ST. LOUIS — In a move facilitated by food activism groups the Cornucopia Institute and the Organic Consumers Association, law firms in St. Louis and Denver have filed class-action lawsuits in 27 states against Aurora Organic Dairy, the nation’s largest supplier of private-label organic milk. These lawsuits are the latest development in an ongoing fight between Cornucopia, OCA and Aurora over the dairy’s organic status. Cornucopia and OCA claim that Aurora does not allow its cows sufficient “access to pasture” as required by National Organic Program rules and therefore should not be allowed to use the USDA organic seal on its products. But these USDA requirements are poorly defined, and Aurora has countered that it earned its certification through respected groups including the Colorado Department of Agriculture and Quality Assurance International. The company’s dairies in Colorado and Texas, however, are currently being monitored by the USDA as part of a one-year probationary period agreed upon after the agency discovered deficiencies in several areas, including access to pasture, improperly transitioned cows and problematic record-keeping. Although the lawsuits have requested that the U.S. District Courts place an injunction against the company to halt sale of Aurora’s milk, it is unlikely that such an injunction would be granted, given the pre-existing agreements reached between the USDA and Aurora for the term of this probationary period. Aurora CEO and chairman Marc Peperzak said the company is prepared to fight the lawsuits, arguing in a release that: “Aurora Organic Dairy has maintained continuous organic certifications for all of our farms and facilities. Our milk is and always has been organic. Our USDA consent agreement makes clear that all of our organic certifications are valid.”
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