{"id":3559,"date":"2012-09-10T12:32:05","date_gmt":"2012-09-10T17:32:05","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/realfoodhouston.com\/?p=3559"},"modified":"2013-12-11T12:06:50","modified_gmt":"2013-12-11T18:06:50","slug":"way-back-when-dairy-is-being-forced-out-of-the-houston-market","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/www.realfoodhouston.com\/wp-files\/2012\/09\/10\/way-back-when-dairy-is-being-forced-out-of-the-houston-market\/","title":{"rendered":"Way Back When Dairy is being forced out of the Houston market!"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"Dairy<\/a>Update, December 11, 2013:<\/strong> DFA joins $158.6M milk price fixing settlement<\/a> “Dairy Farmers of America Inc. and related companies have agreed to pay $158.6 million to settle claims that they fixed the price of milk.<\/em>
\n If approved, the settlement would end an antitrust lawsuit filed in 2007 against the Kansas City-based cooperative by Southeast dairy farmers. A trial in the case was set to begin Tuesday in federal court in Tennessee.”<\/em><\/p>\n

I just learned some devastating news for Houston Real Foodists! The HoustonPress is reporting<\/a> that Way Back When Dairy has been told by the Dairy Farmers of America<\/a> (DFA) that it must “market 100 percent of their milk production through the Cooperative, with the exception of milk for home consumption.”\u00a0 It looks like Way Back When will be forced to stop selling their milk to retailers and customers in the Houston area.\u00a0 Let’s look at what’s behind this dilemma:<\/p>\n

Just what is the DFA?<\/strong><\/em><\/p>\n

The Dairy Farmers of America is a cooperative, but it is not<\/strong><\/em> your local dairy farmers getting together and selling their milk.\u00a0 The DFA is BIG DAIRY all the way<\/strong>.\u00a0 The DFA<\/a> includes almost 15,000 members<\/strong> in 48 states and has more than 4,000 employees<\/strong>.\u00a0 It buys the raw milk from its members and sells the milk and milk products to wholesalers. DFA’s 2010 net sales were $9.8 billion, <\/strong>and <\/strong>it controls about 33% percent of the raw milk production<\/strong><\/em> in the US (and the percentage may be understated).\u00a0 Their control is “achieved by coercion … denial of other market opportunities.” It’s important to mention here that the DFA’s control of raw milk is much higher than 33% in some areas, such as the Southeastern US, where it controls almost all of the milk.<\/em>\u00a0 Among better known DFA brands are\u00a0Borden\u00ae Cheese, Cache Valley\u00ae Cheese, Keller\u2019s\u00ae Creamery Butter, Plugr\u00e1\u00ae Butter, Breakstone\u2019s\u00ae Butter, Kemps\u00ae and Guida\u2019s Dairy.<\/p>\n

Alliance between Dean Foods and the Dairy Farmers of America<\/strong><\/em><\/p>\n

To make matters even worse for dairy farmers, Dean Foods<\/a>, a milk processor, and the DFA are allied in a complex system of marketing processes and anti-competitive agreements that ensure high profits for themselves and almost ruinous conditions to the dairy farmers. “Dean Foods controls about 35% of all fluid milk processed in the U.S.” In some parts of the country the control is as high as 80% to 90%<\/em>.\u00a0 Dean brands include Horizon\u00ae, Land O’Lakes\u00ae, Silk\u00ae, Oak Farms\u00ae, Alta Dena\u00ae, Meadow Gold\u00ae, Pet\u00ae, Hygeia\u00ae, as well as Dean’s\u00ae.<\/p>\n

“Thus, in tandem, the nation\u2019s biggest fluid milk processor [Dean Foods] now receives its raw milk supply from a subsidiary of the nation\u2019s largest milk co-op [DFA]\u2014trapping thousands of dairy farmers in DFA\u2019s precarious financial system. And DFA owns half-interest in NDH [National Dairy Holdings]\u2014currently the nation\u2019s second largest fluid processor. Serious questions arise about DFA\u2019s independence, relative to the interests of the processors it supplies with milk \u2026 and in the case of NDH, half-owns.”<\/p>\n

The DFA’s ultimatum<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n

I like the way the HoustonPress article characterizes the DFA ultimatum:<\/p>\n

Why does DFA want so badly to make sure that dairy farmers sell all of their production to them? By making sure the farmers have no other customers, the DFA has the freedom to set prices to whatever they see fit, in this case, $1.62 a gallon<\/strong>. [Emphasis mine]<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

Way Back When Dairy, located in Jacksonville, TX, has been selling farm-fresh low temperature pasteurized, unhomogenized milk to many local Houston restaurants, coffee shops, and markets. Here are just a few of them: Revival Market<\/a>, Underbelly, Greenway Coffee & Tea, Fat Cat Creamery, Southside Espresso, Pearland Coffee Roasters, and Sycamore Grounds.\u00a0 Low-temp pasteurized, unhomogenized milk is the absolute best milk Texans can buy in retail stores, and it is far better than the conventional, highly processed milk and milk products normally bought in stores.\u00a0 Way Back When Dairy also sells certified raw milk<\/a> to Houston customers who want fresh, completely unprocessed milk [the best way to drink milk].\u00a0 Their raw milk price is the best in town at $5.00 a a gallon. (That price tells the story–the DFA only offers its members $1.62 a gallon.) Now it looks like all<\/strong><\/em>, not just part, of Way Back When Dairy milk will be turned into highly processed, nutrient-damaged milk and milk products.\u00a0 What a shame!<\/em><\/p>\n

According to HoustonPress the only way Way Back When Dairy can continue to supply the Houston market is to find a new customer, or customers, that can buy 2,500 gallons of milk per week. Due to the almost complete control the DFA has over the raw milk market, it is probably difficult for Way Back When to find another buyer for its milk. You can contact\/like the dairy on their Facebook page<\/a> and you can follow them on Twitter<\/a>.\u00a0 You can also spread the word about this through your Facebook pages, Twitter, and any other social media you use.<\/p>\n

Footnote about legal action against the DFA<\/strong><\/em><\/p>\n

“A group of Northeast dairy farmers has filed a lawsuit<\/a> against Kansas City-based Dairy Farmers of America<\/a> and Dallas-based Dean Foods Co.<\/a>, charging they fixed prices and monopolized the fluid milk distribution market<\/strong><\/em>. , , ,The dairy farmers charge that DFA, the nation\u2019s largest cooperative, and Dean, the nation\u2019s largest processor, have lowered the price the farmers receive for fluid milk by making DFA and its affiliates the exclusive suppliers of milk to Dean and Hood. The two processors bottle about 90 percent of the fluid milk in the Northeast, which encompasses 11 states and the District of Columbia.” [emphasis mine]\u00a0\u00a0 The farmers have been forced to join the organizations to get access to bottling plants. Apparently, there has been no relief to date for the farmers, since the DFA is still issuing ultimatums to its members.<\/p>\n

Sources<\/strong><\/em><\/p>\n

HoustonPress,Sorry, Houston, No Farm-Fresh Milk for You<\/a>
\nWikipedia, Dairy Farmers of America<\/a>
\nNPR, Independent Farmers Feel Squeezed By Milk Cartel<\/a>
\nDairy farmers sue DFA\/Dean Foods<\/a>
\nPeter L. Hardin, editor\/publisher of The Milkweed, Dairy Farmers of America & Dean Foods (#1 U.S. Farm Milk Marketer + @1 U.S. Milk Processor) Dairy’s Anti-competitive Duo<\/a><\/p>\n

This post is shared on Monday Mania 9\/10\/2012<\/a>, Real Food Wednesday 9\/12\/2012<\/a>, and Freaky Friday 9\/14\/12<\/a>.
\n<\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Update, December 11, 2013: DFA joins $158.6M milk price fixing settlement “Dairy Farmers of America Inc. and related companies have agreed to pay $158.6 million to settle claims that they fixed the price of milk. If approved, the settlement would …<\/span> Continue reading →<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":false,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","enabled":false},"version":2}},"categories":[10,14,16,11,80,172,6,19],"tags":[26,25,61,38,174,24,127,62],"class_list":["post-3559","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-access-to-good-food","category-access-to-real-food","category-food-freedom","category-food-rights","category-health","category-nutrition","category-raw-milk","category-real-food","tag-food-freedom-2","tag-food-rights-2","tag-healthy-foods","tag-local-food","tag-nutrition-2","tag-raw-milk-2","tag-real-food-2","tag-texas-food-laws"],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/p70SEj-Vp","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.realfoodhouston.com\/wp-files\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3559","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.realfoodhouston.com\/wp-files\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.realfoodhouston.com\/wp-files\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.realfoodhouston.com\/wp-files\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/3"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.realfoodhouston.com\/wp-files\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=3559"}],"version-history":[{"count":18,"href":"http:\/\/www.realfoodhouston.com\/wp-files\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3559\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":5122,"href":"http:\/\/www.realfoodhouston.com\/wp-files\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3559\/revisions\/5122"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.realfoodhouston.com\/wp-files\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=3559"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.realfoodhouston.com\/wp-files\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=3559"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.realfoodhouston.com\/wp-files\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=3559"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}