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

[freemotion]

Quote:
Katy, I DO understand that the membership that is voting is made up of farmers. Farmers are people, and come under my statement that most people don't do their own research and think for themselves. Twelve years of public school, then possibly more years of university....."Sit down, be quiet, and spit out what the book says so you can get a good grade" is how most are trained.

A good read is the book How Doctors Think, which makes my point beautifully. I am not dissing farmers.....I would be dissing my own family, and the members of my family that I most try to emulate on my homestead are those who farmed for all of their living and did so successfully.

I quoted your above statement because it makes my point perfectly. "Most farmers don't want to deal with direct sales." So I would expect the membership to vote against it. It doesn't impact them, and thus they likely haven't done research into the issues personally.

Just because "most" don't want to, doesn't give them the right nor does it make it ethical to prevent others from exercising their freedoms. The contract is unnecessarily restrictive. Especially in light of your comment that "most" aren't even selling from the farm. Katy, please do not take this as an attack or criticism of you. It is not meant to be. You have the right to not sell directly, and others do have the right. It is OV that I am criticizing, and the ethics of this contract.

If the sales of raw milk are so insignificant, why is OV taking this stand? Hmmmm......makes me very suspicious. They are not being honest with us. Notice the lack of response from OV today.

 

[Katy]

No one is telling the dairymen who want to do raw sales that they can't...only that they can't continue to be a member of the cooperative if that is the choice they make. Every organization has it's rules that they expect the members to follow....a farm or dairy coop is no different.

I think you are wrong in saying most members would vote the way they did because it doesn't impact them.....for every member not abiding by the contract it does impact each and every one of them who is following the rules. Those not following the rules, but maintaining membership still get the benefits the way it was. Is that fair to those who choose to live by their contract? Now they can't have it both ways. They have to make a choice which way they want to do business. Those who want to sell direct sales can do that.....they just can't be a member of the coop any longer.

 

[JamieOV]

Quote:
I apologize for not being totally clear - the membership agreement does state that farmers can indeed use their milk for calves and for their families. Then the remainder is to be sold to the cooperative. The recent decision is only in regards to off-farm sales of milk.

 

[Katy]

Quote:
Maybe you'll be interested in reading the results of this study of grass fed vs grain fed beef.

Grass-fed beef may not have as many healthful traits as some perceive
The Cattle Network

Grass-fed beef may not be as healthful as some believe, according to a study conducted at Texas A&M University’s AgriLife Research center.

Dr. Stephen Smith, one of the facility’s meat scientists, and a team of researchers have discovered that ground beef from grass-fed cattle had no beneficial effects on plasma lipid.

However, high monounsaturated fat ground beef from grain-fed cattle increased HDL cholesterol, increased LDL particle diameters and decreased insulin, indicating that ground beef from grain-fed cattle is “a healthful, high-quality source of protein,” he said.

“We wanted to see from this study if product from pasture-fed and corn-fed cattle had different effects on LDL or HDL cholesterol,” Smith said. “We looked at the scientific literature and could not find any justifications for the statement that pasture-fed beef is better for you. All we found were rat studies in which they were fed omega-3 fatty acids, so we wanted to know if this applied to beef from grass-fed cattle.”

To read more visit The Cattle Network​

 

[vfem]

Quote:
I apologize for not being totally clear - the membership agreement does state that farmers can indeed use their milk for calves and for their families. Then the remainder is to be sold to the cooperative. The recent decision is only in regards to off-farm sales of milk.

I know you are trying to stand up for OV's decision... but you made the decision on the well being of the customer and what we want from the products we buy. Your product isn't just MILK... its a name you want associated with the fact you are all for family and local farms to thrive. The customer wants to be a part of that on many levels. Including walking up and buying milk that hasn't been shipped to OV, packaged and then shipped BACK to the customer who could have driven 15 minutes max.

I hope as you are here representing the co-op and the decisions the co-op has made, that you are also bringing back the actual feedback from us to the people in charge of these decisions. This is a HUGE community... and we are a representation of what is out there in the slow food/ healthy food movement. And I want to make the local and best choice I can. That goes for buying milk in my neighborhood first and purchasing (even Organics) at a local store second, with imported items being a last resort or not an option at all. Why doesn't OV say support locally, and then come to us if that local need can't be filled? That sounds more like your business statement!

 

[vfem]

Quote:
Maybe you'll be interested in reading the results of this study of grass fed vs grain fed beef.

Grass-fed beef may not have as many healthful traits as some perceive
The Cattle Network

Grass-fed beef may not be as healthful as some believe, according to a study conducted at Texas A&M University’s AgriLife Research center.

Dr. Stephen Smith, one of the facility’s meat scientists, and a team of researchers have discovered that ground beef from grass-fed cattle had no beneficial effects on plasma lipid.

However, high monounsaturated fat ground beef from grain-fed cattle increased HDL cholesterol, increased LDL particle diameters and decreased insulin, indicating that ground beef from grain-fed cattle is “a healthful, high-quality source of protein,” he said.

“We wanted to see from this study if product from pasture-fed and corn-fed cattle had different effects on LDL or HDL cholesterol,” Smith said. “We looked at the scientific literature and could not find any justifications for the statement that pasture-fed beef is better for you. All we found were rat studies in which they were fed omega-3 fatty acids, so we wanted to know if this applied to beef from grass-fed cattle.”

To read more visit The Cattle Network
​

No matter how you spin the meat, I've seen the physical health of the living cows... you can tell who is comfortable in their own skin and isn't dying from what they are eating. Plus, have they done a study to say which one is more likely to have E. Coli?!

 

[Katy]

Quote:
Maybe you'll be interested in reading the results of this study of grass fed vs grain fed beef.

Grass-fed beef may not have as many healthful traits as some perceive
The Cattle Network

Grass-fed beef may not be as healthful as some believe, according to a study conducted at Texas A&M University’s AgriLife Research center.

Dr. Stephen Smith, one of the facility’s meat scientists, and a team of researchers have discovered that ground beef from grass-fed cattle had no beneficial effects on plasma lipid.

However, high monounsaturated fat ground beef from grain-fed cattle increased HDL cholesterol, increased LDL particle diameters and decreased insulin, indicating that ground beef from grain-fed cattle is “a healthful, high-quality source of protein,” he said.

“We wanted to see from this study if product from pasture-fed and corn-fed cattle had different effects on LDL or HDL cholesterol,” Smith said. “We looked at the scientific literature and could not find any justifications for the statement that pasture-fed beef is better for you. All we found were rat studies in which they were fed omega-3 fatty acids, so we wanted to know if this applied to beef from grass-fed cattle.”

To read more visit The Cattle Network
​

No matter how you spin the meat, I've seen the physical health of the living cows... you can tell who is comfortable in their own skin and isn't dying from what they are eating. Plus, have they done a study to say which one is more likely to have E. Coli?!

E coli is everywhere....even in the gut of a grass fed animal. You can get it from any animal that isn't handled properly during the butchering process.

 

[miss_thenorth]

Regarding the A&M study--- I wonder who is funding the study.

 

[vfem]

http://www.foodrevolution.org/grassfedbeef.htm

 

[freemotion]

Calling WZ, calling WZ!!!

Watch out! Incoming!

Again, Katy, you proved my point. This is junk science meant to support what is currently being done. You can find as many "studies" proving that hydrogenated fats were the healthy choice some years ago, when scientists like Dr. Mary Enig were blackballed for going against current "wisdom" and loudly proclaiming....and proving....that trans fats were very dangerous.

Now that she has been proven right, it behooves us to see what she says about saturated fats, mono-unsaturated fats, and polyunsaturates.

I choose grass-fed saturated fats as the most health-promoting choice. After many, many hours of research, then preparing lectures on the subject to force myself to truly understand it. This took me almost two years (hey, I'm busy, gotta work for a living!) but now I give a darn good lecture on the topic!

One attendee of one of my lectures (part of my 12 week healthy lifestyle series) changed the way she fed her severely learning-disabled daughter. In about three months of using mostly good, pastured saturated fats and raw dairy products in the diet (starting with only one meal a day as they ramped up), her first progress report came in. She went from mostly D's and a history of failing math, to ALL A's and a ground-breaking C in math.

I get these reports all the time. These stories support the science, which I'm sure WZ will be happy to provide some links. My slow computer prevents me from taking the time right now.....but you won't hear such stories from someone who put their kids, or themselves, on a low-fat diet.

Sunscreen is not the only reason for the epidemic of low Vitamin D levels in this country. Vitamin D is found in saturated fats from pastured animals, including lard, tallow, marbled meat, egg yolks, and milk fat.

Learned all that from doing research. Not from what was handed to me in school, or from the USDA, whose job is to sell farm products (mainly grains, especially corn and soy), not to keep us healthy. This makes studies from ag schools suspect, IMO. They are agendized.