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

[WoodlandWoman]

I understand the "United we stand, divided we fall" thought. Once the co-op cuts prices and productivity at the same time, then not everyone is standing. Then it's more like, "United some of us stand, some of us fall." I'm guessing this is why it was overlooked up until now and why it was such a close vote.

These are difficult times and difficult situations, I know.

 

[1stepcloser]

Here is the response I received. I am sure it was a canned letter...who else got it?

Thank you for contacting Organic Valley and Organic Prairie.

Organic Valley/Organic Prairie is a cooperative which is owned by more than 1600 family farmers. 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 small and medium sized farm families.

The family farmers who own our cooperative control their destiny and receive a stable pay price for their products. When dairy farmers join the cooperative they sign an agreement that stipulates all milk must be sold to the cooperative for distribution by the cooperative.

In our cooperative, decisions are not made in a top-down fashion-instead farmer committees are formed to address topics ranging from animal husbandry practices to pasturing requirements to off-farm milk sales. In the case of our farmers selling raw milk, it was very difficult for our farmer committees, dairy farmer executive committee and farmer board to choose the path they did.

We realize that raw milk is important to you and to many other consumers, but this is not the business that we are in. Our business is selling pasteurized certified organic milk with a regional model of production and distribution.

We are not against raw milk, and endorsed a statement supporting the legalization of raw milk in the state of Wisconsin that was sent to Governor Doyle. This was in keeping with the cooperative’s long standing support of consumer choice.

We appreciate you taking the time to contact us regarding this issue and we will forward your comments onto our Farmer members. We hope that you will continue to support Organic Valley, a cooperative of family farmer-owners.

If I can be of further assistance, please do not hesitate to contact me.

 

[Katy]

Quote:
"canned" letter or not it says what happened and why. I find it rather odd that a company most all of you probably touted and supported suddenly is the "bad guy" in this situation instead of the bad guy being the people who broke their contract and did what they had agreed not to.

Some of the very people who you say you to want to support...family farmers and not giant corporation farms...are the ones who will suffer if the boycott has any affect on the cooperative.

 

[rancher hicks]

I just came from the book store and there was an article about "Baldwin Brook Farms" and their selling raw milk primarily. It was a Farm magazine. They are in Connecticut. I didn't read the article but you may find it interesting.

 

[rancher hicks]

Just thought you should know the article is in the Grit magazine. There are some good chickens articles in there as well. One point's out the nutritional value of pastured eggs. Yes I know we know it but I make copies to put in my cartons of eggs I sell so my customers will know.

 

[Wifezilla]

It's a generic form letter.

 

[greathorse]

Of course it is a form letter.

A company the size of Organic Valley can ill afford to send a letter to every ankle biter that comes along. Not so much that they can't take the time, but they can't afford to have a bunch of unique statements floating around for the likes of the nay sayers on here to take out of context and villify their every comment.

I find it admirable that the company in fact responded at all. Of all the organic dairy's I respect OV more than most as they work with a lot of small producer family farms that otherwise would not have a market.

It does not take much of a mathemetician to figure out that the margins in fluid dairy are slim from farm through distribution.

I don't know why OV's board made the decision to stop the sale of raw milk off its member farms, but it is obvious to me that it was a well debated hard decision for the board to make.

I would not be too sure that the other brands that you folks choose to support will allow the sale of raw milk either. The sale of raw milk is one that is best done with ownership sharing coops. Dairy's that do this make it their core business and structure it in such a way to minimize liabilty for everyone.

One must consider that selling raw milk off farm (no matter how safe it is in reality) has a lot of risk from a liabilty standpoint. A 1600 member coop can not really afford to get a bunch of bad press based on one member having an issue with selling raw milk to a litigious consumer.

JMO

 

[Wifezilla]

Some of the very people who you say you to want to support...family farmers and not giant corporation farms...are the ones who will suffer if the boycott has any affect on the cooperative

So are you saying the cooperative would lets its members suffer rather than respond to the consumers? Hummmmmmm

One must consider that selling raw milk off farm (no matter how safe it is in reality) has a lot of risk from a liabilty standpoint.

Only if the farm selling the raw milk represents the raw milk as being Organic Valley brand. THAT is fraud, and in that case I would support Organic Valley coming down on them like a bag of hammers. However, that doesn't appear to be the case and I am not the type of person that believes in bowing to paranoid lawyer-talk.​

 

[dancingbear]

OV reduced the amount of milk they're buying, and reduced the price the farmers get for it, at the same time as they decided to enforce the no-off-the-farm-raw-milk sales. I understand that it's a coop, and that the farmers will suffer from lower sales as well. The question is whether the only-slightly-over-half who voted to do this will relent and make a change.

I don't get the reasoning behind the rule either. People who want only raw milk are probably not going to switch to pasteurized milk from OV, the very ones who took away their source of raw milk. They will more likely look for people with only a family cow or two, and buy from them. So I fail to see how this benefits OV in any way. They may think it will, but I doubt it. Seems to me the only thing this accomplishes, is to reduce revenue for members, and make it harder for consumers to find raw milk.

It's not because they aren't getting enough milk from their members, either, they had to cut the amount they buy, leaving the members with unsold milk that they are not allowed to sell.

Seems like in times when sales are slow, it would make more sense to allow members to sell excess anyway they can, as long as it's not to a competing organization for resale. Instead, it's "Sorry, these are the rules, and we know it's hurting you, and has upset your customers, but that's just too bad. Maybe this will force them to buy pasteurized milk from us."

 

[Wifezilla]

Exactly. Worse, they ultra-pasteurize a lot of their milk and milk products. Ultra-pasteurization makes milk unhealthy instead of a wholesome real food. The UP process is about giving milk a longer shelf life and NOT giving the consumer a better product.

P.S. To our OV members...I was at Vitamin Cottage today and DID NOT buy 2 bricks of cream cheese, raw milk cheddar and 2 packages of pastured butter from your product line. I did buy 3 quarts of lower temp vat pasteurized cream (Farmer's Creamery brand) and 3 16 oz containers of greek-style yogurt (Greek Gods). I will be going to Sunflower Market to get some Kerry Gold butter later tonight.