silk is the most widely available one, and the only one at my local corner store. I hate having to make big trips to the co-op for something that’s such a cooking staple. Maybe I should start buying rice milk in bulk.
thanks for keeping us informed. disappointing but not unbelievable.
Well, that’s disappointing news. I guess I’ll keep my eye peeled for another available soy milk provider.
[...] Organic: the certification process under the regulations of the U.S. government. While we recently discussed troubling loopholes in the USDA guidelines, there is still credibility to this [...]
This is such a “letdown,” no pun intended. It’s the reason why there are so many skeptics of the organic movement. Fake eco-business is bad for people and the planet. Thank you for the information.