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I can't imagine not being able to open PDFs.
(By the way, if anyone can tell me a good reliable open source free program for creating AND editing/manipulating PDFs, I'd appreciate it - I have cutePDF for creating but you can't manipulate them).
The report includes information on a number of cases Cornucopia has taken to the USDA and how the USDA to a large degree has failed to enforce laws. For example:
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Dean Foods/Horizon
Cornucopia's third 2005 complaint targeted Dean Foods and one of their 50 milk brands:
Horizon. Years after our initial complaint, the USDA finally investigated one of the two corporate farms owned by Dean Foods, their Maryland "organic" dairy. The primary allegation was that they had an inadequate amount of pasture available for their cattle. And even though
they had some pasture, they were not utilizing it.
Reports from Maryland-area residents, Dean employees, and even the farm’s former veterinarian indicated that they actually had to mow the grass to control growth even though their stocking level of cows per acre was absurdly high.
Cornucopia also filed a complaint against the Dean Foods/Horizon factory dairy located in desert-like conditions in southern Idaho.
In the case of their Maryland dairy, Dean employed the same powerful Washington lawyer that had represented Aurora in the regulatory dealings with the USDA. The USDA worked through this attorney to make an appointment to view the dairy. Obviously, if your goal is to actually catch the perpetrator committing a crime you would not warn them in advance of your
stake out. This gave Dean Foods every opportunity to put their cows out on grass before inspectors arrived. Big surprise, everything look good when they got there!
In the case of their 8000-head Idaho dairy, according to Freedom of Information Act documents obtained by The Cornucopia Institute, the USDA has never investigated the allegations against Dean Foods.
These three examples illustrate a few important points:
1. In two of three cases the initial complaints to the USDA, when adjudicated, found Cornucopia's allegations to be meritorious. Even though the agency’s enforcement arm is understaffed, regulators should have taken Cornucopia’s subsequent complaints seriously and handled them in a timely manner.
2. Regardless of the advantages of having the USDA accept recommendations from the National Organic Standards Board, tightening up regulatory language on pasture, the current federal standards are entirely enforceable. The violations confirmed by the USDA, at Vander Eyk and Aurora, clearly illustrate this point.
3. For whatever reason, it appears that the powerful agribusiness giant Dean Foods, with annual revenues of approximately $11 billion, has received favorable treatment from the USDA and has dodged regulatory enforcement. It is unknown what impact the millions of dollars they have spent on lobbyists and on contributions to federally elected candidates might have had in this controversy.
The Cornucopia Institute has formally requested that the Inspector General at the USDA investigate the favorable treatment that Dean Foods has received.
... skipping much ...
Conclusion
The Cornucopia Institute contends that the dramatic growth in number and operation of these massive industrial-scale confinement livestock facilities is placing legitimate, ethical family farmers at a competitive disadvantage. It appears that these factory farms are failing to subscribe
to the letter and spirit of the organic law.
The tens of thousands of animals being milked in the confinement facilities have flooded the organic fluid milk market and depressed prices due at the farmgate to family-scale organic dairies.
The factory farm organic dairies, with their high production, feed-intensive practices, have created further market pressures by cornering organic feed supplies and significantly driving up prices. Family-scale dairies use feed to supplement their broad pasture practices and to supplement commodities raised on the farm; the shortages of available feed, and price inflation, have added significant pressure to their bottom lines.
Lastly, many consumers who purchase organic dairy products believe they are getting a nutritionally superior food. But the animal husbandry practices employed on the confinement feedlot dairies minimize grazing, thus reducing the beneficial fatty acids, antioxidants, and vitamins that are believed to fight cancer and heart disease.
The enforcement track record at the USDA has been an abdication of its responsibilities. They have been charged by Congress with protecting the interests of the consumer, the integrity of the organic label, and the hard-working family farmers whose livelihoods depend on organics. On
this count, they are failing.
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