The Rocky Mountain News reports that eight lawsuits have been filed around the country against retailers that include Safeway, Wild Oats, Costco, Wal-Mart and Target, charging them with “alleged fraud, negligence and unjust enrichment from the sale of the milk.”
The suit – which is seeking class action status on behalf of everyone who has ever bought organic milk from the retailers - says that the chains sold organic milk from the Aurora Dairy that wasn’t actually organic.
Most of the companies have not responded to the lawsuits, but both Target and Aurora said that the suits were without merit.
The News writes that “Aurora has five farms… (and) claims that such large facilities are necessary to capture economies of scale that lower prices and spread the ecological benefits of organic farming practices.
“Critics such as Cornucopia counter that Aurora's practices are jeopardizing the livelihood of the very small-scale farmers who started the organic dairy movement and that Aurora simply pays lip service to organic ideals in order to capitalize on the premium prices consumers are willing to pay for organic milk.”
The suit – which is seeking class action status on behalf of everyone who has ever bought organic milk from the retailers - says that the chains sold organic milk from the Aurora Dairy that wasn’t actually organic.
Most of the companies have not responded to the lawsuits, but both Target and Aurora said that the suits were without merit.
The News writes that “Aurora has five farms… (and) claims that such large facilities are necessary to capture economies of scale that lower prices and spread the ecological benefits of organic farming practices.
“Critics such as Cornucopia counter that Aurora's practices are jeopardizing the livelihood of the very small-scale farmers who started the organic dairy movement and that Aurora simply pays lip service to organic ideals in order to capitalize on the premium prices consumers are willing to pay for organic milk.”
- KC's View:
