Timeline of Alexandre Dairy Investigation

September 2024:

• A nonprofit law firm files a criminal complaint against Alexandre in Humboldt County. The lawsuit alleges that Alexandre violated California penal code 597, an animal cruelty statue that 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.
• The reporter who covered our investigation, Annie Lowrey, appears on the Search Engine podcast to talk about her coverage of Alexandre. Search Engine was named “a best podcast of 2023 by Vulture, Time, The Economist, and Vogue.”
• Farm Forward receives notification from National Organic Program (NOP) that NOP has substantiated some of the investigation’s allegations. Farm Forward takes steps to find out more.

August 2024:

• Farm Forward learns that Gus’s Community Market, a California grocery with five locations, has now pulled its Alexandre promos and reduced Alexandre’s product lines and shelf space as a result of the investigation’s findings.
• Farm Forward learns that Walt’s Wholesale Meats, which specializes in slaughtering dairy cows for meat for human consumption, has now stopped accepting all cows from Alexandre Family Farm.
• Farm Forward’s op-ed about Alexandre, greenwashing, the halo effect, and large-scale dairy fraud is published in Modern Farmer and becomes the top article on its homepage.

July 2024:

• Farm Forward informs Andronico’s Community Market of the investigation’s findings and asks them to drop Alexandre’s products.
• Farm Forward informs Walt’s Wholesale Meats of the investigation’s findings and asks them to drop Alexandre’s products.
• The reporter who covered our investigation, Annie Lowrey, appears on Mark Bittman’s podcast to discuss her coverage of Alexandre. Mark Bittman, a food journalist and author of books including Food Matters, has written for the New York Times.

Week of June 24, 2024:

• Farm Forward files a complaint with Organic Tilth—an organic certifier—regarding the mistreatment of cows observed at a Humboldt Auction Yard property.

Week of June 10, 2024:

• Luke’s Local, a premium grocery retailer in San Francisco with three locations, cancels its orders of all Alexandre Family Farm products.

May 23, 2024:

• Farm Forward releases a follow-up blog revealing that Alexandre’s abuse has continued well into 2024.

Week of May 13, 2024:

• Natural food retailer Providore drops Alexandre as a supplier.

Week of May 6, 2024:

• Farm Forward informs Bi-Rite Market of the investigation’s findings and asks them to drop Alexandre’s products.
• Farm Forward informs Luke’s Local of the investigation’s findings and asks them to drop Alexandre’s products.
• Farm Forward informs Rainbow Grocery of the investigation’s findings and asks them to drop Alexandre’s products.
• Farm Forward informs Mollie Stone’s Market of the investigation’s findings and asks them to drop Alexandre’s products.

Week of April 29, 2024:

• The Humboldt County Sheriff’s Office Livestock Division supervisor notifies Farm Forward that the Sheriff’s Office received our report on Alexandre Dairy, takes such reports very seriously, and has opened an investigation.
• Certified Humane appears to have delisted Alexandre Family Farms from its list of “Producers who are Certified Humane.”
• Farm Forward encourages Rabobank—a bank with a commitment to animal welfare—to sever ties with Alexandre Family Farm.
• Farm Forward informs Erewhon of the investigation’s findings and asks them to drop Alexandre’s products.
• A California outlet that covers Del Norte County reports on the investigation, including the opening of a Sheriff’s Office inquiry and the suspension of the Regenerative Organic Certified label.

Week of April 22, 2024:

• Farm Forward learns that Regenerative Organic Certified suspended Alexandre’s regenerative certification in February due to an audit report that indicated violations.
• Farm Forward informs Whole Foods Market of the investigation’s findings and asks them to drop Alexandre Family Farm products.
• Farm Forward informs Alec’s Ice Cream of the investigation’s findings and asks them to drop Alexandre as a supplier.
  • Alec’s Ice Cream, which relies on Alexandre dairy, soon after takes down and removes from its site navigation its Our Impact page, which claimed that regenerative farming “improves the lives of animals,” that its products are “positively changing our planet for a better future,” and that Alexandre is “proving that cows actually help reverse climate change.”
• Farm Forward informs Serenity Kids of the investigation’s findings and asks them to drop Alexandre as a supplier.
  • 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.
• Farm Forward informs Cheddies Crackers of the investigation’s findings and asks them to drop Alexandre as a supplier.
• Farm Forward informs Rumiano Cheese of the investigation’s findings and asks them to drop Alexandre as a supplier.
• Farm Forward informs Once Upon a Farm of the investigation’s findings and asks them to drop Alexandre as a supplier.
• The reporter who covered our investigation, Annie Lowrey, appears on the What’s Next: TBD podcast from Slate to talk about her coverage of Alexandre.

April 19, 2024:

• Farm Forward learns that all Alexandre products have been removed from the ASPCA’s Shop With Your Heart list following the publication of our investigation.
• Farm Forward is notified that all Alexandre products have been dropped from FindHumane.com.
• Although Farm Forward submitted a complaint 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.
• Alec’s Ice Cream, which relies on Alexandre dairy, appears to have taken down and removed from its site navigation its Our Impact page, which claimed that regenerative farming “improves the lives of animals,” that its products are “positively changing our planet for a better future,” and that Alexandre is “proving that cows actually help reverse climate change.”
• Whole Foods Market appears to have taken down its Restarting Dairy page, which referred to the Alexandres as “environmental stewards,” proudly noted that “Whole Foods Market has been working with the Alexandres for over a decade,” and included a video showing hundreds of calf hutches in which Alexandre admits isolating baby cows for months—with no relief and no ability to set one foot outside—as its standard practice.

April 15, 2024:

• Farm Forward files a standards complaint about Alexandre Family Farm with California Certified Organic Farmers (CCOF).
• Farm Forward submits a complaint about Alexandre to the Humboldt County Farm Bureau.
• Farm Forward reaches out to Certified Humane to discuss abuse and neglect of cows managed by Alexandre.
• Farm Forward submits a complaint 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.
• Farm Forward asks the California Department of Food & Agriculture (CDFA) to revoke Blake Alexandre’s membership in CDFA’s Regenerative Organic Work Group.
• Farm Forward requests that the USDA National Organic Program (NOP) investigate Alexandre’s violations of organic standards, and whether CDFA investigated Alexandre adequately after NOP received a whistleblower complaint about organic dairy cows who were “sick, could barely walk, were extremely thin, mistreated, and full of lungworm.”

April 12, 2024:

• The Atlantic publishes a comprehensive investigative piece of Alexandre’s operations, citing Farm Forward’s report throughout
• Farm Forward asks Alexandre Dairy to acknowledge problems in the dairy industry and work for change.
• Farm Forward files a cruelty complaint with the Humboldt County Sheriff.
• Farm Forward files a water quality complaint with the California Coastal Commission.

April 11, 2024:

• Farm Forward releases report, “Dairy Deception: Corruption and Consumer Fraud at Alexandre Family Farm.”

March 12, 2024:

• Farm Forward receives an email from Alexandre Dairy, likely attempting to delay the publishing of the report.

March 8, 2024:

• Late morning: Farm Forward receives an intimidating “lawyer letter” from Alexandre’s legal counsel, Davis Wright Tremaine, a law firm that regularly represents big dairy.
• Early morning: Farm Forward is informed that information was accidentally leaked to Alexandre, tipping them off to the pending report.

January–March, 2024:

• Multiple whistleblowers continually provide Farm Forward evidence of ongoing systematic nontreatment of sick and injured animals at Alexandre Dairy.

December, 2023:

• 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.

June–Dec 2023:

• Multiple whistleblowers provide hundreds of videos, hundreds of photos, and more than a dozen affidavits.

January–May 2023:

• Multiple whistleblowers come forth verifying and expanding original allegations.

December 2022:

• First whistleblower approaches Farm Forward with uncorroborated complaints about Alexandre Family Farm (Alexandre Dairy). At first Farm Forward doubts the credibility of the complaint.