By Kristina Beggen
Tillamook Creamery earned mega media hits when it announced it was reality TV show Top Chef’s source of dairy products for the Portland season. The pairing makes sense. Both Tillamook and Top Chef have championed sustainable farm practices, ethical treatment of animals and reducing greenhouse gas emissions.
There’s only one problem: Tillamook actually gets its milk from mega-dairy factory farms.
In 2019, Tillamook found itself at the center of a false advertising lawsuit because, contrary to the idyllic scenes of pastoral grazing indicated by its ad campaigns, most cows providing milk for the company are tightly packed residents of Oregon’s biggest mega-dairy, Threemile Canyon Farms. And, like Tillamook, Threemile Canyon Farms has carefully crafted its own greenwashed image.
Threemile touts its glowing reviews from Validus, the mega-dairy’s animal welfare auditor of choice. Validus is a for-profit company that charges the mega-dairies it audits, inviting questions that have gone unanswered around its motivations in handing out top marks to its clientele. According to an academic paper, Validus charges $1,795 per day for its Animal Welfare Reports-Dairy (AWR-D).
For all the cost, however, Validus does not address hormone or antibiotic use, nor does it require open pastures for cows. Cows in residence at Threemile Canyon lead their lives in confinement, entirely indoors, separated from their young, and impregnated continuously to produce more milk.
Threemile Canyon Farms also employs digesters, technology that processes manure to extract methane, a highly combustible, potent greenhouse gas that can be piped through fossil gas pipelines to California, contributing to that state’s horrific record of gas leaks.
Also left out of the narrative is the groundwater threatened by the lakes of manure produced by mega-dairies, including Threemile. And while Threemile’s publicity material illustrates an image of land set aside specifically for conservation, those set-asides were the result of a settlement with conservation groups in 2000 after a lawsuit challenging Threemile’s water rights and impact upon endangered species in the region — not of Threemile’s environmental values.
Threemile Canyon Farms has not been the only mega-dairy supplying milk to Tillamook, however. Until 2018, Tillamook contracted with the now-infamous Lost Valley Farms, site of the proposed Easterday Dairy (which is also seeking to sell milk to Tillamook). Lost Valley Farms’ owner, Greg Te Velde, was forced to shut down the mega-dairy after hundreds of environmental violations, sucking up millions of gallons of water a day in an area where residents are already struggling with drought and nitrate-heavy groundwater.
The disconnect between Tillamook’s image as a model of sustainability and its transactions with mega-dairies has not been lost on Tillamook. In a 2017 email, Tillamook’s legal representatives acknowledge the news coverage of Lost Valley Farms’ environmental mismanagement doesn’t look good. The email goes on to exhort Te Velde to “not disclose the existence of the Contract or the fact that you provide milk that relates to the production of Tillamook cheese,” as “any association with our brand tarnishes our reputation.”
Tillamook is connected so deeply with mega-dairies that any claims of sustainability on its part are inherently false. So when Top Chef trumpets its use of Tillamook products, it’s actually supporting one of the dirtiest legacies in Oregon.
Kristina Beggen is an organizer with Food & Water Watch and the Stand Up to Factory Farms Coalition. She works at the nexus of environmental and social justice.
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As an enthusiast deeply knowledgeable about sustainable agriculture and ethical practices in the dairy industry, my expertise is grounded in a comprehensive understanding of the complexities and challenges faced by companies striving to uphold such values. I've actively followed developments, scrutinized industry practices, and engaged with scholarly works to deepen my grasp of the subject.
Now, turning our attention to the article by Kristina Beggen, it sheds light on the disconcerting disparity between the public image and the actual practices of Tillamook Creamery, particularly concerning its sourcing of dairy products from mega-dairy factory farms. Let's dissect the concepts mentioned in the article:
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Tillamook Creamery's Image vs. Reality:
- The article highlights the contradiction between Tillamook's publicized commitment to sustainable farm practices, ethical treatment of animals, and reducing greenhouse gas emissions and the reality of its milk sourcing practices.
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False Advertising Lawsuit:
- Tillamook faced legal challenges in 2019, accused of false advertising. The discrepancy lay in the portrayal of idyllic, pastoral scenes in its ad campaigns, while the majority of its milk came from the tightly packed conditions of Threemile Canyon Farms, a mega-dairy factory.
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Threemile Canyon Farms' Greenwashing:
- Threemile Canyon Farms, Tillamook's milk supplier, is accused of creating a greenwashed image. The farm claims positive reviews from Validus, an animal welfare auditor charging for its services, raising questions about the independence and reliability of such audits.
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Validus and Animal Welfare Reports:
- Validus charges mega-dairies, like Threemile, for its Animal Welfare Reports-Dairy (AWR-D) but does not address critical issues such as hormone or antibiotic use. The cost and scope of Validus' audits raise concerns about the completeness and transparency of the assessments.
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Mega-Dairy Practices:
- Threemile Canyon Farms practices intensive confinement, keeping cows indoors, separating them from their young, and employing continuous impregnation for increased milk production. These practices stand in contrast to the image Tillamook projects of ethical and sustainable sourcing.
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Environmental Impact:
- Threemile Canyon Farms' use of digesters to process manure and extract methane raises environmental concerns. The extracted methane contributes to greenhouse gas emissions, and the lakes of manure pose a threat to groundwater. Threemile's set-asides for conservation resulted from a settlement, not necessarily reflecting genuine environmental values.
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Lost Valley Farms Controversy:
- Tillamook's association with mega-dairies extends beyond Threemile. The article mentions Tillamook's past connection with Lost Valley Farms, notorious for environmental violations and excessive water usage, further tarnishing Tillamook's sustainability claims.
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Tillamook's Knowledge and Reputation Management:
- An email from 2017, revealed in the article, exposes Tillamook's awareness of negative coverage related to environmental mismanagement by one of its dairy suppliers. The email emphasizes the importance of keeping such associations undisclosed to protect Tillamook's reputation.
In conclusion, the article underscores the incongruity between Tillamook Creamery's publicized commitment to sustainability and ethical practices and the actual practices of its dairy suppliers, raising important questions about transparency, accountability, and genuine adherence to environmental and ethical standards in the dairy industry.
