The Co-op Food Stores

added 08/27/08

by Helen Brody

Bovine growth hormone (BGH)—also known as bovine somatotropin (bST)—is a protein hormone that occurs naturally in the pituitary gland of cattle. In 1993, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) approved the use of a synthetic version of the hormone, manufactured by Monsanto, to increase milk production in dairy cattle. This genetically engineered product is called recombinant bovine growth hormone, or rBGH.

Consumers, particularly in New England, reacted vehemently against the introduction of rBGH into their food supply and, through the consumption of dairy products, into their bodies and the bodies of their children. Farmers, veterinarians, and animal rights activists expressed concern about the side effects on the cows who would receive daily injections of the artificial hormone.

“Personally, I think rBGH is a bad idea – for cows and people – not least because it enmeshes dairy farmers with Monsanto,” said Marion Nestle, nutritionist and author of Food Politics: How the Food Industry Influences Nutrition and Health.

Reacting to this concern of the public and consumer advocates, fluid milk handlers and processors offered premium payments to dairy farmers who did not use the hormone to increase milk production in their animals. Since the hormone is found naturally in dairy cattle in varying amounts, testing for compliance was impossible. Farmers signed affidavits to attest that their milk was rBGH-free. Organic milk, with its own standards that do not allow rBGH, was never an issue.

Fast-forward to today, summer 2008. The majority of milk processed in New England is rBGH-free in response to the demand of consumers. However, because rBGH is rarely used on New England dairy farms today, the large processors, led by Garelick and its owner, Dean Foods, see less reason to offer premiums to farmers for producing rBGH-free milk. They are beginning to cut their financial support to the dairy farmer, who is already struggling under increased costs for feed, fuel, and utilities.

At the same time, the dairy cooperatives that haul and market the farmers’ milk to the bottlers are considering restricting their pick-ups to only hormone-free milk, rather than segregating rBGH milk in separate trucks. This will force all New England dairy farmers to give up the possibility of increasing milk production through the use of rBGH in order to make ends meet. “Talk to me next month,” says a spokesman for Agri-Mark, one of New England’s largest dairy cooperatives. “Our (current) policy of picking up both rBGH-free and rBGH-added could be totally changed.”

Dairy farmers, fluid milk handlers, and processors agree – they wish the rBGH problem had never arisen, because it just confused consumers about a very safe and highly regulated food product. Again, to quote the Agri-Mark spokesman: “We recognize that rBGH premiums are an important part of a dairy farmer’s income, but frankly, milk production can be increased by better feed, larger stalls, better breeding, and we can give increased premiums for quality above that required by the state and federal governments.”

On Wednesday, August 6, Monsanto announced plans to sell its production of rBGH. The decision comes as more and more retailers respond to consumers who seek dairy products from cows who have not been treated with the hormone. The company denies that consumer demand influenced their decision.

A list of rBGH-free dairy products offered at the Co-op is available at the Service Desk in each store or online.

Helen Brody is author of New Hampshire: From Farm to Kitchen, co-author of Cooking with Fire: Two Hundred Years of Recipes and Foodlore, and a New England writer for newspapers and magazines. She serves on the New Hampshire Agricultural Advisory Board.

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