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The lawsuit against Aurora Organic Dairy, alleging that the company defrauded consumers by not actually adhering to USDA organic dairy standards, has been dismissed according to the Northern Colorado Business Report.
Attorneys representing 52 consumers in a lawsuit against Boulder, Colorado-based Aurora Organic Dairy and some of the nation’s largest retailers had been facing off for over a year in the Eastern District of Missouri, with Judge Richard Webber presiding.
The consumers alleged that the milk they purchased, although labeled as “organic,” did not meet federal organic standards. Their attorneys argued claims including breach of contract and of implied warranty, negligent misrepresentation, unjust enrichment, and also claims under the consumer protection and deceptive trade practices statutes of several states.
I’ve been watching this case closely, and wrote at the time, over a year ago:
“If Judge Webber tosses [this case] out of his court, it means that all recourses for enforcing organic standards — executive (USDA), legislative (congress), and judicial avenues — will have been attempted and shut down. The case might climb to higher courts, but the damage to consumer confidence that the organic industry will suffer along the way will be a death-blow, in my opinion. This is a watershed moment for the organic industry.
“Aurora was accused of gaming the organic standards by creating 5 confinement cattle lots with thousands and thousands of cattle each, a curiosity when USDA organic standards seem fairly clear about not over-confining animals and providing ample access to pasture. But, and this is where Aurora found loopholes, the USDA organic dairy standards say that sick cattle don’t have to be pastured on an organic farm. Aurora apparently defines all pregnant cattle as “sick” in its organic handling plan and can thereby flaunt the pasture rule. Allegedly. So I’m told.
“Meanwhile, Aurora has flooded the market with cheap organic milk. Any time you see organic milk for under $6.00 a gallon? It came from an Aurora “organic farm” originally.
“If Webber decides in favor of the plaintiffs, the consumers, Aurora is so huge and central that the organic retail sector will have to reorganize itself where organic milk and dairy are concerned, at a time when organic milk prices are already spiking due to the exorbitant cost of feed. So that doesn’t seem likely to me.
“On a side note, Webber is infamous for knuckling down on small farmers on behalf of Monsanto (his court is in Monsanto’s district). Webber is the judge who sentenced Tennesse farmer Kern Ralph to prison for saving Monsanto-patented GMO seeds because the farmer couldn’t pay the fine of $100,000 or a re-assessed fine of $1.7 million. This was not a “Honk if You’re Organic!” kinda judge.
“So if he acts at all, he’ll decide that the lawsuit is frivolous, Case closed. Stick a fork in organics. It’s over, baby.”
I’m willing to wait and see if my prediction proves correct. Some good things have happened in the meanwhile, namely, the appointment of USDA Deputy Sec. Kathleen Merrigan, and a general change of atmosphere toward organics in the White House.
But this is going to be a real litmus test. It’s one thing to plant organic gardens. Now we get to see which way the winds really blow in this administration: Toward Big Organics, like Aurora Dairy and its feedlot “organic” milk,, or toward the organic shopper who has a right to know if her milk was produced from lactating cows on grass, in the spirit of organics.
