What Makes Organic Milk “Organic”?
The burning question above targeted the production of organic milk: Must the cows be allowed to graze in pastures much of the year, or can they be confined to large feed lots and still be considered organic? The National Organic Standards Board recommended to the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) that organic rules be modified to make certain that organic milk can only come from cows that graze in pastures during the growing season. According to the chairman of the standards board, certain dairies allow cows to graze a mere two months out of the year–when they are about to give birth. During the other 10 months the cows are confined and fed out of a trough. The modified rules come as a result of a formal complaint regarding “insufficient pasture access” at a dairy in Colorado. The marketing director of the dairy believes the real issue is the scale of organic-farming operations, not the cows’ access to grass.
