http://www.enn.com/agriculture/article/22555
Major problems discovered by Cornocopia include:
> Aurora was not allowing their animals access to pasture
> Aurora brought in animals from a non-certified contract heifer ranch
> Aurora converted animals from conventional to organic production when the regulations (because of their initial 80/20 conversion) prohibited that.
> And Aurora purchased "organic" feed for their Texas operation from a friend of the dairy manager who had sprayed his crops with herbicides.
Kastel says, "During all of this time, Aurora was building market share, helping drive the price down for "real" organic farmers, and being a driving force behind the current surplus in the organic dairy market. They were defrauding consumers by selling milk that did not qualify to be labeled as organic."
Kastel told ENN they are in discussions about possible additional additional legal actions on behalf of consumers. "It must be noted that §205.100(c)(1) of the organic regulations states that "any operation that knowingly sells or labels a product as organic, except in accordance with the Act, shall be subject to a civil penalty of not more than $10,000 per violation," Kastel said.
Peace,