USDA will not take action against Aurora for bringing conventional calves onto their feedlots and calling them "organic."

Just when we thought it couldn't get any hotter (or any more mind-
boggling), the "organic" dairy factory farm controversy reached a new
level of intensity over the past week. The USDA announced, to the
disappointment of the organic community, that they were not going to
take further disciplinary measures against Aurora Organic Dairy, a
company that just a few weeks ago had a portion of its organic
certification suspended by the USDA for "willfully" violating National
Organic Standards since 2003 by failing to pasture its animals and by
bringing conventional calves onto its feedlots and then declaring them
organic. But caving in to pressure from Aurora and other big corporate
players in the organic sector , the USDA now says the #1 organic
private label dairy processor in the U.S. can continue selling milk
produced on its factory farms as "organic" to its longstanding
customers including Target, Wal-Mart, Costco, Safeway, and Woodstock
Farms.

In a mind-twisting manipulation of logic, the new acting Secretary of
Agriculture, Chuck Connors, a notorious cheerleader for biotech and
corporate agribusiness, announced last week that this issue, regarding
Aurora's violation of the USDA National Organic Standards, falls
outside the scope of the USDA National Organic Standards. "I know
there is controversy out there on a number of issues that really fall
outside the bounds, if you will, of what constitutes that organic
standard that is necessary in order for the product to have our seal,"
said Connors.
Now that they have the USDA in their pocket, Aurora is threatening to
sue the Organic Consumers Association and Cornucopia Institute for
educating and mobilizing consumers to oppose Aurora's blatant
violations of organic integrity. In related news, the recent issue of
Fortune Magazine reports Aurora's factory farms generated a record 100
million dollars in "organic" dairy sales to consumers this year. In
other words, when it comes to suing the OCA, Aurora has plenty of
money, from selling its cheap "organic" factory farm milk to Wal-Mart,
Target, Costco, and Safeway . So given this David versus Goliath
situation, OCA needs your financial support today, more than ever, to
defend ourselves from this attack by Aurora and to expose the ongoing
negligence of the USDA.