COMMENTARY
Added August 1, 2009.The last 6 months have seen the world of Organic Dairy turned on its head and, of course, everyone has an opinion on whom or what caused the problem and what a solution might be. Many of these opinions are reflected on the NODPA moderated Odairy listserve and you can find archived summaries of those conversations at Memberships, where you can also sign up for the listserve. We publish commentary and opinions in our bi-monthly newsletter and you can find more information on subscribing at: Memberships. You can also read some of the archived editions of our newsletter, also found in pdf form at this location.
We want to share these thoughtful and sometimes humorous commentaries with a wider audience, and have included some in this enewsletter to stimulate discussion and encourage responses so we can work on solutions. See below for more.
The system is broken – can it be fixed?
Francis Thicke has been a leader in dairy and organic dairy for many years and we publish his thoughts on why the free market system is broken in both conventional and organic dairy.
Open letter to Stonyfield founder
Maine organic dairy producers have suffered from the downturn in organic dairy, especially those who sell their milk to the HP Hood/DMS/Stonyfield milk brand. The Maine Organic Milk Producers (MOMP), NODPA’s representative organization in Maine, has been attempting to work with Stonyfield founder Gary Hirschberg to solve some of the problems created by his brand. They have had no luck and it appears Gary has little understanding of producers’ problems. The open letter from MOMP to Gary Hirschberg illustrates their producers’ frustration and the difficulty of trying to solve problems within the ill-defined and difficult to navigate organic dairy contracts which are unfairly balanced in favor of the milk companies.
Time to be politically incorrect?
Kevin Englebert has devoted many hours to improving the organic regulations and is an experienced, respected and knowledgeable organic dairy producer. He does have strong opinions and his commentary entitled “its’ time to be politically incorrect” is not a TV comedy program but his analysis of the powerful dynamics that directly affect the future of organic producers.
Posted: to Industry News on Sat, Aug 1, 2009
Updated: Sat, Aug 1, 2009