Both Sides Now
After doing yet more research, I found one site that supports Horizon in the debate. To be fair, I wanted to provide that link here. Before you visit, you should know the site is published by Horizon: Horizon Organic Facts. That site, as well as the main Horizon site does not mention the name Dean Foods anywhere. Not even on their company history calendar do they show the date when they were acquired by Dean. I find that interesting since to me that would certainly mark the most important date in the company's history.
Here's an excerpt from a comment I posted on another site. I hope this helps you understand what bothers me about Horizon being owned by Dean Foods.
I hope I'm not being too redundant here, but I've seen a lot of comments elsewhere about how the entire Horizon controversy is a conspiracy theory cooked up by disgruntled small organic family farms, and that Horizon's milk is every bit as organic as anyone else's. I personally find that hard to believe, but even if it's true, I won't buy Horizon because I don't want to support Dean Foods.
NATURAL FOOD ALTERNATIVES
Another thing I've noticed from commenters on various organic topics is that people want to know who to trust, and they want to know where they should go to get safe and natural food. As a potential assist to any of those people visiting my site, please check out the following two sites:
Here's an excerpt from a comment I posted on another site. I hope this helps you understand what bothers me about Horizon being owned by Dean Foods.
My outrage is because Horizon was bought quite some time ago by Dean Foods, a 12-billion dollar dairy processor, THE LARGEST ORGANIC AND CONVENTIONAL MILK PRODUCER ON THE PLANET.
So, here's what gets under my skin. Even if Horizon cows were the
happiest on earth and their milk was the purest around, by buying
Horizon, YOU ARE DIRECTLY CONTRIBUTING TO THE LARGEST PRODUCER OF
CONVENTIONAL MILK. If you believe that conventional milk can contain added
antibiotics and growth hormones, then it stands to reason that Dean
Foods puts more of it out than anyone else. If you believe that
conventional factory farms treat their animals inhumanely and
unethically, then you must agree that Dean Foods is the worst offender
there is. If you agree that the environment is damaged by huge factory farms, then Dean Foods is damaging the environment.
I hope I'm not being too redundant here, but I've seen a lot of comments elsewhere about how the entire Horizon controversy is a conspiracy theory cooked up by disgruntled small organic family farms, and that Horizon's milk is every bit as organic as anyone else's. I personally find that hard to believe, but even if it's true, I won't buy Horizon because I don't want to support Dean Foods.
NATURAL FOOD ALTERNATIVES
Another thing I've noticed from commenters on various organic topics is that people want to know who to trust, and they want to know where they should go to get safe and natural food. As a potential assist to any of those people visiting my site, please check out the following two sites:
Eat Wild: is
your source for safe, healthy, natural and nutritious grass-fed
beef, lamb, goats, bison, poultry, pork, dairy and other wild
edibles.
Local Harvest The best organic food is what's grown closest to you. Use our website to find farmers' markets, family farms, and other sources of sustainably grown food in your area, where you can buy produce, grass-fed meats, and many other goodies.
Local Harvest The best organic food is what's grown closest to you. Use our website to find farmers' markets, family farms, and other sources of sustainably grown food in your area, where you can buy produce, grass-fed meats, and many other goodies.
Jeremy,
Before you continue to spread more information, please provide your readers with scientific information that proves organic milk is different than conventional milk. I know you will be searching for a long time because milk is milk regardless of the cows it comes from. Your pictures of the dry lot organic dairies appear to me to be well run and the cows are treated well with lots of feed in the bunk plenty of comfortable space to rest. Your claim of milk being loaded with antibiotics and hormones is false and true. Milk processors have stringent tests for antibiotics for every load of milk that leaves a dairy farm. Loads of milk are dumped each year if any antibiotics are found in the milk. All milk contains natural hormones and it always has. Milk from cows treated with rBST shows no increase in hormone levels as proven by academia and government regulators. Get your facts straight then spew forth good information on your blog.
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Darren,
Well, in every truth, there's a bit of a lie and in every lie, there's a bit of truth. It is definitely true that abhorrent conditions for cattle on factory farms increase their likelihood for sickness, thereby increasing the need to pump them full of antibiotics to keep them healthy. It is also true that organic cattle cannot be treated with antibiotics. Hence it stands to reason that organic dairies that put their cattle in factory farm conditions will have a problem. They will have a lot sicker cows. This is why the life expectancy of a cow on an organic factory-style farm is much lower than that of a cow raised in a healthy and natural fashion. So, whether or not antibiotics are passed on to people through milk, the practice of mass treatment of cattle with antibiotics cannot be considered as beneficial to the animals, humans, or the planet in general.
Secondly, the jury is out on the effect of rBST enhanced milk on humans. I'm sure we could each find a half dozen experts to confirm each side of the argument. There is not enough evidence (and will not be for some time) to determine the long term effects on humans of consumption of milk and certainly meat from animals given added growth hormones. One thing is for certain -- if you were to ask 10 people if they'd rather have milk where the cows have been given a hormone so that they produce twice the amount of milk, where all other factors were equal, you'd probably have 5 that didn't care, and 5 that would rather not. But I doubt you'd find a single one who would rather have the milk from the hormone treated cow. (Of course, the exception would be the executives at large dairy processor companies who make twice as much money from the hormone treated cows!)
BUT, in any case, regardless of whether "organic milk is different than conventional milk," you can't possibly dispute the fact that industrial factory-style farming is worse for the environment and worse for the animal than organic style farming which results in healthier animals who don't need antibiotics. Many people don't care about farm animals (saying God made them to be man's beasts), but many others do (saying God didn't make industrial farms). This is a personal decision for people -- do you want to contribute to the unethical and inhumane treatment of farm animals? These days, most people do care about the environment. I suspect a large percentage of people are still unaware of how much damage to the environment (from water to methane to forest destruction to waste issues) done by factory-style farming. Organic cattle are only a part of the solution here. The only true answer to solve the environmental problems caused by over-consumption of beef is for people to stop eating so much meat!! There's not enough green grass in the world for the number of cattle required to stock the fast food joints ...
About 20 years ago, I read a book called Diet for a New America by John Robbins. Robbins was the heir to the Baskins-Robbins fortunes but turned it all down because he was apalled by what was happening to America because of overconsumption of beef and dairy. This was at least 10 years before the first organic milk hit the shelves, but Robbins explored in detail the three-headed monster being bred by industrial farming: detrimental effects on American health, the inhumane treatment of farm animals, and the wanton environment damage caused by large-scale farming techniques. Everything I've said in this blog I read in the late 80's -- Robbins speaks at length about antibiotics, hormones, cruelty to animals, and the environmental destruction caused by new-style factory farming. I was so appalled that I became a vegetarian for three years, but I'm no extremist and I eventually started eating meat again, but what I learned then has stuck with me and if I can do anything to make people aware of potential problems with factory farms, then I will do so.
And the next and biggest BUT is, I am not trying to convince people to drink organic milk. Many people can't afford it, and a lot of others just don't care. Would someone who smokes a pack of cigs a week or downs a six pack of beer care whether there's a tiny bit of toxins in their milk? I think not. I am only trying to convince people WHO ALREADY DRINK ORGANIC MILK that Horizon Dairy is not all they make themselves out to be and to alert people as to where their money goes when they but the red and white cartons with the happy jumping cows. That's what got me started on this and that's what I am sticking to!!
Thanks for your input,
Jeremy
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Jeremy
You still need to do more research on the facts. First rBST at best will give you a 10% increase in milk production. Second organic cows still do get sick from time to time. With no antibiotic to use the choice is to sell the cow to a conventional farm, or to be sent to the butcher. Third a large part of milk that goes to Dean Foods is produced by small family farms.
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Thanks for the info. I had read somewhere that rBST doubled the milk production, but you can't believe everything you read I guess. Not that it changes much ...
And you're right about the organic cows getting sick. I believe they can treat the cow with antibiotics if it's separated from the herd and not used for product, but that doesn't make much economic sense for a small farm, especially if they've got to wait a year before they can use that animal for product again. One thing I have read that makes a lot of sense is that the better the cows are treated (i.e. organic feed, pasture grazing, healthy indoor conditions), the less likely they are to get sick, the longer they'll live and the more likely they are to contribute new calves that will be healthy from the start. The best organic farms are those that don't ever have to go outside to increase their herd size.
I am aware that many of Horizon's suppliers are small organic family farms. I don't feel too bad about not supporting them though, because it's a simple matter for them to switch to a more ethical distributor like Organic Valley should they feel the need. I doubt that my efforts will have any effect on Horizon's suppliers anyhow, but as a consumer who feels deceived and cheated by Horizon, I think my efforts in raising awareness of others is justified. If I can convince enough people to not buy Horizon to at least make up for the money I gave them for the last two years, I'll feel a lot better.
The sad thing is, there's not really any good answer for what I would hope to bring about by boycotting Horizon. Is there anything Dean could do to make me feel like I'd like to buy Horizon milk again? Honestly, I can't think of anything short of converting all their dairy products to non-factory farming techniques, and that's just not practical or realistic. So, basically, I am just not ever going to buy anything from Dean Foods again.
I'd actually be a lot happier if I could just stop supporting the huge mega-conglomerate corporations altogether. I've made a step in this direction by starting to shop at Sprouts Market and looking to purchase as many products as possible from small family-run companies, which are committed to using reduced and recycled packaging where possible, using renewable alternative energy sources, and practicing humane and ethical treatment of animals. I can't see how any of that is a bad thing. It's a simple step I can take that is not inconvient, doesn't cost much, and makes me feel a little bit better about being a consumer.
Thanks again for your input,
Jeremy
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Jeremy,
I applaud your efforts to save the environment and your firm stance on your principals. I am not trying to change your mind about buying organic, because if you think it makes you feel better - that is great! The point I would like to make is twofold. First, large dairy farms are not the polluters that the mainstream media claims they are. All large dairy farms need to have a nutrient plan to discard of their waste. What the public hears about are the rare, unfortunate events that involve manure spills and then the assumption is made that these things happen all the time, and that is far from the truth. The problem with our news in this country is that fear sells. In other words, if the media can "scoop" a story about a bad thing that has happened and make a big deal about it, their ratings will go up and that means more money from advertisers. So, unfortunately the good news about the good things that happen on large dairy farms are rarely, if ever, reported.
My second point is that the more misinformation that is spread about the so-called "mass use of antibiotics and hormones", the less that it is understood that these are important and safe tools used by farmers to be more efficient in producing a product. You may claim that Americans eat too much meat and milk, but I am sure you have heard lately about a Global Food Crisis. If the tools that are proven safe are taken away from farmers, there will be less food produced and an even bigger global food crisis. Also, if you are worried about methane production from cattle contributing to global warming, doesn't it make more sense to get more food out of the same number of cattle rather than increasing the number of cattle to get the same amount of food if the tools are taken away?
As for your claim of mistreatment of animals on large dairy farms, all I can say is that you need to walk the pens of a large dairy to realize how comfortable these cows really are. There are very few waterbeds in use compared to sand bedded freestalls which cows love! The key is to keep cows as comfortable and healthy as possible because then they are the most efficient producers. No one purposely mistreats their animals because that would be bad for production and bad for business.
You are free to buy all the organic food that you can afford - I have no problem with that, but you must also think more globally and realize that farmers have the social responsibility to feed the world and they must be allowed to use the safe and effective tools that are developed to continue to stay in business.
Thanks for the forum and please remember to think global.
Darren
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Darren,
This is all very interesting information. I will remain somewhat skeptical, but it does certainly sound like you know what you're on about. I did check your email for the company you work for. It appears that Altagenetics (http://www.altagenetics.com) is certainly not an unbiased player in the factory farm industry.
I'm glad you are so confident that your work helps our planet and humanity.
Jeremy
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