| Basically, that large corporations saw an opportunity to make some money by producing and selling organic milk. They also realized the best way to maximize their profit would be to duplicate the CAFO industrial model that conventional dairy began moving towards years ago.
While organic rules require organic cattle to be fed pasture, (at least in the growing season) not stored feed and shipped in commodities, they found loopholes making it possible to keep thousands of cows in dirt lots and still call them "organic".
National Organic Program (NOP) staff called them on the rule violations but the Bush administration conveniently overruled NOP and "organic" CAFO's continue to supply much (30%) of the organic milk to major supermarkets and organic food stores.
The glut of milk these huge farms produce has caused supply to exceed demand, and thus the drastic price drop for organic milk, many farmers (myself included) are seeing a 50% reduction in their milk checks. We know that in any industrialized agricultural system, the small farmer get pushed out first.
The press seemed sympathetic to the farmers, one reporter I talked with had grown up on a small dairy in SW WI, so she knew the sad history. As Vilsack left she stuck a microphone in his face and asked him, "Mr. Secretary, when are you going to help these farmers?"
Just prior to walking over to the farm rally, Secretary Vilsack held a meeting with so called, "dairy leaders". I am not sure of all the attendees, but I know the WI Secretary of Agriculture was there, a guy who never saw a farm expansion he didn't like, the Governor of WI who has similar leanings, retired economist Bob Cropp, most of whose long career has been devoted to encouraging farm expansion, and George Siemon from Organic Valley. (interesting that Siemon refused to participate in the farmer rally and support his own co-op members who were in attendance, but was happy to put on a suit and schmooze with the big boys). So much for small farms and keeping the dream alive.
For conventional dairy farmers there needs to be some relationship between cost of production and farm milk prices, sort of a living wage for dairy farmers. USDA has the figures, they regularly calculate them. I'm sure USDA can easily figure a cost of production for any type of farming operation. They know what farmers make, they know what farmers spend.
For starters, Congress can put a "price floor" on conventional milk at $18.00/cwt. This could be the initial step towards a living wage for farmers. While it would be difficult for them to be profitable at this price, at least they could survive and perhaps begin to start pulling themselves out of debt.
For organic farmers, just enforce the rules. Make sure cattle are on real pasture, big farms or small, enforce the letter of the law and the spirit of the law. While the industrial side of the organic farming sector seem to think we need organic CAFO's, they are wrong. CAFO's can be big, they can be profitable, they can be whatever they want, but they can never be organic.
Organic consumers deserve to get the organic products they are paying for, products that are not masquerading as being organic. If farms cannot live within the rules, then perhaps they were never organic to begin with.
Like I said, in industrialized farming systems the small farmer gets pushed out first. Those who respect what organic farming stands for, those who are not looking for undeserved profit or the opportunity to be a "player" in the industry, and those who care about the environment, social justice for farmers and farm workers, or just honestly labeled good food, need to educate themselves on the reasons small organic farmers are facing bankruptcy and join in the fight.
"Raise less corn, and more hell!" |
