{"id":4944,"date":"2024-04-11T14:54:14","date_gmt":"2024-04-11T18:54:14","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.farmforward.com\/?p=4944"},"modified":"2026-04-10T13:21:00","modified_gmt":"2026-04-10T17:21:00","slug":"timeline-of-alexandre-dairy-investigation","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.farmforward.com\/news\/timeline-of-alexandre-dairy-investigation\/","title":{"rendered":"Timeline of Alexandre Dairy Investigation"},"content":{"rendered":"\t<section class=\"normal_content bg-white padding-top-small padding-bottom-large\" style=\"\">\n\t\t<div class=\"container\">\n\t\t\t<div class=\"row center-md\">\n\t\t\t\t<div class=\"col-md-7\">\n\t\t\t\t\t<div class=\"content-styled\"><p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">March 2026:<\/span><\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>Alexandre is now using the &#8220;<a href=\"https:\/\/www.farmforward.com\/label-guide\/\">American Humane Certified<\/a>&#8221; mark. With its impressive name, most shoppers can&#8217;t distinguish American Humane Certified from more meaningful certifications, but is a far weaker, industry-run certification indicating little if any benefit for farmed animals over standard industrial agricultural practices. The largest companies certified by American Humane Certified are two conventional factory farm corporations, Butterball and Foster Farms.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">January 2026:<\/span><\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>After breaking ties with Humane Farm Animal Care and <a href=\"https:\/\/www.farmforward.com\/news\/when-transparency-wins\/\">losing its Certified Humane status<\/a>, Alexandre stops using the Certified Humane label on its packaging and website, and Humane Farm Animal Care no longer includes Alexandre on its list of &#8220;<a href=\"https:\/\/certifiedhumane.org\/whos-certified-2\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Producers who are Certified Humane.<\/a>&#8220;<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">December 2025:\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<div>\n<ul>\n<li dir=\"ltr\">U.S. Secretary of Health and Human Services Robert F. Kennedy, Jr. and U.S. Secretary of Agriculture Brooke Rollins introduce <a href=\"https:\/\/www.farmforward.com\/news\/when-transparency-wins\/\">Blake Alexandre as the face of a new $700 million Regenerative Pilot Program<\/a> to shift U.S. farms to agricultural practices like those Alexandre purports to embody. This gives Mr. Alexandre a national platform to claim that Alexandre is &#8220;making our planet a better place \u2026 literally doing the right thing.\u201d Notably, Administration&#8217;s public affirmation of Alexandre as a regenerative leader follows Alexandre&#8217;s loss of its Regenerative Organic Certified status the prior month.<\/li>\n<li>A local rancher files a civil rights complaint in federal court against the Humboldt County DA and Sheriff. The rancher&#8217;s suit alleges that following Farm Forward&#8217;s <span style=\"text-decoration: underline;\"><a href=\"https:\/\/www.farmforward.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/04\/To-Sheriff-Honsal-re-Alexandre-Family-Farm.pdf\"><strong>cruelty complaint<\/strong> <strong>to<\/strong> <strong>the sheriff<\/strong><\/a>,<\/span> the sheriff&#8217;s office did not investigate any of the hundreds of videos and photographs of Alexandre cattle that we provided it. The suit notes that the conclusion of the sheriff&#8217;s &#8220;perfunctory&#8221; investigation\u2014that our allegations were &#8220;unfounded&#8221;\u2014flies in the face of a USDA document Farm\u00a0Forward subsequently obtained through the Freedom of Information Act, which revealed that\u00a0<strong><span style=\"text-decoration: underline;\"><a href=\"https:\/\/www.farmforward.com\/news\/usda-confirms-animal-abuse-and-cruelty-at-alexandre-family-farm-dairy-now-admits-wrongdoing-legal-case-moves-forward\/\">Alexandre admitted to federal investigators<\/a><\/span><\/strong>\u00a0it indeed committed many of the animal\u00a0abuses and organic standards violations we reported.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/div>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">November 2025:<\/span><\/p>\n<ul>\n<li><a href=\"https:\/\/www.farmforward.com\/news\/when-transparency-wins\/\">Alexandre Dairy surrenders its Regenerative Organic Certified certification<\/a>, its most meaningful certification concerned with animal welfare and environmental stewardship. Yet, even five months later the Alexandre website continues to misleadingly boast that &#8220;Alexandre Family Farm <strong>is<\/strong> the first dairy farm in the United States to be <a href=\"https:\/\/alexandrefamilyfarm.com\/pages\/what-makes-our-products-better\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">certified Regenerative O<\/a><a href=\"https:\/\/alexandrefamilyfarm.com\/pages\/what-makes-our-products-better\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">rganic<\/a>&#8221; [emphasis added].<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">October 2025:\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<ul>\n<li><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Organic industry watchdog The Cornucopia Institute downgrades Alexandre Family Farm EcoDairy\u2019s rating from 5 out of 5, or \u201cTop-Rated,\u201d to <\/span><a href=\"https:\/\/www.cornucopia.org\/scorecard\/dairy\/alexandre-family-farm-ecodairy\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"><strong>1 out of 5, \u201cPoor.\u201d<\/strong><\/span><\/a><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> Cornucopia had suspended Alexandre in June, 2024, after their analysis of Farm Forward\u2019s investigation. Concluding its own independent investigation this month, Cornucopia revised its \u201cOrganic Dairy Scorecard\u201d\u2014which provides the numbers behind its ratings\u2014 to show that Alexandre currently scores an atrocious <\/span><strong><a href=\"https:\/\/www.cornucopia.org\/scorecard\/dairy\/alexandre-family-farm-ecodairy\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\"><span style=\"text-decoration: underline;\">150 out of a possible 1,100<\/span><\/a><\/strong><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">. Cornucopia now has Alexandre Dairy \u201cunder increased scrutiny \u2026 due to confirmed events on their supplier farms that Cornucopia considers <a href=\"https:\/\/www.cornucopia.org\/scorecard\/dairy\/alexandre-family-farm-ecodairy\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\"><span style=\"text-decoration: underline;\"><strong>animal abuse and neglect<\/strong>\u00a0<\/span><\/a>&#8230;.\u201d <\/span><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Cornucopia&#8217;s website now also <span style=\"text-decoration: underline;\"><strong><a href=\"https:\/\/www.cornucopia.org\/alexandre-family-farm-brand-information\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">reports<\/a> <\/strong><\/span>Farm Forward\u2019s investigation, the resulting NOP investigation of Alexandre (which substantiated animal abuse and neglect), Alexandre\u2019s certifier CCOF issuing Alexandre a Combined Notice of Noncompliance and Proposed Suspension, and the two lawsuits currently in motion against Alexandre.<\/span><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">September 2025:\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<ul>\n<li><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">USDA\u2019s <strong><a href=\"https:\/\/organiceye.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/09\/AFF-NOP_complaint_SEP2025-1.pdf\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\"><span style=\"text-decoration: underline;\">National Organic Program<\/span><\/a><\/strong> and its <span style=\"text-decoration: underline;\"><strong><a href=\"https:\/\/organiceye.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/09\/AFF-OIG_request_SEP2025.pdf\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Office of the Inspector General<\/a> <\/strong><\/span>receive complaints against Alexandre and its certifier, CCOF, from Organic industry watchdog OrganicEye. The complaints detail allegations that \u201cthrough numerous actions and inactions,\u201d Alexandre and CCOF \u201cfailed to enforce the intent and letter of the [Organic Foods Production Act of 1990] regarding the management, health, and welfare of dairy cattle.\u201d Grounded in Farm Forward\u2019s <\/span><span style=\"text-decoration: underline;\"><strong><a href=\"https:\/\/www.farmforward.com\/publications\/dairy-deception-corruption-and-consumer-fraud\/\">April 2024<\/a><\/strong><\/span><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> and <\/span><a href=\"https:\/\/www.farmforward.com\/publications\/the-failure-of-organic-animal-welfare-certifications\/\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"><strong>August 2025<\/strong><\/span><\/a><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> case studies of Alexandre, OrganicEye\u2019s complaints also contain new allegations, including multiple violations of Organic standards, and certifier visits concluding in a private home with \u201ca social environment\u201d and \u201cinappropriate camaraderie between those doing the inspections \u2026 and those under scrutiny.\u201d <\/span><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p>August 2025:<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Farm Forward publishes its second case study of Alexandre, a follow-up report to <\/span><em><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Dairy Deception<\/span><\/em><i><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">. <\/span><\/i><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">After noting some impacts of our previous report (<\/span><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">lawsuits, law enforcement investigations, Alexandre\u2019s loss of retail partnerships), it exposes deeper systemic failures. Regulators, certifiers, and retailers routinely prioritize industry interests over transparency and animal protection, perpetuating consumer humanewashing. Specific, urgent reforms in government oversight, independent certification, and retail accountability would ensure meaningful protection for animals and to restore public trust in higher welfare food labeling. The report is<\/span><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> available <\/span><a href=\"https:\/\/www.farmforward.com\/publications\/the-failure-of-organic-animal-welfare-certifications\/\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"><strong>here<\/strong><\/span><\/a><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">. <\/span><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">May 2025:<\/span><\/p>\n<ul>\n<li><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">USDA provides Farm Forward with <\/span><strong><a href=\"https:\/\/www.farmforward.com\/news\/usda-confirms-animal-abuse-and-cruelty-at-alexandre-family-farm-dairy-now-admits-wrongdoing-legal-case-moves-forward\/\">Alexandre\u2019s explicit admissions of wrongdoing<\/a><\/strong><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">, and the agency\u2019s confirmation of many of our allegations, including Alexandre\u2019s egregious violations of organic and animal welfare standards. Farm Forward\u2019s federal complaint more than a year earlier led to these findings, which USDA seemingly kept hidden from everyone except Alexandre and its certifiers until the agency was forced to <\/span><strong><a href=\"https:\/\/www.farmforward.com\/news\/usda-confirms-animal-abuse-and-cruelty-at-alexandre-family-farm-dairy-now-admits-wrongdoing-legal-case-moves-forward\/\">respond<\/a><\/strong><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> to our Freedom of Information Act request.<\/span><\/li>\n<li><a href=\"https:\/\/www.times-standard.com\/2024\/10\/02\/crescent-city-based-farm-company-accused-of-animal-cruelty-sued-by-animal-rights-group\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\"><b>One<\/b><\/a><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> of the <\/span><a href=\"https:\/\/www.farmforward.com\/news\/breaking-class-action-lawsuit\/\"><b>two<\/b><\/a><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> current lawsuits against Alexandre clears its first legal hurdle when a Humboldt County Superior Court judge rules to allow a suit alleging criminal cruelty to proceed. This marks a historic development: the first time a California animal cruelty statute typically used to protect companion animals has been used successfully to litigate the treatment of farmed animals. <\/span><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p>March 2025:<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>A consumer protection law firm files a\u00a0<a href=\"https:\/\/www.farmforward.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/03\/Alexandre-Certified-Humane-class-action.pdf\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\" data-saferedirecturl=\"https:\/\/www.google.com\/url?q=https:\/\/www.farmforward.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/03\/Alexandre-Certified-Humane-class-action.pdf&amp;source=gmail&amp;ust=1742400571710000&amp;usg=AOvVaw2zVLaduO44OkBRK2gk7y5A\">class action lawsuit<\/a>\u00a0against Alexandre Family Farm and Certified Humane\u00a0(Case #25CV554, US District Court, Southern District of California), seeking damages exceeding $5 million for\u00a0<a href=\"https:\/\/www.farmforward.com\/news\/breaking-class-action-lawsuit\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\" data-saferedirecturl=\"https:\/\/www.google.com\/url?q=https:\/\/www.farmforward.com\/news\/breaking-class-action-lawsuit\/&amp;source=gmail&amp;ust=1742400571710000&amp;usg=AOvVaw0L8Nug5Y1j7nJOhrfeSWWs\">fraudulent &#8220;humane&#8221; claims<\/a>\u00a0on Alexandre products. Among those submitting\u00a0the complaint: a\u00a0law firm\u00a0known for securing multi-million dollar settlements in consumer protection cases, including a $39.55 million settlement against Monsanto.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p>September 2024:<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>A nonprofit law firm files <a href=\"https:\/\/static1.squarespace.com\/static\/65161f238283547433df9e5d\/t\/66fb247f11bb93693ff5c25a\/1727734913916\/LIC+v+Alexandre+complaint.pdf\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">a suit<\/a> against Alexandre in Humboldt County, enforcing California criminal statutes that prohibit animal cruelty. The complaint alleges that Alexandre violated California penal code 597, which covers a range of acts considered to be animal abuse, including failing to provide animals with proper food, drink, or shelter, or failing to give animals proper care and attention.<\/li>\n<li>The reporter who covered our investigation, Annie Lowrey, appears on the <strong><em><a href=\"https:\/\/podcasts.apple.com\/us\/podcast\/can-i-microdose-veganism\/id1614253637?i=1000668593402\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Search Engine<\/a><\/em><\/strong> podcast to talk about her coverage of Alexandre. Search Engine was named &#8220;a best podcast of 2023 by Vulture, Time, The Economist, and Vogue.&#8221;<\/li>\n<li>Farm Forward receives notification from National Organic Program (NOP) that NOP has substantiated some of the investigation\u2019s allegations. Farm Forward takes steps to find out more.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p>August 2024:<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>Farm Forward learns that Gus\u2019s Community Market, a California grocery with five locations, has now pulled its Alexandre promos and reduced Alexandre\u2019s product lines and shelf space as a result of the investigation\u2019s findings.<\/li>\n<li>Farm Forward learns that Walt\u2019s Wholesale Meats, which specializes in slaughtering dairy cows for meat for human consumption, has now stopped accepting all cows from Alexandre Family Farm.<\/li>\n<li>Farm Forward&#8217;s <a href=\"https:\/\/modernfarmer.com\/2024\/08\/farm-animal-abuse-dairy\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">op-ed<\/a> about Alexandre, greenwashing, the <a href=\"https:\/\/www.farmforward.com\/news\/alexandres-humanewashing-the-ripple-effect\/\">halo effect<\/a>, and large-scale dairy fraud is published in <em>Modern Farmer\u00a0<\/em>and becomes the top article on its homepage.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p>July 2024:<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>Farm Forward informs <a href=\"https:\/\/www.farmforward.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/07\/Letter-to-Andronicos-re-Alexandre-Family-Farm-1.pdf\">Andronico\u2019s Community Market<\/a> of the investigation\u2019s findings and asks them to drop Alexandre\u2019s products.<\/li>\n<li>Farm Forward informs <a href=\"https:\/\/www.farmforward.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/08\/To-Walts-re-Alexandre-Family-Farm.pdf\">Walt\u2019s Wholesale Meats<\/a> of the investigation\u2019s findings and asks them to drop Alexandre\u2019s products.<\/li>\n<li>The reporter who covered our investigation, Annie Lowrey, appears on <a href=\"https:\/\/bittmanproject.com\/food-with-mark-bittman-annie-lowrey\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Mark Bittman&#8217;s podcast<\/a> to discuss her coverage of Alexandre. Mark Bittman, a food journalist and author of books including <em>Food Matters<\/em>, has written for the <em>New York Times<\/em>.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p>Week of June 24, 2024:<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>Farm Forward <a href=\"https:\/\/www.farmforward.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/06\/To-Oregon-Tilth-re-Humboldt-Auction-Yard.pdf\">files a complaint<\/a> with Organic Tilth\u2014an organic certifier\u2014regarding the mistreatment of cows observed at a Humboldt Auction Yard property.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p>Week of June 10, 2024:<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>Luke&#8217;s Local, a premium grocery retailer in San Francisco with three locations, cancels its orders of all Alexandre Family Farm products.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p>June, 2024 (unknown week):<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Organic industry watchdog The Cornucopia Institute <strong><a href=\"https:\/\/web.archive.org\/web\/20250619201344\/https:\/\/www.cornucopia.org\/scorecard\/dairy\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">suspends<\/a><\/strong> Alexandre from its Organic Dairy Scorecard so that Cornucopia can open its own investigation into Alexandre.\u00a0<\/span><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p>Week of May 20, 2024:<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>Farm Forward releases a <a href=\"https:\/\/www.farmforward.com\/news\/alexandre-continues-to-abuse-and-neglect-new-videos-released\/\">follow-up blog revealing<\/a> that Alexandre\u2019s abuse has continued well into 2024.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p>Week of May 13, 2024:<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>Natural food retailer Providore drops Alexandre as a supplier.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p>Week of May 6, 2024:<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>Farm Forward informs <a href=\"https:\/\/www.farmforward.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/05\/To-Bi-Rite-re-Alexandre-Dairy-investigation.pdf\">Bi-Rite Market<\/a> of the investigation\u2019s findings and asks them to drop Alexandre\u2019s products.<\/li>\n<li>Farm Forward informs <a href=\"https:\/\/www.farmforward.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/05\/To-Lukes-Local-re-re-Alexandre-Dairy-investigation.pdf\">Luke\u2019s Local<\/a> of the investigation\u2019s findings and asks them to drop Alexandre\u2019s products.<\/li>\n<li>Farm Forward informs <a href=\"https:\/\/www.farmforward.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/05\/To-Rainbow-Grocery-re-Alexandre-Dairy-investigation.pdf\">Rainbow Grocery<\/a> of the investigation\u2019s findings and asks them to drop Alexandre\u2019s products.<\/li>\n<li>Farm Forward informs <a href=\"https:\/\/www.farmforward.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/05\/To-Mollie-Stones-re-Alexandre-Family-Farm.pdf\">Mollie Stone\u2019s Market<\/a> of the investigation\u2019s findings and asks them to drop Alexandre\u2019s products.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p>Week of April 29, 2024:<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>The Humboldt County Sheriff&#8217;s Office Livestock Division supervisor <a href=\"https:\/\/www.farmforward.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/04\/Farm-Forward-Mail-Alexandre-Family-Farm-Complaint_Redacted.pdf\">notifies<\/a> Farm Forward that the Sheriff&#8217;s Office received our report on Alexandre Dairy, takes such reports very seriously, and has opened an investigation.<\/li>\n<li>Certified Humane appears to have <a href=\"https:\/\/web.archive.org\/web\/20240429004649\/https:\/\/certifiedhumane.org\/whos-certified-2\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">delisted<\/a> Alexandre Family Farms from its <a href=\"https:\/\/certifiedhumane.org\/whos-certified-2\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">list<\/a> of \u201cProducers who are Certified Humane.\u201d<\/li>\n<li>Farm Forward encourages Rabobank\u2014a bank with a <a href=\"https:\/\/www.banktrack.org\/download\/sustainability_policy_framework_3\/220221_sustainabilitypolicyframeworksept2021.pdf\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">commitment to animal welfare<\/a>\u2014to sever ties with Alexandre Family Farm.<\/li>\n<li>Farm Forward informs <a href=\"https:\/\/www.farmforward.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/05\/To-Erewhon-re-Alexandre-Family-Farm-investigation.pdf\">Erewhon<\/a> of the investigation\u2019s findings and asks them to drop Alexandre\u2019s products.<\/li>\n<li>A <a href=\"https:\/\/wildrivers.lostcoastoutpost.com\/2024\/may\/2\/humboldt-county-sheriff-investigating-alexandre-fa\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">California outlet that covers Del Norte County<\/a> reports on the investigation, including the opening of a Sheriff\u2019s Office inquiry and the suspension of the Regenerative Organic Certified label.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p>Week of April 22, 2024:<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>Farm Forward learns that <a href=\"https:\/\/regenorganic.org\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Regenerative Organic Certified<\/a> suspended Alexandre&#8217;s regenerative certification in February due to an audit report that indicated violations.<\/li>\n<li>Farm Forward informs <a href=\"https:\/\/www.farmforward.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/04\/To-Whole-Foods-re-Alexandre-Family-Farm-investigation.pdf\">Whole Foods Market<\/a> of the investigation&#8217;s findings and asks them to drop Alexandre Family Farm products.<\/li>\n<li>Farm Forward informs <a href=\"https:\/\/www.farmforward.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/04\/To-Alecs-Ice-Cream-re-Alexandre-Family-Farm-investigation.pdf\">Alec\u2019s Ice Cream<\/a> of the investigation&#8217;s findings and asks them to drop Alexandre as a supplier.\n<ul>\n<li>Alec\u2019s Ice Cream, which relies on Alexandre dairy, has <a href=\"https:\/\/web.archive.org\/web\/20240419224159\/https:\/www.alecsicecream.com\/pages\/our-impact\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">taken down<\/a> and removed from its site navigation its <a href=\"https:\/\/web.archive.org\/web\/20240130231117\/https:\/www.alecsicecream.com\/pages\/our-impact\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Our Impact<\/a>\u00a0page, which claimed that regenerative farming \u201cimproves the lives of animals,\u201d that its products are \u201cpositively changing our planet for a better future,\u201d and that Alexandre is \u201cproving that cows actually help reverse climate change.\u201d<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/li>\n<li>Farm Forward informs <a href=\"https:\/\/www.farmforward.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/04\/To-Serenity-Kids-re-Alexandre-Family-Farm-investigation.pdf\">Serenity Kids<\/a> of the investigation&#8217;s findings and asks them to drop Alexandre as a supplier.\n<ul>\n<li>Serenity Kids responds the next day to say that after receiving our report they launched their own investigation into Alexandre and would take appropriate action based on what they uncover.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/li>\n<li>Farm Forward informs <a href=\"https:\/\/www.farmforward.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/04\/To-Cheddies-Crackers-re-Alexandre-Family-Farm-investigation.pdf\">Cheddies Crackers<\/a> of the investigation&#8217;s findings and asks them to drop Alexandre as a supplier.<\/li>\n<li>Farm Forward informs <a href=\"https:\/\/www.farmforward.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/04\/To-Rumiano-Cheese-re-Alexandre-Family-Farm-investigation.pdf\">Rumiano Cheese<\/a> of the investigation&#8217;s findings and asks them to drop Alexandre as a supplier.<\/li>\n<li>Farm Forward informs <a href=\"https:\/\/www.farmforward.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/04\/To-Once-Upon-a-Farm-re-Alexandre-Family-Farm-investigation.pdf\">Once Upon a Farm<\/a> of the investigation&#8217;s findings and asks them to drop Alexandre as a supplier.<\/li>\n<li>The reporter who covered our investigation, Annie Lowrey, appears on the <a href=\"https:\/\/slate.com\/podcasts\/what-next-tbd\/2024\/04\/does-organic-mean-better-animal-welfare\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\"><strong><em>What&#8217;s Next: TBD<\/em><\/strong><\/a> podcast from Slate to talk about her coverage of Alexandre.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p>April 19, 2024:<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>Farm Forward learns that all Alexandre products have been removed from the ASPCA\u2019s <a href=\"https:\/\/www.aspca.org\/shopwithyourheart\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Shop With Your Heart<\/a> list following the publication of our investigation.<\/li>\n<li>Farm Forward is notified that all Alexandre products have been dropped from <a href=\"http:\/\/findhumane.com\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">FindHumane.com<\/a>.<\/li>\n<li>Although Farm Forward submitted <a href=\"https:\/\/www.farmforward.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/04\/To-Humboldt-County-Farm-Bureau-re-Alexandre-Family-Farm.pdf\">a complaint<\/a> to Humboldt County Farm Bureau on Monday April 15, requesting a timely response, by 5pm PDT Friday April 19 Farm Forward had still received no reply from the Humboldt County Farm Bureau.<\/li>\n<li>Alec\u2019s Ice Cream, which relies on Alexandre dairy, appears to have <a href=\"https:\/\/web.archive.org\/web\/20240419224159\/https:\/www.alecsicecream.com\/pages\/our-impact\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">taken down<\/a> and removed from its site navigation its <a href=\"https:\/\/web.archive.org\/web\/20240130231117\/https:\/www.alecsicecream.com\/pages\/our-impact\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Our Impact<\/a> page, which claimed that regenerative farming \u201cimproves the lives of animals,\u201d that its products are \u201cpositively changing our planet for a better future,\u201d and that Alexandre is \u201cproving that cows actually help reverse climate change.\u201d<\/li>\n<li>Whole Foods Market appears to have <a href=\"https:\/\/web.archive.org\/web\/20240419223523\/https:\/wholestory.wholefoodsmarket.com\/restarting-dairy\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">taken down<\/a> its <a href=\"https:\/\/web.archive.org\/web\/20240106005106\/https:\/wholestory.wholefoodsmarket.com\/restarting-dairy\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Restarting Dairy<\/a> page, which referred to the Alexandres as \u201cenvironmental stewards,\u201d proudly noted that \u201cWhole Foods Market has been working with the Alexandres for over a decade,\u201d and included a video showing hundreds of calf hutches in which Alexandre admits isolating baby cows for months\u2014with no relief and no ability to set one foot outside\u2014as its standard practice.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p>April 15, 2024:<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>Farm Forward files a standards <a href=\"https:\/\/www.farmforward.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/04\/CCOF-Complaint-2024.pdf\">complaint<\/a> about Alexandre Family Farm with California Certified Organic Farmers (CCOF).<\/li>\n<li>Farm Forward submits a <a href=\"https:\/\/www.farmforward.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/04\/To-Humboldt-County-Farm-Bureau-re-Alexandre-Family-Farm.pdf\">complaint<\/a> about Alexandre to the Humboldt County Farm Bureau.<\/li>\n<li>Farm Forward reaches out to Certified Humane to discuss abuse and neglect of cows managed by Alexandre.<\/li>\n<li>Farm Forward submits a <a href=\"https:\/\/www.farmforward.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/04\/To-CA-Vet-Assoc-re-Alexandre-Family-Farm-4-15-24.pdf\">complaint<\/a> to California Veterinary Medical Association about animal mistreatment and allegations that Alexandre staff routinely practiced veterinary medicine without a license, including sawing fully grown horns off cows without pain management.<\/li>\n<li>Farm Forward <a href=\"https:\/\/www.farmforward.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/04\/To-CDFA-re_-Alexandre-Family-Farm.pdf\">asks<\/a> the California Department of Food &amp; Agriculture (CDFA) to revoke Blake Alexandre&#8217;s membership in CDFA&#8217;s Regenerative Organic Work Group.<\/li>\n<li>Farm Forward <a href=\"https:\/\/www.farmforward.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/04\/To-NOP-re-Alexandre-Family-Farm-CDFA.pdf\">requests<\/a> that the USDA National Organic Program (NOP) investigate Alexandre&#8217;s violations of organic standards, and whether CDFA investigated Alexandre adequately after NOP received a whistleblower complaint about organic dairy cows who were &#8220;sick, could barely walk, were extremely thin, mistreated, and full of lungworm.&#8221;<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p>April 12, 2024:<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li><em>The Atlantic<\/em>\u00a0publishes a comprehensive <a href=\"https:\/\/www.theatlantic.com\/ideas\/archive\/2024\/04\/alexandre-farms-treatment-of-animals\/677980\/?gift=HX\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">investigative piece<\/a> of Alexandre&#8217;s operations, citing Farm Forward\u2019s <a href=\"https:\/\/www.farmforward.com\/publications\/dairy-deception-corruption-and-consumer-fraud\">report<\/a> throughout<\/li>\n<li>Farm Forward <a href=\"https:\/\/www.farmforward.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/04\/Farm-Forward-Mail-Re_-Alexandre-Dairy.png\">asks Alexandre<\/a><a href=\"https:\/\/www.farmforward.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/04\/Farm-Forward-Mail-Re_-Alexandre-Dairy.png\"> Dairy<\/a> to acknowledge problems in <a href=\"https:\/\/www.farmforward.com\/?p=4920\">the dairy industry<\/a> and work for change.<\/li>\n<li>Farm Forward files a <a href=\"https:\/\/www.farmforward.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/04\/To-Sheriff-Honsal-re-Alexandre-Family-Farm.pdf\">cruelty complaint<\/a> with the Humboldt County Sheriff.<\/li>\n<li>Farm Forward files a <a href=\"https:\/\/www.farmforward.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/04\/To-California-Coastal-Commission-re-Alexandre-Family-Farm.pdf\">water quality complaint<\/a> with the California Coastal Commission.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p>April 11, 2024:<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>Farm Forward releases report, \u201c<a href=\"https:\/\/www.farmforward.com\/publications\/dairy-deception-corruption-and-consumer-fraud\">Dairy Deception: Corruption and Consumer Fraud at Alexandre Family Farm<\/a>.\u201d<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p>March 12, 2024:<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>Farm Forward receives an <a href=\"https:\/\/www.farmforward.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/03\/Screenshot-2024-03-13-at-2.37.24-PM.png\">email<\/a> from Alexandre Dairy, likely attempting to delay the publishing of the report.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p>March 8, 2024:<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>Late morning: Farm Forward receives an intimidating \u201c<a href=\"https:\/\/www.farmforward.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/03\/Screenshot-2024-03-13-at-10.06.41-AM.png\">lawyer letter<\/a>\u201d from Alexandre&#8217;s legal counsel, <a href=\"https:\/\/www.dwt.com\/people\/v\/vulin-ashley\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Davis Wright Tremaine<\/a>, a law firm that regularly represents big dairy.<\/li>\n<li>Early morning: Farm Forward is informed that information was accidentally leaked to Alexandre, tipping them off to the pending report.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p>January\u2013March, 2024:<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>Multiple whistleblowers continually provide Farm Forward evidence of ongoing systematic nontreatment of sick and injured animals at Alexandre Dairy.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p>December, 2023:<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>Farm Forward staff verify at a California cattle auction that sick, emaciated cattle with egregious untreated or inadequately treated conditions are being sold at auction by Alexandre Dairy.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p>June\u2013Dec 2023:<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>Multiple whistleblowers provide hundreds of videos, hundreds of photos, and more than a dozen affidavits.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p>January\u2013May 2023:<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>Multiple whistleblowers come forth verifying and expanding original allegations.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p>December 2022:<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>First whistleblower approaches Farm Forward with uncorroborated complaints about Alexandre Family Farm (Alexandre Dairy). At first Farm Forward doubts the credibility of the complaint.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<\/div>\n\t<\/section>\n\n\n\n<p><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"","protected":false},"author":13,"featured_media":4950,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":true,"footnotes":""},"categories":[20],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-4944","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-animal-welfare"],"acf":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.farmforward.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4944","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.farmforward.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.farmforward.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.farmforward.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/13"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.farmforward.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=4944"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.farmforward.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4944\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.farmforward.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/4950"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.farmforward.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=4944"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.farmforward.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=4944"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.farmforward.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=4944"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}