Dirty Dozen is an ongoing Organic Nation series that seeks to explain the benefits of certain organic foods and products over their conventional counterparts. To see other recent posts in this series, click here.

There's been a backlash of press against organic milk recently, with a number of articles and columnists arguing that organic and conventional milk are virtually the same, and that only a fool would pay more for organic. It may all look the same, but there's a big difference between how a carton of organic and conventional milk are produced.

Numerous growth hormones, pesticides, dioxins, and antibiotics are used in the production of conventional milk, while none of them are permitted for certified-organic dairy farmers. And not only is organic milk cleaner, but it's healthier too. A recent study from Newcastle University in England found that organic milk contained 67 percent more vitamins, antioxidants, and Omega-3 and Omega-6 fatty acids than conventional milk.

A key requirement of certified-organic dairy farmers is that they don't inject their cows with bovine growth hormone (known variously as BGH, rBGH, rBST, and POSILAC). Monsanto Corp introduced BGH in 1994, because it forces dairy cows to produce 15 to 25 percent more milk. Scientists have known from the outset that BGH contains higher levels of an insulin-like growth factor (IGF-1), which is linked to cancer, but many conventional farmers continue to use the stuff.  

Second, organic cows aren't permitted to be treated with antibiotics (although if they do need antibiotic treatment, they aren't returned to the herd for a full year). Antibiotic use has become more widespread as a consequence of BGH use, which creates unhealthy cows. And the case against such liberal use of antibiotics is both pragmatic (the more antibiotics we use, the less effective they'll be) and environmental (most of it ends up in the waterways).

The USDA Organic Program also requires that cows must have "access to pasture." That sounds somewhat ambiguous, and indeed there's enough wiggle room to enable a number of the big dairy companies to flout the law and implement factory farming techniques under the organic label. But cows were made to graze, and raising them on pasture produces much healthier cows, who in turn produce healthier milk.

When considering what type of milk to buy, I'd argue that the size of the farm producing the milk is just as important as the organic vs. conventional consideration. The organic industry watchdog The Cornucopia Institute has filed several complaints agaist factory farm CAFOs masquerading under the organic label, which is both bad for the environment and undermines the organic program. For a good reference, check out Cornucopia's Dairy Scorecard, and look for a local milk provider.

-Mark

[Photo by Flickr user micamonkey]