Organic Valley bans raw milk sellers- Time for a boycott?

[michickenwrangler]

Hey! I'm not complaining. A dairy near us is tired of dealing with Organic Valley and I just got in on their cow share!!!

 

[MoSo]

Well, my only choices for organic milk here are Organic Valley and Horizon, so it's not like I have a choice, since I won't deal with Horizon. AFAIK, there is no dairy near here that deals directly with the public, but I'd sure like to get milk that at least is just pasteurized, instead of ultra-pasteurized, as are all the choices here.

 

[Wifezilla]

The lack of choices is really annoying. I think that is why this whole thing makes me so mad. OV is further reducing options. NOT COOL!

 

[JamieOV]

Hello all, thank you for this healthy dialog about our cooperative’s decision. We realize that raw milk is important to you and to many other consumers. We think it is important to note that Organic Valley dairy farmers sign an agreement when joining the cooperative that stipulates all milk must be sold to the cooperative for distribution by the cooperative.

For many years the co-op has looked the other way regarding on-farm raw milk sales by members in spite of the membership agreement, but for a number of valid and important reasons, our farmer-member board of directors recently voted to uphold the tenets of the membership agreement. They did so primarily because they believe it's best for the cooperative as a whole to remain focused on Organic Valley's traditional model of production and distribution of premium quality, organic, pasteurized milk products.

It is very important to understand that our cooperative is not against raw milk. We've been quite active in our support for raw milk legalization efforts around the country, and we'll continue to support raw milk legalization efforts, too. We recognize and support that this is an exciting and growing part of the local foods movement.

Also, regarding a comment by Wifezilla about the involvement of government money (posted on 6/4), I’d like to clarify that the grant our hometown recently received did not play a role in our farmers’ decision about on-farm milk sales. The village of La Farge, WI (population 600) applied for this funding, and because Organic Valley is committed to staying rooted in this small, rural town rather than relocate to a larger city, the village continually keeps an eye toward possible infrastructure that we will need in order to support our farmer-owners.

Our cooperative’s mission is to save family farming culture through organic agriculture, and we have developed a business model and brand that today sustains 1,632 farm families—some with less 10 cows! In order to continue on this road together, our farmer board of directors has made the decision to trust in our core business model, which means that the cooperative will be the sole marketer of our dairy members’ milk. Albeit a tough decision, it is one that our farmer leaders believe will provide for the collective good of the cooperative.

For more background, please visit http://ov.coop/2g9. You can also reach us at 1-888-444-MILK.

Thank you for reading.

 

[AHappychick]

Jamieov- Thank you for taking the time to join BYC to clarify this issue. Certainly there is no shortage of PR for Organic Valley. Nevertheless I will continue to boycott Organic Valley as a monopoly over anyone or such rules are only ever good for the corporation and not the farmers themselves. You can dress it up however you like. I do hope that this does give a push to the raw milk farmers but I think it will hurt more of them then help them, or us as the consumer.

 

[Wifezilla]

Glad to hear it wasn't gvmnt involvement that lead to this decision.

Our cooperative’s mission is to save family farming culture through organic agriculture

Your current stance limits consumer choices and hurts the approximately 10% of the farmers in your cooperative that sell raw milk directly to cosumers. This goes directly against your stated mission.

The fact that it had been allowed despite the contract wording FOR YEARS is curious as well.

The vote to ban raw milk sellers was NOT unannimous. It was, if reports are correct, a 4 to 3 vote. Hardly a mandate.

Not only will I not buy Organic Valley products until this policy changes, I have contacted the corporate headquarters of Vitamin Cottage, the retailer where I had been purchasing pastured butter and raw cheddar cheese, but other stores that carry your items and I frequent when I have business away from my home.

I will also post about this in my blog, and I have posted this information on my facebook page.

The bullying tactics are offensive to me. Limiting consumer choices is also something I find upsetting. It is hard to enough to find REAL FOOD without having an entity that claims to promote family farming and quality dairy working against that very aim.​

 

[Wifezilla]

"Siemon, the CEO, who is charged with coming up with an “implementation plan” for ridding the co-op of raw milk sellers, says the co-op wants to be “compassionate.” He expects at least a six-month hiatus before the new policy is fully implemented.

But when it is, it will place Organic Valley up there with a small but growing number of co-ops and processors similarly implementing prohibitions against raw milk sales among suppliers.

Forgues, the Organic Valley board member, argues vehemently that the co-op’s decision has nothing to do with concerns about competitive inroads being made by raw milk. “That has zero to do with what we are doing,” he says. “This is not an ag corporate decision.”

Maybe not for Organic Valley, but it unfortunately fits into an expanding pattern of pushback by some states and Big Ag. For example, Wisconsin’s governor just vetoed a bill that would reversed the state’s ban on raw milk sales by allowing limited direct sales from farms. His veto came after both houses of the legislature passed the bill by overwhelming majorities.

The issue of raw milk isn’t fading, unfortunately, It continues to arouse all kinds of strong emotions as demand inexorably expands. Organic Valley may or may not be a part of Big Ag, but its decision is certain to add a new emotional, and economic, overlay to the issue. It’s too bad farmer has to be pitted against farmer."
http://www.realrawmilkfacts.com/organic-valley-lays-down-the-law-on-raw-milk-25/

 

[PotterWatch]

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[noobiechickenlady]

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Agreed!

 

[Quail_Antwerp]

Well, I have a question. First, let me explain a little back ground so everyone will understand where I'm coming from.

My husband used to work for a local dairy farm - and they shipped out enough milk to make $1mil a month as a dairy. Employees were paid well AND were given portions of the monthly milk bonus check (which was huge). We also had access to ALL OF THE FREE RAW MILK we wanted. We never bought any pasteurized (aka cooked and ruined) milk from any stores. The farm owners and all of their children and their children's spouses and grandchildren all drank the same raw milk. The farm owners and all of their employees collected their milk from the milk tank - which held milk that had only been filtered after having left the cows.

Best milk we ever had the luxury of drinking, and we loved having the cream off the top.

Now, my question to OV is this - if it states in your contract with "your" farmers that all milk must be sold to you, does that mean you are now also stripping those farmers, - the ones who are busting their butts, getting pooped on by the cows they are milking (and believe me, that happens in a milk parlor!), most likely milking several hundred cows 2-4 times a day (depending on if they have shifts like the local dairy and if they are milking 2x's each shift), - of their rights to drink the raw milk from their own cows?

I mean, your contract clearly states, according to you, that ALL milk is to be sold to OV. Where do you leave room for the farmers to benefit from their OWN milk - the milk that they are working so hard to collect up for your greedy hands - and that's what they are, greedy hands. Will you now be taking the milk from the farmers and their children as well??

Where does your greed end?

Does your contract give you ownership of the cows?? because if not, then I'm sorry, shut up and back off the raw milk sales, because some of us DO NOT want to drink the poisons that you have packaged and labeled as "good" for us.

We lose GOOD family farmers and dairy's daily because greedy co-ops like yours want to step in and control every aspect of the farming industry.

This is AMERICA. We used to be the land of the free and the home of the brave, and forgive me if I despise your company for killing the raw milk sales, but the last time I checked, my grandfather, my Uncles, my cousins, and my brothers have all put their lives on the line in wars dating back to WWII - and even back to the civil war - so that we the people, who are the consumers of this country, could decide for ourselves if we want Raw Milk or not.

Farming is NOT about control or the FDA or anything else you and other companies like you try to shove down our throats - Farming is about getting back to basics, having wholesome, unadulterated foods the way nature intended - RAW.

OV, I believe you have overstepped YOUR rights, to try to tell a farmer what they can do with their milk - contract or no contract.