Furious consumers have filed a class action lawsuit against Alexandre Family Farm and the owners of the Certified Humane® label based on findings released last year in Farm Forward investigation of the farm’s routine animal abuse and neglect and selling of diseased animals for human consumption. The class action lawsuit, filed by Richman Law & Policy (RLP), alleges that Alexandre dairy farm and Humane Farm Animal Care—the entity behind the Certified Humane® label—humanewashed the farm’s practices, misleading consumers and falsely representing Alexandre products as “humane,” all while Alexandre engaged in shocking and systemic acts of animal cruelty.
The lawsuit relies on both Farm Forward’s investigation and new, previously unreleased evidence of cruel treatment to calves. The lawsuit describes how, despite the overwhelming evidence of abuse, Certified Humane allowed Alexandre Family Farm to market their products as “humane.” The suit details how the farm:
These allegations underscore Farm Forward’s investigation and report, which was originally featured in The Atlantic. Full details on the lawsuit and additional findings can be found here.
“Consumers are tired of paying more for a lie,” said Farm Forward Executive Director Andrew deCoriolis. “This investigation unfortunately reveals that even a dairy that has been touted as one of the most ethical operations in the country cannot be trusted by consumers to treat its animals humanely. It reveals that there is virtually no way for Americans to know if they are consuming higher welfare dairy, no matter how much extra they pay. And it reveals that voluntary labels like Certified Humane are inadequate for protecting consumers or providing any sort of public accountability for these companies. The USDA needs to set and enforce meaningful standards for terms like ‘humanely raised,’ ‘sustainably raised,’ and ‘antibiotic free.’ Without regulation, consumers can just get conned.
“This lawsuit sends a clear message: consumers will hold companies accountable for making false promises about animal welfare. When a dairy widely considered the industry’s gold standard for ethics fails to meet basic welfare standards—and their certifier fails to enforce them—it exposes a broken system. Today, there’s simply no way to guarantee your dairy purchases support better treatment of animals, regardless of price or certification. The most ethical choice is to opt out of dairy from cows.”
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Farm Forward is a team of strategists, campaigners, and thought leaders guiding the movement to change the way our world eats and farms. Learn more at https://www.farmforward.com/