| A video eulogy to the controversial Vander Eyk Dairy, “A Eulogy Written on a Country Pasture,” was released today by Amanda Rose, Ph.D., neighbor of the Vander Eyk Dairy and author of forthcoming "Rebuild from Depression," a book on food nutrients and depression. The video includes images of the confined cows at the Pixley, California, dairy and young heifers on the 10,000 acres of pasture land belonging to the Vander Eyk family.
Video Eulogizes Decertified Organic Dairy A video eulogy to the controversial Vander Eyk Dairy, A Eulogy Written on a Country Pasture, was released on Friday by Amanda Rose, Ph.D., neighbor of the Vander Eyk Dairy and author of forthcoming Rebuild from Depression, a book on food nutrients and depression. The video includes images of the confined cows in the Pixley, California, dairy and young heifers on the 10,000 acres of pasture land belonging to the Vander Eyk family. The images are accompanied by the classical holiday favorite, "Ave Maria."
“The pasture land appears to be empty today,” said Rose.
Organic dairy watchdog organization The Cornucopia Institute reported on Thursday that organic certifier Quality Assurance International removed organic certification from the Vander Eyk Dairy in May.
Article Continues After Illustration
Grazing Holsteins on Vander Eyk dairy property.
“The pastures are usually empty every summer anyway,” says Rose, who has been investigating the location of the Vander Eyk cattle.
Rose noticed the Holstein dairy cattle in the late 1990s in the southern Sierra Nevada foothills of California. “Everyone thought they belonged to an entirely different dairy. It never occurred to us that they were the sole pastured cattle of one of the largest organic dairy herds in the country.”
A 2004 news article about the Vander Eyk Dairy stated that the 10,000 acres helped the dairy meet its pasturing requirements. Cows were trucked to pasture, according to the article.
“I don’t remember seeing a cow on those pasture lands. Certainly none of them were producing milk. Most were young heifers, not yet pregnant or milking. I did see some heifers this winter that were pregnant,” Rose stated.
“On one of the two large parcels that I pass regularly, there probably were fewer than 50 heifers grazing at any time, but the entire acreage was not visible.”
Rose planned a flight over the pasture land to take a census.
The flight will no longer be necessary.
“As a consumer of this milk, I feel cheated. I missed a lot of nutrients over the years. When cows are allowed to graze, their milk contains more depression-fighting Omega-3 fatty acids. The additional conjugated linoleic acid helps with weight loss. I needed those fatty acids!”
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