That's what I'd be saying if I were a dairy cow at two of the largest organic dairy companies in the Nation: Horizon Organic (a subsidiary of Dean Foods), which supplies organic milk to Wal-Mart and many natural food stores, and Aurora Organic, which supplies to Costco, Wild Oats and others.

In order for the dairy farms to be certified organic, the cows on organic farms are supposed to be given access to green pastures outdoors in the sun. Apparently, those two organic dairies aren't interested in playing by the rules. And, these guys make up 65% of the organic dairy market. To make matters worse, the USDA and the industry-controlled Organic Trade Association, don't seem to care. Seems as though the fox are guarding the hen houses (and the dairy barns) in every area of our government these days. Geeez.

It gets worse though... These dairies operate more like conventional dairies in other ways too. For example, they both have thousands of cows, and they get calves from conventional farms where they have been weaned on blood (yuck-and these animals are vegetarians by nature), have been fed slaughterhouse waste and genetically engineered grains, and are given antibiotics. These are all "no-no's " for organic dairy farms.

So, what this all means to you and me is that the majority of the "organic" milk products in stores do not meet the criteria to be certified organic. In other words, they're cheating, and we the consumers, are paying higher prices for these substandard products (milk, butter, cheese, yogurt, etc.) If you're like me, you buy organic products because you believe that they adhere to higher standards. You're willing to pay the extra price for cleaner food, free of many of the toxins present in conventional food. Allowing essentially conventional factory farms to call their products certified organic is disgusting.

If you want to speak out, please go to: http://www.organicconsumers.org/nosb2.htm

Also, to find out how the Cornucopia Institute rated the organic dairy your buy from, then check out their survey at: http://www.cornucopia.org/dairysurvey/Ratings_Alphabetical.html