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Big Organic player's Bites the Dust along with Certifiers

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PORKER

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Giant Organic Livestock Operation Decertified by USDA



Federal Organic Enforcement Hammer Falls Hard to Protect Farmers/Consumers
WASHINGTON, DC: In an investigation and legal case that dragged on for almost four years, one of the largest organic cattle producers in the United States, Promiseland Livestock, LLC, was suspended from organic commerce, along with its owner and key employees, for four years. The penalty was part of an order issued by administrative law judge Peter Davenport in Washington, DC on November 25.

Promiseland, a multimillion dollar operation with facilities in Missouri and Nebraska, including over 13,000 acres of crop land, and managing 22,000 head of beef and dairy cattle, had been accused of multiple improprieties in formal legal complaints, including not feeding organic grain to cattle, selling fraudulent organic feed and "laundering" conventional cattle as organic.

"We are pleased that justice has been served in the Promiseland matter," said Mark A. Kastel, Senior Farm Policy Analyst for the Wisconsin-based Cornucopia Institute. Scrutiny from Cornucopia, one of the industry's most aggressive independent watchdogs, was part of the genesis for the comprehensive USDA investigation and subsequent legal proceedings.

Promiseland became the focus of Cornucopia's investigation into giant factory farms, milking thousands of cows, that were allegedly operating illegally. Promiseland sold thousands of dairy cows to giant factory dairy farms owned by Dean Foods (Horizon Organic), Natural Prairie Dairy in Texas and Aurora Dairy based in Colorado. Aurora and Natural Prairie supply private-label, store-brand milk for Wal-Mart, Costco, Target and major supermarket chains such as HEB, Safeway and Harris Teeter.

"It appears that it was the investigation into improprieties by Aurora that finally led to the hammer coming down on Promiseland," Kastel observed. Aurora operates five dairies in Texas and Colorado and was found by USDA investigators to have "willfully" violated 14 tenets of federal organic regulations in 2007. However, Bush administration officials let the $100 million corporate dairy continue in operation under a one-year probation.

"It's sad that the civil servants at the USDA, who had recommended Aurora be decertified, were overruled," Kastel lamented. "They should have been banned from organic commerce the same way Promiseland, and its owner Tony Zeman, now have been."

Although Cornucopia has praise for the professionalism of law enforcement agents at the USDA, and the career staff at the National Organic Program (NOP), who carried out the Aurora and Promiseland investigations, the farm policy research group has harshly criticized past management at the USDA which allowed Promiseland, and Aurora, to operate illegally for years.

"From formal legal complaints that we filed, Bush Administration officials at the USDA were alerted, starting in January 2005, to the alleged improprieties by massive factory farms masquerading as organic," said Will Fantle, Research Director for The Cornucopia Institute.

Documents secured under the Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) by The Cornucopia Institute indicate that the initial investigation was squashed for political reasons by Dr. Barbara Robinson, who until recently directed the USDA's organic program.
"It is inexcusable that these improprieties took place for so long and that justice was delayed," said Gary Cox, an attorney who represents Cornucopia. "Ethical organic dairy farmers have been placed at a distinct competitive disadvantage and consumers were obviously taken advantage of."

An investigation by the Office of Inspector General at the USDA, focusing in part on the relationship between Robinson and prominent agribusiness lobbyist and lawyer Jay Friedman, was profiled in a July 3 Washington Post story. Friedman, in addition to representing Aurora and Dean Foods, also was the lawyer for Promiseland when they were targeted by the USDA for investigation.
New documents made public have prompted Cornucopia to prepare additional legal complaints asking the USDA to focus attention now on Quality Assurance International (QAI), the certifier for Promiseland when many of the alleged abuses took place.

"This is not the first time QAI has been suspected of incompetence or improperly accommodating corporate agribusiness," said Fantle. The Robinson, Friedman and QAI connection is part of an investigation by the USDA's Inspector General. QAI also certifies portions of Aurora's operation and Dean Foods' corporate-owned industrial dairies.

"However grim it sounds, this investigation and the legal proceeding illustrate that if organic stakeholders are persistent, the system works," Kastel said.
Cornucopia and other organic policy groups have been delighted by what they have called a "decisive shift" that has taken place since Obama administration officials have taken over at the USDA and its organic program.
At a recent industry meeting in Washington, D.C., Miles McEvoy, USDA Deputy Administrator and the new director of the National Organic Program, stated emphatically that we were now entering the "age of enforcement" at the NOP.
"We started asking for new management at the organic program in 2004," said Kastel. "We had suggested that they go outside of the Department to gain the needed expertise from someone who was universally respected by participants in the organic industry. We couldn't have asked for a more qualified candidate than Mr. McEvoy."

In addition to investigating QAI, Cornucopia has formally asked USDA Secretary Tom Vilsack to reopen the Aurora matter, alleging that the consent agreement allowing their probation included illegally favorable provisions. The farm policy group also asked that complaints involving Dean Foods and its Horizon label, which had languished under the Bush administration since early 2005, now also be actively investigated by the new administration.

"We think that organic consumers and the family farmers who have built this industry have good reason to be optimistic and confident that from this point forward, when they see the organic seal on a product, they know that the public servants in Washington share their steadfast desire to maintain the integrity of the organic label," Fantle stated.

MORE:
The USDA's decertification order can be viewed at:

http://www.cornucopia.org/USDA/Promiseland_Judgement.pdf

It appears that QAI, the certifying agent, did not act in the Promiseland matter until they were compelled to do so by USDA investigators, even though court records indicate that QAI had reported they knew of "significant audit trail deficiencies" as early as 2005.

"If I'd been guilty of just one of these 'willful' violations, my farm would've been shut down in a New York minute," said Bruce Drinkman, a farmer from Glenwood City, Wisconsin and board member of the Midwest Organic Dairy Producers Alliance.

"Rumors swirled for years about shady practices by Tony Zeman," said Bill Welsh, long-time Iowa organic livestock producer, Cornucopia board member and former member of the USDA's National Organic Standards Board. "Many of the major players that bought meat and dairy replacement animals knew very well what the allegations were and chose, during a period of time when supply was extremely tight, to look the other way. I'm sure there's some heavy soul-searching going on right now."

At the time the legal action was finally brought against Promiseland, in June 2008, Cornucopia and other industry observers were highly critical that the Bush USDA only asked for a suspension of Promiseland, and its owner Anthony J. Zeman, in lieu of requesting a permanent decertification of the operation. The USDA and the administrative law judge both found Zeman and Promiseland had "willfully" violated federal law.

In addition, the Organic Foods Production Act of 1990 gave the USDA the right to fine operators like Zeman up to $10,000 per incident for willful violations of the law. They could have levied millions of dollars worth of fines but failed to do so.

"Enforcement actions of this nature should serve as a strong deterrent to other industry scofflaws," said Kastel. "We lament the failure of the past administration to aggressively carry out the will of Congress in this regard."

"Like Al Capone, they didn't actually convict Zeman and Promiseland of actually cheating in organics," Kastel said.

Promiseland was found guilty of not allowing USDA investigators to audit and inspect their financial and organic operating records. "The "audit trail" is the backbone of organic certification," said Fantle. "Obviously, they had something to hide!"

Al Capone was not convicted of murder or racketeering but rather of federal tax evasion.

The Cornucopia Institute, a Wisconsin-based nonprofit farm policy research group, is dedicated to the fight for economic justice for the family-scale farming community. Their Organic Integrity Project acts as a corporate and governmental watchdog assuring that no compromises to the credibility of organic farming methods and the food it produces are made in the pursuit of profit. Their web page can be viewed at www.cornucopia.org .
 
PORKER said:
Giant Organic Livestock Operation Decertified by USDA



Federal Organic Enforcement Hammer Falls Hard to Protect Farmers/Consumers
WASHINGTON, DC: In an investigation and legal case that dragged on for almost four years, one of the largest organic cattle producers in the United States, Promiseland Livestock, LLC, was suspended from organic commerce, along with its owner and key employees, for four years. The penalty was part of an order issued by administrative law judge Peter Davenport in Washington, DC on November 25.

Promiseland, a multimillion dollar operation with facilities in Missouri and Nebraska, including over 13,000 acres of crop land, and managing 22,000 head of beef and dairy cattle, had been accused of multiple improprieties in formal legal complaints, including not feeding organic grain to cattle, selling fraudulent organic feed and "laundering" conventional cattle as organic.

"We are pleased that justice has been served in the Promiseland matter," said Mark A. Kastel, Senior Farm Policy Analyst for the Wisconsin-based Cornucopia Institute. Scrutiny from Cornucopia, one of the industry's most aggressive independent watchdogs, was part of the genesis for the comprehensive USDA investigation and subsequent legal proceedings.

Promiseland became the focus of Cornucopia's investigation into giant factory farms, milking thousands of cows, that were allegedly operating illegally. Promiseland sold thousands of dairy cows to giant factory dairy farms owned by Dean Foods (Horizon Organic), Natural Prairie Dairy in Texas and Aurora Dairy based in Colorado. Aurora and Natural Prairie supply private-label, store-brand milk for Wal-Mart, Costco, Target and major supermarket chains such as HEB, Safeway and Harris Teeter.

"It appears that it was the investigation into improprieties by Aurora that finally led to the hammer coming down on Promiseland," Kastel observed. Aurora operates five dairies in Texas and Colorado and was found by USDA investigators to have "willfully" violated 14 tenets of federal organic regulations in 2007. However, Bush administration officials let the $100 million corporate dairy continue in operation under a one-year probation.

"It's sad that the civil servants at the USDA, who had recommended Aurora be decertified, were overruled," Kastel lamented. "They should have been banned from organic commerce the same way Promiseland, and its owner Tony Zeman, now have been."

Although Cornucopia has praise for the professionalism of law enforcement agents at the USDA, and the career staff at the National Organic Program (NOP), who carried out the Aurora and Promiseland investigations, the farm policy research group has harshly criticized past management at the USDA which allowed Promiseland, and Aurora, to operate illegally for years.

"From formal legal complaints that we filed, Bush Administration officials at the USDA were alerted, starting in January 2005, to the alleged improprieties by massive factory farms masquerading as organic," said Will Fantle, Research Director for The Cornucopia Institute.

Documents secured under the Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) by The Cornucopia Institute indicate that the initial investigation was squashed for political reasons by Dr. Barbara Robinson, who until recently directed the USDA's organic program.
"It is inexcusable that these improprieties took place for so long and that justice was delayed," said Gary Cox, an attorney who represents Cornucopia. "Ethical organic dairy farmers have been placed at a distinct competitive disadvantage and consumers were obviously taken advantage of."

An investigation by the Office of Inspector General at the USDA, focusing in part on the relationship between Robinson and prominent agribusiness lobbyist and lawyer Jay Friedman, was profiled in a July 3 Washington Post story. Friedman, in addition to representing Aurora and Dean Foods, also was the lawyer for Promiseland when they were targeted by the USDA for investigation.
New documents made public have prompted Cornucopia to prepare additional legal complaints asking the USDA to focus attention now on Quality Assurance International (QAI), the certifier for Promiseland when many of the alleged abuses took place.

"This is not the first time QAI has been suspected of incompetence or improperly accommodating corporate agribusiness," said Fantle. The Robinson, Friedman and QAI connection is part of an investigation by the USDA's Inspector General. QAI also certifies portions of Aurora's operation and Dean Foods' corporate-owned industrial dairies.

"However grim it sounds, this investigation and the legal proceeding illustrate that if organic stakeholders are persistent, the system works," Kastel said.
Cornucopia and other organic policy groups have been delighted by what they have called a "decisive shift" that has taken place since Obama administration officials have taken over at the USDA and its organic program.
At a recent industry meeting in Washington, D.C., Miles McEvoy, USDA Deputy Administrator and the new director of the National Organic Program, stated emphatically that we were now entering the "age of enforcement" at the NOP.
"We started asking for new management at the organic program in 2004," said Kastel. "We had suggested that they go outside of the Department to gain the needed expertise from someone who was universally respected by participants in the organic industry. We couldn't have asked for a more qualified candidate than Mr. McEvoy."

In addition to investigating QAI, Cornucopia has formally asked USDA Secretary Tom Vilsack to reopen the Aurora matter, alleging that the consent agreement allowing their probation included illegally favorable provisions. The farm policy group also asked that complaints involving Dean Foods and its Horizon label, which had languished under the Bush administration since early 2005, now also be actively investigated by the new administration.

"We think that organic consumers and the family farmers who have built this industry have good reason to be optimistic and confident that from this point forward, when they see the organic seal on a product, they know that the public servants in Washington share their steadfast desire to maintain the integrity of the organic label," Fantle stated.

MORE:
The USDA's decertification order can be viewed at:

http://www.cornucopia.org/USDA/Promiseland_Judgement.pdf

It appears that QAI, the certifying agent, did not act in the Promiseland matter until they were compelled to do so by USDA investigators, even though court records indicate that QAI had reported they knew of "significant audit trail deficiencies" as early as 2005.

"If I'd been guilty of just one of these 'willful' violations, my farm would've been shut down in a New York minute," said Bruce Drinkman, a farmer from Glenwood City, Wisconsin and board member of the Midwest Organic Dairy Producers Alliance.

"Rumors swirled for years about shady practices by Tony Zeman," said Bill Welsh, long-time Iowa organic livestock producer, Cornucopia board member and former member of the USDA's National Organic Standards Board. "Many of the major players that bought meat and dairy replacement animals knew very well what the allegations were and chose, during a period of time when supply was extremely tight, to look the other way. I'm sure there's some heavy soul-searching going on right now."

At the time the legal action was finally brought against Promiseland, in June 2008, Cornucopia and other industry observers were highly critical that the Bush USDA only asked for a suspension of Promiseland, and its owner Anthony J. Zeman, in lieu of requesting a permanent decertification of the operation. The USDA and the administrative law judge both found Zeman and Promiseland had "willfully" violated federal law.

In addition, the Organic Foods Production Act of 1990 gave the USDA the right to fine operators like Zeman up to $10,000 per incident for willful violations of the law. They could have levied millions of dollars worth of fines but failed to do so.

"Enforcement actions of this nature should serve as a strong deterrent to other industry scofflaws," said Kastel. "We lament the failure of the past administration to aggressively carry out the will of Congress in this regard."

"Like Al Capone, they didn't actually convict Zeman and Promiseland of actually cheating in organics," Kastel said.

Promiseland was found guilty of not allowing USDA investigators to audit and inspect their financial and organic operating records. "The "audit trail" is the backbone of organic certification," said Fantle. "Obviously, they had something to hide!"

Al Capone was not convicted of murder or racketeering but rather of federal tax evasion.

The Cornucopia Institute, a Wisconsin-based nonprofit farm policy research group, is dedicated to the fight for economic justice for the family-scale farming community. Their Organic Integrity Project acts as a corporate and governmental watchdog assuring that no compromises to the credibility of organic farming methods and the food it produces are made in the pursuit of profit. Their web page can be viewed at www.cornucopia.org .


The Bush administration and former Sec. of Agriculture Johanns deserve to be sued for not doing their jobs. We have a system of government where government incompetence or inaction leads to huge profits for those influencing the system. It was a system of sell out to the highest bidder. All involved in the chain of command, including Sec. Johanns and Bush should be sued for the damage they did to the standards of these organic producers.

We can not afford to continue to allow politicians to sell out to the highest bidder with no repercussions to those responsible in the government going off and getting elected as Senator when they did such poor jobs in their former government positions. They used those positions to sell to the highest bidder while decreasing value for those who are following the rules. What crooks!!! If we don't hold former politicians or bureaucrats responsible, how can we expect the corruption in our government to change?

The Karzai government in Afghanistan and in Iraq is only a reflection of our own corrupt government in the United States.

We have to hold people responsible for undermining our democracy and its laws for money, greed, and power.

Tex
 
The Cornucopia Inst. guy, Kastel says "We are pleased that justice has been served in the Promiseland matter".

Why would he say that if justice WASN"T served?

While leaders of Organic groups and some individuals want heads to roll over it, placing all blame on the Bush Admin, may have more to do with personal agenda's against relative conservatives and other considerations make it seem more political than not.

Is it not possible that those admin./USDA officials were giving a bus. trying to go 'organic' the benefit of the doubt in their start-up years? Obviously, that is a difficult time in the life of a farm and business, with new rules, many hurdles, and uncertainty among inspectors, officials and others on just how things need to work in the new system???

Have there been any charges files, convictions made agains any officials for the misdeeds of which they are accused here? Other than, in effect saying "they should be hung"?

For an individual to state that "Rumors have swirled about 'shady practices' by Tony Zeman, isn't libelous, because Zeman and Promiseland weren't actually convicted?

It is awfully easy to claim "everyone knows 'so and so' cheats, is disonest" etc. yet no charges ever get filed.

Not really a good way to treat people, is it?

mrj
 
Some folks in the industry don't agree with you Maxine, that these cheaters and frauds that give beef and Ag products a bad name should be coddled and protected....
Jolley thinks its time USDA get some cojones and take these folks out of the industry... I agree....

l Jolley: USA Today Takes USDA Today To The Wood Shed
12/03/2009 07:17AM


I thought a USDA spokesman couldn't say anything more outrageous than Dr. Kenneth Petersen, an assistant administrator with the Food Safety and Inspection Service, who reportedly said the department could mandate testing, but that it needed to consider the impact on companies as well as consumers. "I have to look at the entire industry, not just what is best for public health," was his infamous quote. USA Today proved me painfully wrong.

Let me cut-and-paste a paragraph from their story about food safety and the companies who supply food to our schools: "In response to a USA TODAY request under the Freedom of Information Act submitted in October, the USDA released data from the tests but initially withheld the names of the companies that corresponded with each result. Divulging their identities 'would discourage companies from contracting to supply product for the National School Lunch Program and hamper our ability to provide the safe and nutritious foods to America's school children,' USDA spokesman Bobby Gravitz wrote in an e-mail to USA TODAY."

As proof of the USDA's success in hiding identities, USA TODAY combed through data kept by the Centers of Disease Control and Prevention and identified more than 470 outbreaks of food-borne illness in schools from 1998 through 2007. Those outbreaks sickened at least 23,000 children.

Bobby me boy, your organization's job is to actively and aggressively discourage companies who are known suppliers of tainted goods from 'contracting to supply product for the National School Lunch Program.' Or supplying tainted goods to any part of the American food distribution system. Period.

Discouraging those companies right out of business will, in fact, improve the USDA's ability to provide "safe and nutritious foods to American's school children.' And to everyone else who consumes food made in America.

Unless Ag Secretary Tom Vilsack takes command of his organization, chops off some talking heads and firmly states that the USDA and its little FSIS and AMS sisters are in the business of protecting the public, we'll have to assume the feds have forsaken their basic charge – ensuring the safety of the American food supply.

They seem to think it's better to hide a repeat offender behind curtains instead of placing him behind bars. Better to let a one-time offender become a repeat offender by letting him know that all will be forgiven within 48 hours and no one, other than the few unlucky souls who consume their tainted food, will suffer.

I once worked for a company that had the cojones to walk away from doing business with food companies that didn't meet basic standards of sanitation. They were more than willing to help upgrade processing facilities and just as willing to say "No, thanks," if the processor wasn't capable of cleaning up his act. Not that it was all that noble of a decision; it was based on hard, cold financial reasoning.

The president of the company explained it to me this way: "Some of those companies will go out of business if their products are recalled. The people that got hurt…they'll look for the next guy in line with the deepest pocket…and that will probably be us."

Still, I think he slept better at night knowing he wasn't encouraging the bad guys.

Bottom Line: The USDA must grow a pair. Am I being too blunt? I don't think so. Treating those few bad guys with kid gloves so they can continue to bid on school foodservice contracts endangers the entire food industry. It's already cost the USDA a significant portion of the trust and prestige they once enjoyed with the American public. It's time to bring someone on board who knows how to kick ass and take names.
 
mrj said:
The Cornucopia Inst. guy, Kastel says "We are pleased that justice has been served in the Promiseland matter".

Why would he say that if justice WASN"T served?

While leaders of Organic groups and some individuals want heads to roll over it, placing all blame on the Bush Admin, may have more to do with personal agenda's against relative conservatives and other considerations make it seem more political than not.

Is it not possible that those admin./USDA officials were giving a bus. trying to go 'organic' the benefit of the doubt in their start-up years? Obviously, that is a difficult time in the life of a farm and business, with new rules, many hurdles, and uncertainty among inspectors, officials and others on just how things need to work in the new system???

Have there been any charges files, convictions made agains any officials for the misdeeds of which they are accused here? Other than, in effect saying "they should be hung"?

For an individual to state that "Rumors have swirled about 'shady practices' by Tony Zeman, isn't libelous, because Zeman and Promiseland weren't actually convicted?

It is awfully easy to claim "everyone knows 'so and so' cheats, is disonest" etc. yet no charges ever get filed.

Not really a good way to treat people, is it?

mrj

mrj, under what law would any of these people be prosecuted? There are possible civil actions against people claiming to be organic and selling their products as such at a premium. The critique has been that the Bush Administration was incompetent in its ability to enforce the organic standards. The courts are no way to solve anything in a timely manner, let alone stop actions that damage the market.

I agree that rumors are not proof. It is also apparent that the Bush administration would not enforce the law with real consequences. Letting them off hurt the organic market but I guess the Bush administration had no real effort to enforce the law in this regards.

You can make a lot of excuses if you want for the lack of the executive branch to enforce the laws and standards. I for one am tired of our standards being ignored. I think we should ignore paying bureaucrats their pay as much as they ignore enforcing the law.

Tex
 
The ones in the Bush admin should have to report any and all reports of giving prefered treatment to and company breaking the Organic ,Natural, and Commerical standards ,no matter how trival a law. Look at Joann Waterfield crime list at USDA GISPA.
 
5 Years in Prison for Lying About Organic
November 25th, 2009 -
Gerald "Gerry" Pugliese

Plus a $250,000 fine! That's what a Texas man faces for lying to authorities that his products were organic.

The man, owner of Sel-Cor Bean and Pea in Brownfield, mislead officials by claiming his products were purchased from organic suppliers, but it turns out, they were not certified as organic.

And between 2005 and 2006 his company's food items were marketed and sold as organic.

The owner also falsified documents in an attempt to trick investigators.

He has pleaded guilty and now faces up to five years in prison, and could be fined $250,000. Was it really worth it?
 
PORKER said:
5 Years in Prison for Lying About Organic
November 25th, 2009 -
Gerald "Gerry" Pugliese

Plus a $250,000 fine! That's what a Texas man faces for lying to authorities that his products were organic.

The man, owner of Sel-Cor Bean and Pea in Brownfield, mislead officials by claiming his products were purchased from organic suppliers, but it turns out, they were not certified as organic.

And between 2005 and 2006 his company's food items were marketed and sold as organic.

The owner also falsified documents in an attempt to trick investigators.

He has pleaded guilty and now faces up to five years in prison, and could be fined $250,000. Was it really worth it?


I bet he hid a lot of the assets he got from the fraud. It will be interesting to see what kind of prison sentence he really gets and if the courts will be tough on this kind of crime. Unfortunately there are a lot of other people who need to be in jail with him. I just wish we could go after those assets.
 
burnt said:

Whoa, now there's a blast from the past . . . :???:


He has been thinking since his last post in June of 2007 :shock: I guess he must of forgotten his login password :?
 

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