The Failure of Organic & Animal Welfare Certifications

Farm Forward reported the results of its investigation into the welfare abuses of Alexandre Family Farm, a prominent California-based organic dairy operation that holds multiple certifications, including USDA Organic and Certified Humane® – just over a year ago. With extensive documentation, the investigation revealed widespread patterns of animal abuse, neglect, and consumer deception at what was publicly regarded as one of the nation’s leading “ethical” dairy producers. These abuses were not isolated incidents but represented systematic failures affecting more than a thousand animals over multiple years.

Farm Forward’s investigation’s impact was substantial and swift. Following publication, USDA’s National Organic Program finally launched an investigation that substantiated numerous allegations of abuse. The company faced multiple lawsuits, law enforcement investigated, and retailers terminated marketing campaigns, reduced product placements, or cancelled orders entirely. Although Alexandre had publicly maintained that many of Farm Forward’s accusations of wrongdoing were “totally false or fabricated half-truths,” we obtained through a Freedom of Information Act request the results of USDA’s investigation, in which Alexandre admitted to many of the allegations privately to regulators.

Our work exposing the abuses at Alexandre illuminates the legal and regulatory exceptionalism at work in animal agriculture, where actors at every level—federal and state organic agencies, local law enforcement, the state veterinarian, the commercial entities that sourced its products, and nonprofit welfare certifiers privilege industry interests, fail to protect animals, and disempower the public from making more informed, humane purchasing decisions. The net effect of this exceptionalism is an extraordinary level of unchecked humanewashing, where consumers purchase products thinking they represent far better conditions for animals than they actually do. Beyond exposing conditions at a single operation, our investigation’s aftermath illuminates broader systemic failures across multiple oversight mechanisms designed to protect both animals and consumers. This case study demonstrates that animal agriculture operations can and do operate with an impunity that most consumers would find shocking, and a far cry from the level of accountability they would expect for any producer, let alone a USDA Organic, Certified Humane dairy.

This report documents how government regulators, independent certifiers, and “ethical” retailers all failed to monitor, prevent, or adequately respond to documented abuses. These findings reveal how current systems that consumers would expect to hold producers accountable to high standards instead function primarily for the marketing benefit of producers, humanewashing their practices—that is, providing false assurances of ethical treatment to consumers while masking widespread farmed animal suffering.

The report concludes by identifying critical reforms needed to prevent ongoing failures in animal welfare oversight, focusing on three key areas: reforms in government (establishing and enforcing clear, science-based standards, and separating regulatory and promotional mandates); independent certifiers (enforcing standards, eliminating conflicts of interest, and developing alternative models of certification); and retailers (increasing their responsibility for the accuracy of their marketing claims about the ethical standards of their suppliers through a combination of legal, regulatory, and consumer pressure). The conclusion also highlights the need to address perverse incentives in current organic standards and to prioritize transparency and consumer education. These proposed systemic changes are designed to move the industry toward greater accountability and better protection for animals, and to empower consumers with the information they need to make informed choices. While these reforms are actionable and practical, they will also require sustained, cross-sector collaboration.