It didn't come from us.". Times staff writers Joseph S. Pete and Anna Ortiz contributed to this report. "In 2019, when our farmers reported this behavior, we immediately terminated and turned these individuals into the proper authorities to prosecute," the company said in the statement. In response, multiple stores stopped carrying Fairlife products, and numerous consumers boycotted the brand. I have personally reached out to ARM's founder, Richard Couto, to discuss a more symbiotic relationship but he has yet to reach back. "They recognize the seriousness of this situation as their founding principles are grounded in a strong commitment to sustainability, transparency and the highest standards of animal welfare. People all over the world were horrified to see evidence of such unnecessary abuse at the farm. Jewel-Osco is also dropping Fairlife from its more than 180 stores, including in Dyer, Chesterton and Munster. Mike McCloskey, owner of Fair Oaks, released a video Thursday apologizing after an und The animals depicted in this video do not fall within our authority.. McCloskey has since announced changes in operations, including having an animal welfare expert on staff, installing cameras to monitor employees in contact with animals and having frequent, third-party audits performed on the farm. Other premium brands, including A2, have been a hit with consumers. I am disappointed for not being aware of this kind of awful treatment occurring and I take full responsibility for what has happened. During the investigation, initiated in 2018, an ARM undercover investigator captured surveillance evidence of the systematic and horrific animal abuse occurring at Fair Oaks Farm's Dairy Farm Adventures, Indiana, USA. The video posts also appear to show drug possession and use by farm employees. We didn't spur it on but we are glad it happened. No court records were available on the remaining defendants. "I think people are starting to understand that and diving into the dairy issue for their own physical health, animal abuse and environmental impact. Please subscribe to keep reading. "I guarantee you that this will never happen again at Fair Oaks Farms.". FAIR OAKS A second video has been released by undercover animal welfare investigators Friday afternoon, showing what the groups says is "an . FAIR OAKS The Newton County Sheriff's Department has requested the names of former Fair Oaks Farms employees shown abusing young calves inavideo released by an animal rights organizationTuesday, according to a department news release. As explained by the Animal Legal & Historical Center, ag-gag laws were actually first instituted in response to undercover activists, and these laws are the governments way of protecting the meat, dairy, and egg industries (which makes sense, since the U.S. government gives tens of billions of dollars in subsidies to the animal agriculture industry every year). Dead calves were dumped in mass grave sites by employees, the video shows. The undercover video shows various forms of abuse against the calves. Fair Oaks Farms is a museum, restaurant, gift shop and hotel built around a working dairy farm. The farm, which still has a 4.5-star rating on TripAdvisor, welcomes about 500,000 visitors annually. If the Dairy Industry Was a Country, It Would Be One of the World's Biggest Emitters, Report Finds, Milk Sales Drop by More Than $1 Billion as Plant-Based Alternatives Take Off. So, in this instance our policy of cow care training "see something, say something" worked. Approximately 98% of the country's milk supply is represented through the National Dairy Farmers Assuring Responsible Management (FARM), a program that sets animal care standards for participating farms. Footage shows Fair Oaks Farms workers dragging calves by their ears, throwing them into small plastic enclosures and hitting them with milk bottles. In June 2019, undercover footage of appalling animal abuse at a dairy farm that supplied milk to Fairlife went viral, prompting many customers to boycott the ultrafiltered milk company that had claimed to care about animal welfare. Time passed, and the product found its way back onto store shelves. Fairlife was launched in 2012 as a partnership between Coca-Cola, which distributes its products, and the Select Milk Producers, a co-op of dairy farms that includes Fair Oaks. | 11 a.m. The controversy surrounding Fair Oaks Farms led to a flurry of social media comments, statements and responses as fallout from an undercover video showing animal cruelty at the popular Indiana . Lawsuits are a part of the regular course of business in today's food and beverage industry. Reaction was fast and furious when the video was released in June 2019. Since opening as a tourist attraction in 2004, Fair Oaks Farms has been considered the "Disneyland" of dairy farms. The fifth person is a truck driver who works for a third party. As we shared last week, we are taking immediate actions to ensure our high standards of animal welfare are being executed at each of our supplying farms.". Nearly 50,000 people read a 2-year-old Chicago Tribune story on the alleged animal abuse at Fair Oaks over two days. Copyright 2023 CBS Interactive Inc. All rights reserved. NEWTON COUNTY One of the three men accused of abusing animals at Fair Oaks Farms is in federal immigration custody, according to police. Though videos showing animal abuse across different types of farms are not new, the initial Fair Oaks video release sparked a substantial outcry due to the company's history of promoting its own sustainable farming practices and animal welfare. Copyright 2023 Green Matters. It is heartwarming as investigators to see reemerging interest. Sign up for our newsletter to keep reading. The result is a milk with more protein and calcium, and less fat and sugar, than conventional milk. The public on both sides of the controversial video was passionate about what it saw. The Newton . Calves were stabbed and beaten with steel rebars, hit in the mouth and face with hard plastic milking bottles, kneed in the spine, burned in the face with hot branding irons, subjected to extreme temperatures, provided with improper nutrition, and denied medical attention.". Not to mention, the treatment of cows described by ARMs investigator is, unfortunately, standard practice across the dairy industry. The actions depicted on the Animal Recovery Mission video are unacceptable, a USDA spokesperson said. One cup of Fairlife 2% milk has 120 calories, 6 grams of sugar, 4.5 grams of fat, 13 grams of protein and 40% of the daily recommended amount of calcium. Temperature readings show it was more than 100 degrees inside their hutches. Northwest Indiana companies and construction professionals can learn about the latest developments with gas hazards and gas detection technolo, A former social worker turned entrepreneur developed a vegan, plant-based icing that will be available at Strack & Van Til supermarkets in, The Coca-Cola Company and Fair Oaks owners Mike and Sue McCloskey are named as co-defendants in the suits, which are being consolidated into a. So even though Fairlife claims to be making efforts to improve animal welfare and sustainability at its supplier farms, there is no way for consumers to truly monitor it; plus, exploitation of the cows reproductive system and eventual slaughter are both unavoidable in the dairy industry. #DitchDairy #ChooseCompassion @WorldAnimalNews @Peace_4_Animals pic.twitter.com/NVtZVb4Jfb. "Weve always known that the better you treat an animal, the happier and more productive she is," Fair Oaks Farms founder and owner Mike McCloskey said in a 2015 article. We have taken vigilant, unwavering steps to actively monitor all human-animal interaction 24 hours a day by installing cameras throughout our farms, and bolstered these efforts with hiring an on-site animal welfare expert and conducting regular third-party audits to confirm our monitoring practices, to ensure we havent overlooked anything, Fairs Oaks said in an emailed statement Thursday. Individuals across the country have been recently resharing the videos, calling for a boycott on Fair Oaks Farms and Fairlife products. The alleged abuse dates back to August 2018, when Animal Recovery Mission, a nonprofit animal welfare group based in Miami, planted an investigator as an undercover calf care employee at the Indiana farm. The farm is located about 75 miles southeast of Chicago. The product delivery arm of Fair Oaks Farms, Fresh Delivery, is suspending service for a week "to stand with the farm and for the safety of th, FAIR OAKS The Newton County Sheriff's Office has identified three of the men accused of abusing young calves at Fair Oaks Farms, according t, Police are looking for a suspicious man who reportedly approached children at Griffith's Central Park Monday, calling one to come to him and a, FAIR OAKS One of the men accused of abusing animals at Fair Oaks Farms was arrested Wednesday, while the other two are still being sought by. It's a major reason why Coca-Cola acquired the remainder of Fairlife. But unlike the retailers, it plans to stick with Fairlife. He said some people have recently reached out to him asking if they can feel better about purchasing products from the company since the announcement from McCloskey about changes instated for animal welfare. The truck driver, who was responsible for picking up the calves, will not be allowed on Fair Oaks Farms again. "We have been in contact with Fairlife about this situation and have full confidence in their management team to urgently address this issue with Fair Oaks Farms, which is a third-party supplier to Fairlife," Coca-Cola said in a statement. Animal Welfare Experts | Video Update | Fair Oaks Farms Animal Welfare Animal Welfare Experts Video Update Share Both of our Animal Welfare Experts continue to evaluate our existing training programs, our on-boarding process for hiring new employees and the continuous education of employees. A man accused of abusing calves on the large northwestern Indiana farm has been sentenced to a year of probation after a felony charge was dropped. Shot in 2018 by an undercover activist group investigator at Fair Oaks Farms, then the massive flagship dairy of Fairlife, the four-minute video depicts workers throwing, dragging, kicking and hitting newborn calves. A 64-ounce jug of Market Pantry (Target's brand) milk is $2.39. Subscribe to Food Dive for top news, trends & analysis, The free newsletter covering the top industry headlines, OCHO Candy Launches New Plant-Based Caramel Line, Pregis Performance Flexibles Facilities Are ISCC PLUS Certified, METER Group Food Scientists to Present New Research on Powdered Foods, By signing up to receive our newsletter, you agree to our, By People are starting to do their own homework on this. They are both owned by Mike McCloskey. tens of billions of dollars in subsidies to the animal agriculture industry, standard practice across the dairy industry. Family Express CEO and founder Gus Olympidis was honored for his distinguished 44-year career in the convenience store business. He can shoot it., Justin Steele and 6 Chicago Cubs relievers combine for the 1st spring training no-hitter in franchise history, Leah Palmer experiences grand time as Geneva grinds out victory in Class 4A third-place game. Of the five, four were our employees and one was a 3rd party truck driver who was picking up calves. The undercover videos and ARM's animal abuse report on Fair Oaks Farms since had a snowball effect on the company. Fairlife also hired a vet as its Director of Animal Welfare and Sustainable Farming in January 2020, and the company claims to now conduct third-party audits of its farms. In June 2019, ARM published a video (warning it's brutal) of the investigators most shocking footage, which quickly went viral. Copyright 2023 Green Matters. However, this footage was a wake-up call to dairy consumers everywhere. The parties, which include Select Milk Producers, Fair Oaks Farms and Mike and Sue McCloskey (the owners of Fair Oaks and founders of Fairlife), also agreed to take additional steps to implement animal welfare oversight, according to the filing. Offers may be subject to change without notice. Our focus remains on looking forward and making progress in the actions weve outline to enhance training and education for our employees, and ensuring the highest standards of care and welfare for our animals. Fairlife's 2021 stewardship report said it spent more than $8 million on supporting animal welfare standards at its suppliers and exploring new methods and technologies to improve animal care.. Topics covered: R&D, flavor trends, health & nutrition, scientific discoveries, new ingredients, and much more. Here's a look at the top 5 trending stories on nwi.com yesterday. Animal Recovery Mission also alleges supervisors and owners at the farm were aware of the conditions and took part in the abuse. All Rights Reserved. For female cows to produce milk for farmers to take, farmers must first artificially inseminate the cows; once a baby is born, farmers must separate mother and calf, otherwise the calf would nurse from his or her mother. "With recent events involving Fair Oaks Farms, Strack & Van Til will be removing all Fair Oaks and related products until further notice," he said. FAIR OAKS, Ind. Fair Oaks Farms is the flagship farm for Fairlife, a national brand of higher protein, higher calcium and lower fat milk that's produced at a network of dairy farms and distributed by Coca-Cola. Sign up for our newsletter to keep reading. One person seen in the Animal Recovery Mission video was a third-party truck driver who was transporting calves, he said. On Monday, the Newton County Sheriff's Office announced that three people have been charged with animal cruelty. Gardozo-Vasquez - one of three former Fair Oaks Farms workers charged in connection to scenes of abuse that set off national protests and boycotts of Indiana's largest dairy - had also been. It is with a heavy heart that I prepare this statement today. Critics of dairy operations, such as Mercy for Animals, PETA and The Humane Society of the U.S., maintain . In the wake of two videos being released showing animals being abused at Fair Oaks Farms in Indiana, Fairlife Dairy has issued multiple apologies following the controversy. Fair Oaks Farms representatives said Saturday no other incidents have happened since the videos were released in 2019. "The response is similar to when we first published the footage on a smaller scale, with the outrage in general. Most of the footage for this video was captured on one of the dairies that belongs to Fair Oaks Farms. The group released the video documenting the alleged animal abuse nearly a year later. fairlife is committed to the humane and compassionate care of animals. Months ago, when I first learned of the undercover activity, I requested a 3rd party review and we went through a re-training process throughout the dairies. While the videos and ensuing lawsuits cast negative attention on the Fairlife brand, it has done little to slow its momentum. You can read more about the audits that Fairlife pledged to take on the brands website; however, the brand did claim to already have governance measures in place before the investigation, so many customers may find it difficult to trust these new procedures. When reached by TODAY via email, a Fair Oaks Farms representative provided the following statement: "This is the same video that was released and covered last week, which includes footage that took place several months ago. Farmers and ranchers . NEWTON COUNTY One of the three men accused of abusing animals at Fair Oaks Farms is in federal immigration custody, according to police. There was a problem saving your notification. In the wake of the first video being released, retailers including Jewel-Osco, Tonys Fresh Market, Casey's and Family Express have stopped selling Fairlife products. As to the individual who worked for the transportation company, today, we will notify the company that he works for and he will not be allowed on our farms again. Slashing Methane Emissions by 45 Percent Is Crucial to Avoid Climate Catastrophe and Easy, Says UN Report. One of those men has since been apprehended and arrested. We anticipate cooperation from both parties in this matter during this investigation.". "We are currently putting actions into place to ensure that this never happens again. "We acknowledge the need for humane treatment of animals and the need to hold individuals that have gone beyond an acceptable farm management practice accountable for their actions," says a release from the department. But the most powerful move came from the midwestern grocery stores who actually stopped selling Fairlife products including Jewel-Osco, Tonys Fresh, Casey's, and Family Express, according to TODAY. Founded in 2012, the ultra-filtered dairy brand announced earlier this year it surpassed $1 billion in annual retail sales. Members worked as employees while wearing a hidden camera. On Wednesday it. Calumet City mayor taken to hospital after 4-vehicle crash, Hoosier lawmakers considered making it a crime to record agricultural operations, State leaders decline comment on Fair Oaks, Woman dragged girl from playground, threw her to ground when mother intervened, police say, Region crime roundup: Uber driver helped cops nab suspect in shooting over pound of stolen pot, police say, UPDATE: Fair Oaks Farms owner unaware of calves being sold to veal market, cites lack of communication, according to new statement, 5 important stories you need to know from yesterday: Criminal probe launched into Fair Oaks Farms employees, companies pull products, New video alleges Fair Oaks Farms management aware of animal abuse by employees, ICYMI: Here are the most-read stories from the past week, Fair Oaks Fresh Delivery suspends service for a week, founder says, UPDATE: Police identify men accused of abusing calves at Fair Oaks Farms, Suspicious man addresses children at Griffith's Central Park, asks girl if she needs a ride, UPDATE: One arrested in Fair Oaks Farms investigation; owners sued, accused of fraud in lawsuit, Fair Oaks Farms hit by another lawsuit over animal cruelty videos, Animal welfare group calls claims of investigators encouraging abuse at Fair Oaks Farms 'incredibly false', Ford hiring 450 more, investing $50 million more at Chicago Assembly Plant, Man accused of abuse at Fair Oaks Farms in ICE custody, police say, Video shows calves being body slammed, smacked with objects at Fair Oaks Farms, Evaluators: Fair Oaks Farms operating within industry standards; audit called for after alleged undercover videos, Audit of Fair Oaks Farms following clandestine filming likely to be completed early next week, Animal activist organization infiltrates Fair Oaks Farms, company says, Fair Oaks Farms reinvents milk with new product, Family Express founder Gus Olympidis wins lifetime achievement award, Family Express named best local convenience store in Indiana, Northwest Indiana Business RoundTable to offer gas hazard training, Local entrepreneur lands deal to sell plant-based vegan icing at Strack & Van Til, Plaintiffs suing Fairlife seek class-action status for alleged animal abuse at Fair Oaks Farms, Familiar face returns as Jewel-Osco president, COVID-19, fallout from animal abuse charges lead to departure of 3 executives at Fair Oaks Farms, document says, Man reports being robbed of guns and cash in Chesterton park, police say, Residents forces to flee amid uptick in violence in DR Congo due to M23 rebels, Spectators react after Alex Murdaugh gets life in prison for double murder, Prominent Cambodian opposition figure sentenced to 27 years for treason, Burkina Faso's capital hosts the 28th edition of Fespaco film Festival. He said sometimes videos from former investigations will resurface years later but the scope of this reemergence is fairly significant. "This is rare," Couto said. Those poor calves #boycottfairlife. Fairlife is aware of the lawsuit and, in a statement provided to TODAY, said: "We are aware of the lawsuit and are reviewing it. The controversy led to businesses dropping Fairlife products, including Stack & Van Til, Jewel-Osco and Tonys Fresh Market. Couto's Miami-based Animal Recovery Mission released video last week showing calves at Fair Oaks being thrown into their huts, hit and kicked in the head, dragged by the ears and burned with . Coca-Cola and other parties agreed to pay $21 million to settle lawsuits for falsely advertising their Fairlife ultra-filtered milk came from humanely treated cows. The impact of coronavirus and circumstances arising from 2019 have led to the termination of three major executive positions at Fair Oaks Farm. The Newton County prosecutors office charged three men accused of abusing young calves at Fair Oaks Farms: Santiago Ruvalcaba Contreros, 31; Edgar Gardozo Vazquez, 36; and Miguel Angel Navarro Serrano, 38. Warning: the video is very disturbing. As a result, cows today produce up to 7 times more milk than their predecessors. There is also footage of calves left in. Though the newly released footage was taken last year by the same undercover agent who took video showing the farm's calves being abused, its release has trigged a new wave of protests as the brand continues to do damage control. three times as many greenhouse gas emissions. Sour Milk. The form however, doesn't specifically define what constitutes abuse. None of Fairlife's farms are certified organic but shortly after the company (which was founded by a veterinarian) was formed in partnership with the Coca-Cola Company in 2012, it frequently advertised itself as spoiling its cows and adhering to a higher standard of animal care through sustainable farming practices. , Webinar Our world revolves around making sure that our cows are fed well, treated humanely and live in comfortable, stress-free conditions.. FAIR OAKS The Newton County Sheriff's Department has requested the names of former Fair Oaks Farms employees shown abusing young calves in a video released by an animal rights. As the larger dairy milk category has struggled, premium offerings have largely been a promising growth story. May 28, 2021 at 9:40 am A 2-year-old video of alleged animal abuse at a northwest Indiana dairy farm has gone viral again, generating a new wave of social media outrage and renewed calls to. Fairlife has invested more than $8 million over the past two years into animal welfare programs and oversight at its supplying farms, Lecas said. 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Plaintiffs in the lawsuit allege that these qualities justified premium prices for the product, which they said they bought the products solely because of the guarantee for "extraordinary animal care. Please feel free to contact me if you have any comments or questions. They also announced the farm's plans to install video surveillance on the property. Consumer fraud lawsuits were filed across the country against Fairlife and later consolidated in Chicago federal court. Olivia is the morning cops/breaking news reporter at The Times.