Originally published September 27 2005
Standards for "organic" milk need reform
by Mike Adams, the Health Ranger, NaturalNews Editor
John Mackey, chairman of a nationwide chain of Whole Food Market stores, is putting pressure on the National Organic Standards Board to improve its standards for organic milk to ensure that cows get more grazing time in the pasture.
JOHN MACKEY, chairman of Whole Foods Market, with the buying power of his 173 stores across the country behind him, said in a telephone interview yesterday that he wants the Department of Agriculture to strengthen its standards for organic milk.
For at least four years, the National Organic Standards Board, which advises the department's National Organic Program, has sought a regulation to make the standards more rigorous so that milk labeled organic comes from cows that spend a certain amount of time grazing in pastures.
Currently dairy farms that keep cows confined most or all of the time can legally claim their milk is organic if they use organic feed and do not use antibiotics or growth hormones.
The current organic standards, which took effect in 2000, require that cows have "access to pasture," but do not require cows to be put in the pasture.
"We think the average customer believes organic dairy cows are grazing full time," Mr. Mackey said, "and we would like organic standards to be more rigorous so the perception meets the reality."
Mr. Mackey first discussed his company's position in an interview with Jim Slama in Conscious Choice, a monthly magazine.
The organic standards board has proposed that dairy cows be allowed to graze during the growing season and that a lactating cow should not be confined in a barn.
Farmers who confine cows can give them high-energy feed that helps them produce more milk than cows on pasture, reducing the cost.
In public comments, two companies opposed the proposal: Aurora Dairy and Wild Oats, the 111-store chain of natural food supermarkets.
"We will clearly label products that are not animal compassionate so our customers can be fully informed about their practices," he said.
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