Comments on: The Future of Food: CEO Says Some Organic Companies Use Feedlots…Who Can We Trust?

By: Soured Milk: Organic Dairy Farmers Boycott Stonyfield Farm, Horizon, Hood : Chelsea Green

Mon, 20 Jul 2009 13:02:26 +0000

[…] 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 […]

By: lisa

lisa — Wed, 24 Jun 2009 22:59:36 +0000

Interesting article. We had a similar discussion among organic farmers over dinner at the Organic Farming Conference in La Crosse, WI last February. My husband and I have the same dialogue going. We cannot compete with the giants, and most of us do not shop at Walmart because we simply do not buy a lot of cheap junk. Many people will buy, and pay more for, organically grown vegetables and animals from farmers they know. Some will not or cannot. However, is it not important that good quality food be available to all people of all income levels in all places? Local food is not there yet. And every acre that is farmed organically is an acre free of pesticides, herbicides, and GMO’s. We live near Organic Valley, we know many of the farmers. This is a good Coop–good for farmers, communities, families, and the land. They are not perfect, but it is 2009 and cities are populated by millions of hungry folks. So we must keep trying, one meal and one vote at a time, to change the food system. Mr. Hirschberg cannot name the company, but I can: it’s Horizon-owned by Dean and cited on numerous occasions. Buy Local, Buy Organic, and buy Organic Valley or from another small herd farm company.

By: Jacqueline

Jacqueline — Wed, 24 Jun 2009 18:25:19 +0000

I enjoyed this post but I was waiting for the promised tete a tete with Hirshberg. I thought that’s what you’d lead us to. I think you raise some excellent points. There’s also room for improvement from all angles and for acknowledgement of strengths and weaknesses of every approach. Better that large operators are eliminating some unknown quantities of pesticides in the food supply by going organic, yes. But where’s the transparency we are all hungry for if the patron saint of organic yogurt won’t disclose farmers who are organic but treating animals poorly and in ways that encourage things like e coli getting into our food system?

Good, Clean, Fair, Right. Four words Mas Masumoto used to define his view of sustainability. In order to know if these targets are all being hit, we need transparency. If Gary Hirshberg is uncomfortable that he’s not done enough, kick out the CAFO “organic” farmers from his supply chain, exercise his power to greater good.

By: jgrayson

jgrayson — Tue, 23 Jun 2009 03:10:30 +0000

Amazing post, Makenna. Now that green has hit the mainstream, it’s become clear that simply labeling something organic isn’t enough, as I first realized when I came across a Russell Stover “organic” chocolate sampler at a CVS. I could foresee a future not unlike the fat-free craze of the ’90s: People gobbling up organic HoHos and chugging organic sodas, wondering why they still feel like garbage. “But it says it’s organic…”

That’s why I think it’s so important to support local farmers markets, because it’s only there that you’re able to actually talk to your farmer (you!) to find out what methods he/she uses to grow produce, raise chickens, etc. I’d take local produce that’s grown without pesticides but not certified organic over “organic” produce flown in from South America any day.

Here’s a link to a video I shot that offers up farmers market shopping tips, if you’re interested:

WATCH: Farmers market shopping tips