STAFF REPORTS. Fair Oaks, she said, is no longer in its supply chain. Times staff writers Joseph S. Pete and Anna Ortiz contributed to this report. It is with a heavy heart that I prepare this statement today. The video posts also appear to show drug possession and use by farm employees. Please enter valid email address to continue. "For any case, we need to review each act individually to determine if it meets the states definition of cruelty or abuse," said Denise Derrer, Public Information Director at the Indiana State Board of Animal Health, who is helping with the investigation. Coca-Cola said in a statement that it takes animal welfare seriously and expects "suppliers to operate with the highest degree of integrity and comply with all laws, including animal welfare laws." Fairlife's sales were fast-growing at a time when milk sales have been falling for decades in the United States, and the company just announced in April it planned to build a new $200 million processing plant in Arizona. Fairlifes website states that after ARM exposed Fairlifes cruelty, the dairy company stopped buying milk from Fair Oaks, and established a robust welfare program with their other farms, which Fairlife has put over $8 million into. Get up-to-the-minute news sent straight to your device. On Wednesday it. There was a problem saving your notification. A roundup of crime stories from throughout the Region during the past 24 hours. Offers may be subject to change without notice. Charges have been filed by the Newton County Indiana Sheriff's office for alleged animal cruelty at Fair Oaks Farms. The public on both sides of the controversial video was passionate about what it saw. Authorities have arrested one of three people charged with animal cruelty following the release of video showing workers kicking and throwing young calves at a northwestern Indiana dairy . On June 4, 2019, videos depicting employees abusing calves were released by ARM following an undercover investigation by the animal rights group. Organic dairy farms must also allow their cows to be able to graze outside. Jewel-Osco is also dropping Fairlife from its more than 180 stores, including in Dyer, Chesterton and Munster. Still, a 2021 report from the World Animal Protection and Compassion in World Farming found many food companies are not doing enough to prioritize animal welfare. The brand said it has "significantly strengthened our animal care programs and processes since 2019"through camera monitoring, a third-party animal welfare advisory board and increasing the number of unannounced audits at supplying farms. However, the spokesperson said the USDA is aware of the video and allegations of animal cruelty must be taken seriously. three times as many greenhouse gas emissions. The form however, doesn't specifically define what constitutes abuse. Copyright 2023 Green Matters. Pittsburgh woman missing for 31 years found alive in Puerto Rico, Alex Murdaugh found guilty of murders of wife and son. Other premium brands, including A2, have been a hit with consumers. 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. Offers may be subject to change without notice. Coworkers caught. 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. Family Express CEO and founder Gus Olympidis was honored for his distinguished 44-year career in the convenience store business. A dozen Chicago-area grocers pulled Fairlife from their shelves amid widespread backlash. 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. Topics covered: manufacturing, packaging, new products, R&D, and much more. McCloskey, a retired veterinarian, and his wife Sue often used the word symbiotic to describe their relationship to their cows (which they referred to as their girls). 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. However, this footage was a wake-up call to dairy consumers everywhere. All of the brand's beverages are made using a patented, cold-filtration process where milk molecules are separated by different filters and then recombined in a formula with more favorable macro nutrient ratios. Reaction was fast and furious when the video was released in June 2019. Criminal charges were filed against at least three of the workers. As they considered what may or may not impact their ability to . Dead calves were dumped in mass grave sites by employees, the video shows. Now, as we come up on the two-year anniversary of the Fairlife milk animal abuse controversy, many are wondering exactly what happened at Fair Oaks Farms, why exactly people are boycotting Fairlife, and what they can do to stop animal abuse. A dairy farm in Indiana has come under immense scrutiny after an undercover video released by an animal rights group revealed newborn calves being abused by farm employees. I also take full responsibility to correct and ensure that every employee understands, embraces and practices the core values on which our organization stands. Police also are seeking the name of an individual who may have witnessedthe alleged crimes and failed to report the activity, the sheriff's department said Wednesday. When it entered the national market in 2014, Fairlife quickly garnered a lot of attention for producing a milk with "superior nutrition." It's located in Fair Oaks, Ind., just off I-65, about 109 miles north of Indianapolis and. "This is rare," Couto said. (Mykal McEldowney/IndyStar) "The employees featured in the video exercised a complete and total disregard for the documented training that all employees go through to ensure the comfort, safety and well-being of our animals.". The Animal Recovery Mission recently released the video, which prompted local law enforcement to launch an investigation. Miami-based animal welfare group Animal Recovery Mission released another video documenting animal abuse at Fair Oaks Farms. 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. 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. Was able to make it through 15 seconds of that fairlife video I will never understand how anyone could hurt an animal. Fair Oaks Farms said that people were harassing the business and its staff via phone calls, messages, social media and in person during deliveries. Our world revolves around making sure that our cows are fed well, treated humanely and live in comfortable, stress-free conditions.. In response to the video, local grocery store chain Jewel-Osco said it was removing all Fairlife products that come from Fair Oaks Farms from its stores. In a public statement in 2019,Fair Oaks Farms Chairman Mike McCloskeyacknowledged that four of the people shown committing alleged abuses were Fair Oaks Farms employees, and one person was a third-party truck driver who was transporting calves. Their cows do not receive 'extraordinary care and comfort.' Fortunately, there are endless options when it comes to non-dairy milk, chocolate milk, yogurt, protein shakes, and more. "We will work with the Newton County prosecutors office to file charges for any criminal activity the independent investigation revealed. Alex Murdaugh sentenced to life in prison for murders of wife and son, Biden had cancerous skin lesion removed last month, doctor says, White supremacist and Holocaust denier Nick Fuentes kicked out of CPAC, Tom Sizemore, actor known for "Saving Private Ryan" and "Heat," dies at 61, Biden team readies new advisory panel ahead of expected reelection bid, At least 10 dead after winter storm slams South, Midwest, House Democrats unhappy with White House handling of D.C.'s new criminal code. But premium milk comes at a premium price. 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 . Animal Recovery Mission also alleges supervisors and owners at the farm were aware of the conditions and took part in the abuse. Olivia is the morning cops/breaking news reporter at The Times. 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 boycott Fairlife, a Chicago-based premium milk brand. Keep reading for a refresher on what went down, everything we know about Fairlifes treatment of the cows, and for our guidance on easy ways to protest companies that treat animals unfairly. Fairlife has advertised itself as being high-nutrition, ethically sourced milk, with labels stating that exceptional care was taken "every step of the way," from milking the cows to bottling the final product. fairlife is committed to the humane and compassionate care of animals. Green Matters is a registered trademark. If you were horrified by the actions taken at Fair Oaks Farms, youd probably be horrified if you peaked behind the curtain at any industrial dairy farm or slaughterhouse. Laws vary by state, but many, like Indiana, stipulate that dairy farms undergo a government-led inspection at least twice a year. NEWTON COUNTY One of the three men accused of abusing animals at Fair Oaks Farms is in federal immigration custody, according to police. People have been drinking cow's milk for thousands of years, but the nature of commercial farming has undergone vast changes in the past century. 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. Lawsuits are a part of the regular course of business in today's food and beverage industry. Coworkers caught three of the four employees abusing animals, reported them to management and they were fired before the Animal Recovery Mission video was even released. ", Richard Couto, founder of Animal Recovery Mission, said the footage released on Tuesday was the tip of the iceberg. Then I searched for news on this and was surprised it was from 2019. 219-933-4194, anna.ortiz@nwi.com. Ditching dairy is not only a good move for animal welfare, but also for the environment. Fair Oaks Farms notified Fairlife that they immediately isolated dairy supply from the dairy identified in the video to suspend all sourcing from that location We fully support and respect the proactive approach that Fairlife and Fair Oaks Farms have taken and we continue to stay in contact with them to lend any support they need.". Fairlife Dairy is facing a new lawsuit after employees were seen abusing calves and cows in undercover footage. "I learned about it yesterday," said Richard Couto,Animal Recovery Mission founder. The abuse extends to kicking and beating calves, as well as force-feeding them until they can't breath. But unless a farm is certified organic meaning that farmers must abide by strict legal standards when it comes to the care, breeding and feeding of animals it can be difficult to determine exactly how animals are treated on any property. To add insult to injury, the abuse is rampant even at Fairlifes 'flagship farm in Indiana' that customers are urged to visit on the products labels.". The Dairy Report 061119. 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. FARM mandates that all farm employees who handle animals must complete stockmanship training. (WTHR) The Newton County Sheriff's Office has charged three people in connection with the Fair Oaks Farms animal abuse video. Not to mention, the treatment of cows described by ARMs investigator is, unfortunately, standard practice across the dairy industry. After reviewing the video frame-by-frame, those three employees are responsible for the overwhelming majority of offenses seen in this video. Family Express, the Valparaiso-based chain of convenience stores and gas stations, was named the best convenience store in the state of Indiana. 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. I am and will continue to be deeply involved in the resolution of this matter, down to every one of our employees, so that I can guarantee that these actions never again occur on any of our farms. Parth Raval, the division's chief growth officer, said the CPG giant is exploring different ingredients, packaging formats and flavor offerings to strengthen its dominant presence in the category. Fair Oaks Farms was the worst abuse towards newborn babies that I have ever seen, Couto said Thursday. Caitlin O'Kane is a digital content producer covering trending stories for CBS News and its good news brand, The Uplift. There was a problem saving your notification. From February through April of 2019, an Animal Recovery Mission (ARM) activist got an undercover job milking cows at Fair Oaks Farms, which supplies milk to dairy companies including Fairlife (which is owned by the Coca-Cola Company, and provides milk to Chick-fil-A). It is our position that any companies that come in contact with transportation of our animals, should be well-versed in and adhere to our industry's animal welfare practices which can be found in FARM. With that said, I am disappointed to learn of potential drug use on our properties. As ARM noted, both Fair Oaks Farms and Fairlife have built their brands around animal welfare. Copyright 2023 CBS Interactive Inc. All rights reserved. Now, the Chicago-based company is being sued for fraud since it promoted the extraordinary care and comfort of its cows on product labels and charged twice as much for its milk products. Fair Oaks Farms is a museum, restaurant, gift shop and hotel built around a working dairy farm. The above suit has been transferred to the U.S. Northern District of Illinois courts and the case is ongoing. Is the Government Really Paying Farmers to Destroy Crops and Kill Animals? One of the sugars, lactose, is eradicated completely making it safe to drink for those who are lactose intolerant. Fair Oaks Farms is the largest dairy farm in Indiana with 37,000 cows, TODAY reported. All Rights Reserved. , Webinar Fairlife milk products are available nationwide. As a matter of routine and practice, Fairlifes cows are tortured, kicked, stomped on, body slammed, stabbed with steel rebar, thrown off the side of trucks, dragged through the dirt by their ears and left to die unattended in over 100-degree heat. In addition, Fairlife said they are immediately suspending milk deliveries from the dairy identified in the video. An undercover video provided by Animal Recovery Mission shows workers allegedly abusing animals at Fair Oaks Farms in Newton County. 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. And I watched the video, said Diane Mason, a reader from Melbourne, Florida, who reached out to the Tribune by email Thursday. On June 12, however, new footage was released by Animal Recovery Mission (ARM) purportedly showing Fair Oaks workers punching adult cows, hitting them with metal poles and allegedly breaking the tails of some cows which did not cooperate with employees. When animals fall within our authorities, USDA acts to prevent animal cruelty such as this. And when mother cows can no longer lactate, they are of no value to farms so the only financially viable solution is to send them to slaughter. The fifth person is a truck driver who works for a third party. Fairlife is owned by the Coca-Cola Company, and the corporation responded to the undercover footage by stating that Fairlife immediately stopped sourcing milk from Fair Oaks Farms after the footage was released, and that Fairlife planned to launch an animal welfare advisory council of experts. FAIR OAKS, Ind. As a veterinarian whose life and work is dedicated to the care, comfort and safety of all animals, this has affected me deeply. 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. 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.". But this behavior was all observed nearly three years ago so is it still happening? One person seen in the Animal Recovery Mission video was a third-party truck driver who was transporting calves, he said. However, before ARM released its footage of Fair Oaks, Fairlife had made plenty of claims in regards to animal welfare. Please subscribe to keep reading. Fair Oaks Farms owner Mike McCloskey released this statement to WPTV on Wednesday, calling the workers' actions despicable: "This morning I was made aware of an animal abuse video that. Fairlife is aware of the lawsuit and, in a statement provided to TODAY, said: "We are aware of the lawsuit and are reviewing it. Employees were observed slapping, kicking, punching, pushing, throwing and slamming calves, ARM said in a statement at the time, as per TODAY. And while it sounds good that Fairlife is conducting third-party audits of its farms, Fairlife does not state what happens if its auditors observe abuse at a farm. Fair Oaks Farms was a popular place Since opening as a tourist attraction in 2004, Fair Oaks Farms has been considered the "Disneyland" of dairy farms. The abuse in the dairy industry is systematic., Chicago-area grocers pulled Fairlife from their shelves, A defensive stalwart, Oswego Easts Tyler Jasek surprises Joliet West. Mike McCloskey owns both Fairlife dairy products and Fair Oaks Farms. Unfortunately, the fourth employee's animal abuse was not caught at that same time. According to the USDA, cows raised on organic farms may not be given growth hormones of any type. All Rights Reserved. He said on Friday, ARM will release another video he described as an hour and a half of consistent abuse.. Four employees were fired and a truck driver who worked for a third-party vendor was banned from the farm. The video circulating is from two years ago at one of our former supplying farms, Lisa Lecas, a Fairlife spokeswoman, said in an email Thursday. Mike Withers has returned as president of Jewel-Osco after the last president stepped down after little more than a year in the job. "At Jewel-Osco we strive to maintain high animal welfare standards across all areas of our business and work in partnership with our vendors to ensure those standards are upheld. The venue's $20 all-day pass grants access to the farm's public areas, including a birthing barn complete with stadium seating so visitors can watch calves being born. 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. The suit alleges that this led many consumers to believe they were were paying a premium for that standard of care. Five workers in the video were identified as participating in the alleged abuse. Video taken and posted by an animal rights group shows, among other things, dairy calves being body slammed and hit with various objects, including steel rods and branding irons. According to online federal court records, the next hearing will be a remote status hearing on July 15. To protest dairys exploitation and unfair treatment of cows (as well as the industrys high methane emissions) the first step is to stop buying dairy products. 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. But conventionally raised cows may be given both growth hormones and antibiotics, regardless of whether they are sick. We immediately stopped accepting milk from them after learning about the incident and dont accept milk from them today.. Fairlife has since "discontinued the use of milk from Fair Oaks Farms" in its products. The cases were filed after non-profit animal welfare group Animal Recovery Mission released videos from an undercover investigation of Fair Oaks Farms showing animals being mistreated, which . May 27 2021, Published 1:51 p.m. Get up-to-the-minute news sent straight to your device. Members worked as employees while wearing a hidden camera. FAIR OAKS Mike McCloskey said he wished an animal activist organization that spent nearly six months clandestinely filming the operations of, FAIR OAKS | Fortune 60 company Coca-Cola is partnering with a Northwest Indiana farm, hoping that a reinvented, more nutrient-rich milk can do. "None of them have ever seen anything close to what was depicted on the video, even when performing their duties in the calf areas.". The undercover videos and ARM's animal abuse report on Fair Oaks Farms since had a snowball effect on the company. While Fairlifes investigation went far more viral than any other undercover footage from a dairy farm has, there have been many other videos and documentaries revealing animal cruelty across the dairy industry and animal agriculture industry as a whole. In June 2019, ARM published a video (warning it's brutal) of the investigators most shocking footage, which quickly went viral. I was exhausted., Do Not Sell/Share My Personal Information. First published on June 7, 2019 / 12:36 PM. Of the four who were our employees, three had already been terminated prior to us being made aware months ago of the undercover ARM operation, as they were identified by their co-workers as being abusive of our animals and reported to management. CHICAGO At least eight federal lawsuits have been filed against Fairlife as a result of the alleged animal abuse at Fair Oaks Farms that came to light in early June, and the . While the videos and ensuing lawsuits cast negative attention on the Fairlife brand, it has done little to slow its momentum. Advancements in reproductive technology have led to more calves being born on farms today, and most conventionally raised cows are now fed a diet of grain versus grass. He released a video statement following the backlash from the Animal Recovery Mission revelations. Sign up for our newsletter to keep reading. Get the free daily newsletter read by industry experts. The organization put out a few calls to action to people who were affected by the heartbreaking footage ARM asked people to sign its petition, to ask stores to stop carrying Fairlife, and to leave dairy products off their plates. The undercover video shows various forms of abuse against the calves. "We are currently putting actions into place to ensure that this never happens again. In case you need a refresher, heres a recap of the Fairlife investigation. A factor in our decision was the public response by Fair Oaks, asserting the notion that this was an isolated incident," the company said in a release. 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. I have personally reached out to ARM's founder, Richard Couto, to discuss a more symbiotic relationship but he has yet to reach back. FAIR OAKS, Ind.- Fair Oaks Farms say they will be putting cameras on properties where they have animals. This ARM video shines a light on an area that despite our thorough training, employee on-boarding procedures and overall commitment to animal welfare needs improvement. I am committed to never again have to watch a video of our animals suffering the way that they suffered," McCloskey said June 6, 2019, in a video posted to Fair Oaks Farms' Facebook page. The case was opened following the release of a video by Animal . 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. Indiana State Veterinarian Bret D. Marsh, DVM, has directed BOAH staff to collaborate with local law enforcement regarding any appropriate next steps they may take.. One of those men has since been apprehended and arrested. Warning: the video is very disturbing. Check out our guides to the most eco-friendly non-dairy milks, the best non-dairy milks for baking, pea milk, pistachio milk, and oat milk. We apologize for any inconvenience," spokeswoman Mary Frances Trucco told CBS Chicago in an email. FAIR OAKS The Newton County prosecutor says a witness has corroborated allegations from a suspect that an animal welfare investigator encour. A report from a series of focus groups done by precision fermentation startup Formo, Fordham University and Mercy For Animals released in February showed consumers are very enthusiastic and curious about animal-free dairy, with animal welfare being the reason they most want to consume it. More than a year after an undercover video campaign revealed animal welfare issues at Fair Oaks Farms, experts say there are important lessons to be learned. The company cited Fair Oaks Farms' actions in light of the ARM investigation as well, saying Fair Oaks Farms has commissioned an independent auditor to audit practices at the farm and has also committed to conduct independent, random audits.

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