Eulogy for an "Organic" Mega-Dairy

The suspension of a mega-organic dairy in California continues to generate attention, with the most recent from a neighbor who had the foresight to take video of the operation and post it on her blog, Rebuild from Depression. She also has a very insightful post about the operation that I recommend others to read.

What this work shows is that producers and consumers are very interested in transparency and, with the use of the Internet, will out those producers who are skirting the regulations. This is what transparency is all about and what underpins organic and sustainable foods.

Without further adieu, on to the video eulogy. (Note on video: It views better if you download the whole thing before playing unless you have a fast connection). 

Comments

[Kathie Arnold]

Thanks for pointing out this You Tube video of the Vander Eyk 'pastures'
Sam. The pasture shown in this video certainly did not meet the National Organic Program definition of pasture-- "Land used for livestock grazing that is managed
to provide feed value and maintain or improve soil, water, and vegetative
resources". I didn't see much feed value on that pasture and it certainly didn't look like the soil and vegetative resources were being improved or even maintained as the video showed areas where there was no vegetative cover because of too much animal impact and the rest looked much
overgrazed.

Kathie Arnold