Soured Milk: Organic Dairy Farmers Boycott Stonyfield Farm, Horizon, Hood
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Looks like Big Organic spilled the milk.
This week a group of organic farmers is calling for a nationwide boycott of all H.P. Hood branded products because of what they’re calling “unfair business practices.” This includes organic companies—Hood products include some names you might not expect: Horizon and Stonyfield Organic Milk. Looks like even organic large companies don’t transcend all “evils” of business.
These companies (in many cases) get their product by contracting out small farmers in a variety of states to produce milk — as does Organic Valley, a farmer-owned cooperative of more than 1,300 family farmers nationwide, and another company being boycotted by small farmers (see article below). Many small farms invest a lot of money to convert to organic in order that they fulfill the qualifications of their parent company, and get a contract. In the new film Food, Inc., for example, Stonyfield Farm CEO Gary Hirshberg is depicted visiting one of these family farms (his Wal Mart friends in his stead) getting closer to the root and essence of his product.
Well. According to The Organic Consumers’ Association (via the Bangor Daily News), the essence of his product–the farmers—are not happy:
DEXTER, Maine - A group of organic farmers representing three different producers is calling for a nationwide boycott of all H.P. Hood branded products and Stonyfield Organic Milk, also produced by Hood, because of what they term unfair business practices.
In February, Hood told eight Maine organic dairy farmers in Aroostook and Washington counties that their milk contracts would not be renewed. This spring the company gave two more farmers, one in Dexter and one in Clinton, the same message.
“Let it start here, in Maine,” dairy farmer Mark McKusick said Friday at his farm in Dexter. “We are calling on all farmers and consumers in other states to join us.”
McKusick said that at a recent meeting of the Maine Organic Milk Producers, a straw vote showed a majority of Maine producers support the boycott. “They represented farmers supplying milk to Horizon, Organic Valley, Hood and Stonyfield,” he said.
“If enough farmers and consumers stick together it will have an effect,” Martin Lane of Shady Lane Farms in New Vineyard said.
The movement comes just weeks before the first of the Maine organic dairy farmers’ contracts expires on Aug. 1.
McKusick and Richard Lary, a Clinton organic dairy farmer, also were dropped by the company after they publicly criticized Hood.
“They promised us the moon and then bailed on us,” said Cheryl McKusick, Mark McKusick’s wife. “When I asked Hood to meet with the producers, [a Hood official] told me I was confused. I feel Stonyfield is more concerned with cows passing gas than the farmers that supply them.”
To read the entire article, click here.
UPDATE AND CORRECTIONS: HP Hood does not own Organic Valley products, according to their spokespeople who responded to this article. See their website. We’re sorry and send apologies about this mistake–this was misprinted in the original sources used above, apparently. For more information on this issue, see this article at Hobby Farms.com.
July 17th, 2009 at 5:34 pm
There is always the option of selling Raw milk is in high demand. Check out realmilk.com for details.
July 17th, 2009 at 5:34 pm
Hi Everyone,
CORRECTION: HP Hood does NOT produce Organic Valley products! Organic Valley is an independent, farmer-owned cooperative of more than 1,300 family farmers nationwide. (www.organicvalley.coop).
Thanks,
Jamie
July 17th, 2009 at 10:15 pm
This article does not really make sense. I have done much research on what oganic food brands to buy in my geographic area (northern Colorado). The results were to stop buying Horizon products and store brands and start buying Organic Valley, Stoneyfield Farms, and Nature’s Path. These companies encompass all that is good in organic farming. Small coops, local farmers, small hears, ethics, etc. True, organic food. I will continue to patronize these companies (not Horizon) and buy even more of their products now that I hear about this unjustifiable boycott. I believe there must be some motivation behind this, possibly these upset farmers not being able or willing to meet the strict standards of Organic Valley, etc. I urge all readers to NOT stop buying these products and to check out the facts yourself from un-biased sources.
July 18th, 2009 at 4:55 pm
Colorado, I thik you are missing the lines that connect these DOTS!
Hood is in New England, it processes milk from organic farms……………..that THEN goes to Stoneyfield,
NE based Co., Organic Valley etc. to be made into the “organic” products we buy in the store.
I personally know one of the organic dairy farms, in Washington County Maine. It has been a working farm for 4 generations…..Have been there looked around the place with my own eyes, know the family………..( have been getting my $50.00 farm share of their products through the food stamp program for several years. ) They observe very strict standards.
THEIR contract was cancelled! It has to be a profit based move.
Fortunately being enterprising ( pull yourself up by the bootastraps ) They are now marketing their organic milk in markets here locally. Fortunately our big chain is Belgian based and forward thinking in their green/ local food movement. Our average income is only $20,000. per year, their milk is double the price of the store brand, yet we ARE BUYING IT! It is DELICIOUS! double the taste as well as the price!
Lobster prices are down too…at the wharf. Not at the end destination urban store……………..the fishermen understand what is behind this! Corporate Greed!
July 20th, 2009 at 9:15 am
Hey all,
Thanks for these comments, and apologies for the misinformation about HP Hood owning Organic Valley–that was a misprint from the original 2 sources who wrote the article. We just picked it up. You might want to note the original sources, which you’ll see was block quoted in the text.
Organic Consumers.org: http://www.organicconsumers.org/articles/article_18564.cfm
VIA
Bangor Daily news
http://www.bangordailynews.com/detail/110424.html
July 21st, 2009 at 6:29 pm
I feel terrible for these farmers as I come from a farming background. I have been buying Horizon milk for years and will now switch to Organic Valley….when I heard the name WalMart mentioned, I knew it was TROUBLE…
Does anyone know if Strauss dairy is included in this mess???
July 23rd, 2009 at 3:33 pm
Hi! I do not want this to become a disagreement amongst friends. After all, I think we are all trying to do the same and right thing. Eat more organic! However, as I originally said, I research this stuff quite thoroughly and wished every one would check their sources before taking such drastic steps as mounting a boycott or printing an article based on incorrect source material. CROPP is a co-op of local farmers all over the country that other companies, such as Organic Valley and Stoneyfied Farms belong to. Most organic food companies have been rated on their various products on several websites. One such site shows the following ratings for the 2 products I have been discussing:
http://www.cornucopia.org/dairysurvey/FarmID_94.html
http://www.cornucopia.org/dairysurvey/FarmID_105.html
Our Organic Valley milk in Colorado comes from local farms. See this article:
http://www.organicvalley.coop/our-story/meet-the-farmers/rocky-mountain/meet-the-mikitas/page-1/
However, I fully agree with boycotting Horizon Organic and the big box chains’ store brands.
Respectfully,
Tom
July 24th, 2009 at 3:10 pm
Karen:
Raw milk is a dangerous product even if it comes from theoretically clean cows, and there are a lot of people pushing it out of willful ignorance or sheer blinkeredness, and I wouldn’t touch it unless it was turned into cheese (which generally overwhelms the pathogens).
But hey, what do I know? I just have a blog about food science.
July 24th, 2009 at 7:43 pm
The position of the farmers in this article is completely unclear or maybe the farmers have no real point at all.
From what I read, Hood advised the farmers that they would not renew their contracts when they expired (on Aug 1). So what’s the problem?! Hood is not obligated in any way to renew a contract. And the farmers claim that they were promised the moon is ridiculous also. If you were promised the moon, then shouldn’t that have been written into the contract? If it wasn’t, then obviously you were NOT promised the moon.
Seems to me that the call for a boycott is just an unfair tactic to try to force Hood to do business with them.
That said, Hood’s explanation for why they decided not to renew is also a mumbo jumbo of excuses which don’t make much sense to me. Anyways, mumbo jumbo or not, Hood still has the right to not renew, so I still have to side with Hood on this one. I will not support this boycott.
July 30th, 2009 at 5:45 pm
Hey guys,
I work for Horizon and just want to clear something up quickly. We have absolutely no ties to H.P. Hood.
We also partner and support 485 family farmers across the nation. Please check out http://www.horizonorganicfacts.com for more info on our farming beliefs and practices.
July 31st, 2009 at 4:24 pm
Jarod,
What is Horizon’s relationship to Dean Foods and the Aurora factory farms, and how does this relate to its “beliefs and practices”?
More on Horizon factory farms:
http://www.cornucopia.org/horizon-factory-farm-photo-gallery/
http://www.organicconsumers.org/articles/article_400.cfm
Jacki
August 16th, 2009 at 7:15 am
Not all Maine organic milk producers support this boycott. We can’t be in favor of something that will cause more organic farmers to be dropped.
October 28th, 2009 at 11:07 am
[…] buying powdered milk from New Zealand and shipping it here to make yogurt. This year, Stonyfield got into trouble with organic farmers because when demand for organic milk went down and the big companies (like […]
October 29th, 2009 at 2:28 pm
[…] buying powdered milk from New Zealand and shipping it here to make yogurt. This year, Stonyfield got into trouble with organic farmers because when demand for organic milk went down and the big companies (like […]
November 10th, 2009 at 3:42 pm
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