Milk is by far the most popular organic product, with annual sales of about $1 billion. And that will continue to grow as more and more people decide they don't want to expose themselves and their children to the hormones and antibiotics that cows are routinely given at conventional dairy operations. Recent news reports about large-scale organic dairies and direct farm-to-consumer milk sales, however, have raised questions about where you can go to find the purest, most healthful milk from the most humanely treated cows. Here are the latest developments and the information you need to answer that question for yourself.

Industrial Organic

The standards set by the USDA for certified-organic milk (enacted in 2002) prohibit dairy farmers from treating their cows with recombinant bovine growth hormone (rBGH) and routine preventive doses of antibiotics. The rules also require that the cows have regular access to pasture.

As organic milk sales grew dramatically, watchdog groups, notably the Cornucopia Institute, began questioning whether dairies milking thousands of cows three times a day were actually meeting the pasture requirements. In 2007, the Cornucopia Institute filed a lawsuit against the USDA based on complaints about Dean Foods (owner of Horizon Organic) and Aurora Organic Dairy (which has its own brand and also sells milk to private labels such as Wal-Mart and Costco). Last year, the 3,000-cow Vander Eyk Organic Dairy in California--one of Dean Foods' suppliers--lost its organic certification, the first dairy to receive that penalty. Shortly thereafter, Aurora entered into a Consent Agreement with the USDA, promising to reduce herd size and add pasture to its dairies.

Choosing a brand that pastures its cows is not only in the interest of the cows' health. It's better for you, too. Research has shown that milk from grass-fed cows is higher in beneficial omega-3 fatty acids and conjugated linoleic acid (CLA). Omega-3 fatty acids build brain and heart health. CLA is reported to help with weight loss and it appears to protect against breast cancer.

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