ORGANIC FOOD: THE PARADOX - Foodopoly: The Battle Over the Future of Food and Farming in America - page 68

ture. The cows eat predominately grain during all but two months out of the year, violating organic prin-
ciples and the actual standard that requires the animals to have access to pasture.
Aurora Organic Dairy was formed by the founders of Horizon, Mark Retzloff and Marc Peperzak, spe-
cifically to supply private-label organic dairy products. Aurora is vertically integrated from the production
of milk to the bottling stage, and it uses scale to keep prices low. In 2007, after the Cornucopia Institute
filed several legal complaints against the company, the USDA investigated its operations. Aurora was sanc-
tioned for fourteen “willful” violations of federal organic law, but the Bush administration stepped in to
keep the company from being decertified.
CEO Retzloff says, “We are firm believers that there is a place for larger scale operators in the organic
sector.” He goes on to say, “So for those who criticize and attack Aurora Organic Dairy for being larger
scale, we can only point to the many benefits scale brings to animals, people, and the planet, and say that
organic is simply a better way than how the other 98 percent of dairy products are being produced in this
country.” 22
Retzloff misses the point: organic agriculture has always been about appropriate scale—and principles.
Dairies with four thousand to five thousand cows like Aurora defy the basic tenets of land stewardship,
ecological balance, and animal welfare. The monopoly control of dairy and soy milk by Dean Foods, a
company that also controls a large percentage of conventional milk production, is contrary to the original
vision of organic dairies that sustain the farm family and strengthen the local economy. The globalized cor-
porate model of organic yogurt production that requires the use of powdered milk produced on the other
side of the world epitomizes the weaknesses of the globalized corporate model of organic production.
The same is true of the vast acreage of organic fruits and vegetables produced in a few counties in
California by large, heavily capitalized corporations that can outcompete local organic growers around the
country. Investment by equity funds in corporations like Earthbound provide the capital for expansion and
an expectation for high returns on investment. The availability of subsidized water makes it possible for
Earthbound's industrial-size operation to grow lettuce, fruit, and vegetables on thirty thousand acres to be
shipped across the nation.
Corporations that source globally can provide the large quantities of organic fruits and vegetables re-
quired by Walmart and other larger players in the grocery industry. Lower labor costs and weaker envir-
onmental laws make organic farming operations in the developing world profitable even with high trans-
portation costs. Ingredients for organic processed foods can often be procured at a better price outside of
the United States. And since large multinational corporations are focused on profit, the riskier process for
organic certification overseas is not a major concern.
The largest multinational food corporations entered the organic market not because of commitments to
its principles but because they saw a profitable niche market for products that can be sold at a premium.
The purchase of organic companies by General Mills, Kraft, and Kellogg's creates the pressure on them
to continually increase quarterly profits and to develop new products. Organic Oreos and other processed
organic food—high in calories and low in nutrition—do not meet the spirit of organic principles. These
multinational firms lobby for the use of synthetic additives and nonorganic ingredients. This might be ex-
pedient for the industry, but it signifies a loss of integrity for the definition of organic. It is unfair to those
who spent several decades building the organics industry and to the many family farmers who adhere to
the best organic practices.
Consumers of organic food pay a premium price because they believe in the original underlying values:
local, ecological, chemical-free, healthy, and produced ethically. People are willing to pay more for organ-
ic, because they believe that environmentally friendly practices and the additional labor required to replace
chemicals for weed control cost more. Once they catch on, consumers will not be willing to pay a higher
price so that profits can be siphoned off to increase the earnings of multinational companies that have no