QUESTION: Would an inexpensive ($30/£25) paperback of
U.S. Organic Dairy Politics: Animals, Pasture, People, and Agribusiness
be useful to you or others?
=> COMMENTS please to: bruce.scholten@btopenworld.com
BELOW are extracts from REVIEWS
The Cornucopia Institute - Opinion/Editorial
http://www.cornucopia.org/2015/01/u-s-organic-dairy-politics-animals-pasture-people-agribusiness/
U.S. Organic Dairy Politics: Animals, Pasture, People and Agribusiness
Palgrave Macmillan, New York, 2014. 291pp. Illustrated hardback $100/£70.
January 13th, 2015 - review by James Goodman
Bruce A. Scholten’s in-depth and thoughtful analysis of U.S. organic dairy politics begins with his
own memories of growing up on a Washington State dairy farm. From what was common in his
childhood, small dairy farms operated by multi-generational
family labor, pasturing their cattle, building the soil and
supporting local communities, Scholten shows the reader how
things have changed over the past five decades.
Scholten exposes the system that has come to control and
victimize the farmer (both conventional and organic), the animals,
the environment and the consumer. Noting that “Get big or get
out” — the exhortation of Earl Butz — set the stage for the shift of
agriculture from small family dairy farms to “mega-dairies,”
Scholten clearly explains how this shift was made using
government policy, driven by corporations that have taken control
of markets, of seeds and even of the simple ethical principles that
had been a safeguard for the environment and the animals with
whom we are so interdependent.
While many farmers saw organic farming as a way to get
out of the increasingly industrialized and globalized food system,
Scholten shows how current policy in Washington is allowing, if
not encouraging, the “industrialization” of organic agriculture. A
parallel system to conventional agriculture, with intentionally weak organic standards and lax
government regulation, is the situation we as organic farmers and consumers face.
But there is resistance and hope, as Scholten notes; there are individuals and populist
advocacy groups fighting to maintain the integrity of organic while ensuring farmers a fair price and
consumers an honest product. Perhaps most of all, there are still farm families who “call their animals
by name and manage their farms like living organisms in rural communities.”
Jim Goodman is a long time certified organic dairy farmer from Wonewoc,
Wisconsin. Mr. Goodman sits on a number of non-profit and cooperative boards and has held
advisory appointments at the USDA.
**
Agriculture and Human Values (forthcoming Sep. 2015)
U.S. Organic Dairy Politics: Animals, Pasture, People, and Agribusiness
Author: Bruce A. Scholten
Palgrave Macmillan, New York, 2014. 312 pp. Hardback $100/£70
Reviewer: Nicole E. Tautges (WSU)
Following the trend of increasing livestock confinement [abridged & bolded] that has occurred
over the past three decades, Bruce Scholten examines the use of grazing and the phenomenon of large
herds, or “megadairies,” in the U.S. organic dairy industry. These topics are explored by following
organic policy debates among federal, organizational, and grassroots stakeholders over the national
organic standards used to govern the management standards signified by the USDA organic certification seal... The book begins with an introduction to organic dairying [in Europe, Britain & USA],
highlighting its inception following a trend that began in the last half of the 20th century of
decreasing dairy farm numbers and farmers, increasing farm and dairy herd size, and the
proliferation of confined animal feeding operations (CAFOs).
Scholten details the progression of what he calls the “Organic Pasture War” in which
various players in the organic industry, including watchdog groups, small dairy farmers, and corporate
megadairies, lobbied the NOSB to include a “pasture rule” in the National Organic Program (NOP)
standards, with smallholders arguing for more stringent pasturing regulations against protestations
from larger dairies. .... Scholten bases much of his argument for pasturing dairy cows on the assertion
that confining cows leads to increased social stress, joint pain, and infections... Scholten claims
that the U.S. is experiencing a “culling crisis,” as yearly culling rates in some states approach 60%,
and overall culling rates in the U.S. are much higher than they were 50 years ago.
The inclusion of anecdotes from dairy farmers themselves grounds a work that focuses in
large part on national players in the federal government and agribusiness who, Scholten notes
throughout the book, formulate top-down policies increasingly without farmer and consumer input.
Direct quotes also convey the impacts on the ground that national policies [e.g. antibiotics, GMOs]
have on the dairy farming community and small family farms...
Especially valuable are the discussions of what constitutes access to pasture on organic dairy
farms, how management decisions impact animal welfare, and how organic megadairies influence
the market in favor of large companies, often at the expense of family farms. Scholten calls for more
attention to be paid by consumers to consolidation in the organic dairy foods sector and for increased
awareness of dairy cow welfare issues, while acknowledging that dairy farmers do care for the wellbeing of their cows.
This book reveals the process through which the national organic standards are drafted and
enacted, and is informative for graduate students, academics, and farmers interested in the
politics and players within the national organic dairy industry.
More info:
http://www.palgrave.com/page/detail/us-organic-dairy-politics-bruce-a-scholten/?K=9781137476289
http://www.amazon.com/s?ie=UTF8&page=1&rh=n%3A283155%2Cp_27%3ABruce%20Scholten
http:durham.academia.edu/BruceScholten
**