Mailbag: Complaints and Double Standards Apparently somebody is listening
Milk is Milk Blog by Alex Avery
Apparently people are listening and taking notice. Since launching this Blog just two short weeks ago we’ve had thousands of visitors from across the globe check out my musings. Here at CGFI we’re already hearing a range of reviews - mostly supportive - from dairy farmers, animal scientists and concerned consumers. Journalists and dairy trade reporters appear to be taking notice as well. FoodNavigatorUSA.com reported on our stories exposing false and misleading marketing by Horizon, Organic Valley and Stonyfield Yogurt.
Another “journalist” contacted us regarding our inaugural Blog on Steve Wilson and Jane Akre - but apparently he wasn’t interested in writing about this. Well, to be honest, that “journalist” was an angry Steve Wilson - but when he called he didn’t want to say who he was. Hmm, an interesting approach for a journalist who demands transparency while criticizing the integrity of his “investigative” reporting targets - he wanted to remain “anonymous.” Can you say double standards? I’m beginning to see why Akre & Wilson’s former boss WTVT news director Phil Metlin labeled them “two desperate journalists who hide behind their shield of ethics in journalism…”
Steve was one angry pup and demanded to know if some nefarious source was behind our Milk is Milk education campaign - the answer is no. He also wanted to defend his claims that milk was dangerous. Unfortunately, he had to admit the milk was “the same” and then he declined to answer any questions about who was funding his campaign attacking the safety of milk - you know that somebody has to be paying for Steve and Jane to travel across the globe to attend the activist trainings and rallies at which they are headlined and applauded. But he wasn’t talking.
Steve said he’d get back to me with the evidence supporting his attacks on the safety of milk - claims which the American Medical Association, World Health Organization and just about everybody else that matters discredit. I still haven’t heard back from Steve and I’m guessing I won’t hear anything too soon. To see the details of my conversation with Steve Wilson, click here.
As for Horizon, Stonyfield and Organic Valley - we’ve been writing these guys and sending letters to regulators about their marketing practices for a couple of years now without a peep back from them in response. However, they did respond to inquiries from news reporter Phillipa Nuttall who read our Blog. Horizon and Organic Valley, it appears, aren’t happy about what we’re disclosing regarding their black marketing practices and are a little defensive. Methinks they doth protest too much, and actually their protests reveal some serious problems they have with broadly acknowledged scientific facts, as well as well-published rules and regulations regarding what constitute false and misleading marketing.
Ms. Nuttall reported that Theresa Marquez, the chief marketing executive for Organic Valley actually said: “We are not talking about natural hormones, but hormones that are added to the milk. We produce our milk without hormones.” It is beyond rational perception how someone vested with the responsibility for marketing dairy products for a company with annual sales in excess of $150 million: 1. lacks even a basic understanding of dairy animal science; 2. fails to understand the production practices of her own company and suppliers; and 3. ignores U.S. Food and Drug Administration guidelines for marketing claims about dairy products and hormones. Folks, these are very basic things which should be in the job requirements for someone in this position. Heck, false and misleading marketing, advertising and labeling of food products can cost a company millions of dollars in court damages and fines, and even put you out business.
But let’s get back to Ms. Marquez’s statements, couching her defense by adding, “we’ll continue to tell our story in the most ethical way possible.” Theresa, the most ethical way would be to tell the truth. First, the only hormone that is “added to milk” is Vitamin D3 - a hormone which Organic Valley does add to their milk. Second, farmers who supplement their cows aren’t adding anything to the milk - they are giving their cow a supplement, which helps the cow produce more of the exact same milk. Third, all dairy cows require these naturally occurring hormones - there are over 25 hormones naturally found in dairy products - to produce milk. It’s part of their natural chemistry.
Supplemental bST is not “artificial” - it is the same naturally occurring hormone found in cows. Supplements simply help the cows maintain normal peak levels which occur at the beginning of a milking cycle over a slightly longer period of time. So the cows receiving this supplement produce more milk. More milk from fewer cows is good for the environment, good for consumers and good for the dairy farmer’s pocketbook. But for some reason - perhaps because consumers would stop paying $2 to $3 more per gallon for “organic” milk if they weren’t being scared away from the less expensive conventional brands - the likes of Ms. Marquez and Organic Valley appear ready to fight to keep making these false statements about hormones, antibiotics and pesticides.
Ms. Marquez continues to ignore the admitted practice of Organic Valley farmers (as do Horizon and Stonyfield) to use artificial insemination (which includes antibiotics), to use reproductive health hormones like oxytocin, and the use of organic pesticides - which are toxic. Defenders of these organic dairy companies claim the antibiotic residues are minor and that not all organic producers use reproductive hormones - but you cannot have it both ways. If you use antibiotics, hormones and toxic pesticides you simply shouldn’t be able to make marketing claims and label your products as antibiotic-free, hormone-free and pesticide-free.
Horizon’s comments were not quite as poorly worded as Ms. Marquez’ - at least they admitted that all cows’ milk contains hormones. I wonder if that means they’ll change their labels and advertising to remove the “no hormones” claim now? Don’t hold your breath. But, according to the news report Horizon “said that it is committed to providing consumers with certified organic foods produced without the use of antibiotics, added hormones or dangerous pesticides and that it labels its products with this information so all consumers can make educated choices about the food they buy.” Like Organic Valley, Horizon simply isn’t telling the truth and they don’t seem to care. Horizon does use pesticides (organic ones, but they are dangerous and toxic – just read their labels), Horizon does use hormones - Vitamin D3 and the reproductive health hormones allowed by organic standards, and Horizon milk suppliers do use antibiotic-embedded artificial insemination products.
The bottom line here is that Organic Valley, Horizon, Stonyfield, et al… just don’t seem to realize the harm they are doing to the dairy industry. Their black marketing, and unabashed defense of these false and misleading claims, simply turns people away from milk and dairy products. One European industry analyst commented in the publication Dairy Farmer that “promoting organic produce by denigrating conventional is despicable, self-defeating and profoundly damaging” adding that “Promotion of all product must concentrate on the positives and let consumers know that they are the winners through having a wider choice.”
That’s sound advice. Are you listening Ms. Marquez? Milk is milk.