3c hapter - Index of

From Brown Rice to Biofuels 169
Investors got a steady 6 percent annual dividend over a period
when the stock market turned in negative returns. One of them
was David Hough, a freelance editor who grew up on a farm near
La Farge. After he got laid off from his book publishing job in San
Diego in mid-2008, Hough moved back to the family farm to help
take care of his parents. The small dairy herd, beef cattle, and pigs
were now gone, and his parents rent the land out for hay fi elds
and pasture. But Hough retains a deep appreciation for the life
of a family farmer—a big factor in his decision to invest a good
chunk of his retirement funds in Organic Valley.
“For me it was a no- brainer. The fact that it supports family
farms . . . I grew up on a family farm, I know how hard it is to make
a living on a family farm. It’s almost as bad as writing books,” says
Hough, just half- joking. “I think it’s important to keep the family
farms going. I don’t particularly trust corporate or industrialized
farming, and we should certainly have alternatives to that kind
of food production.”
Organic Valley’s impact on the local region, where it employs
more than 450 people, was another consideration. “The fact that
they are local is huge. We live in a very rural area that was always economically
disadvantaged—even the Indians were poor and starving
around here,” says Hough. “Organic Valley has had an enormous
impact on the community, economically, socially, you name it.”
As with other cooperatives, community support is part of
Organic Valley’s DNA. Ten percent of its excess revenue, after
expenses, goes to a community fund that has supported local
schools and athletic programs and helped protect LaFarge’s watershed.
The cooperative also donates product to schools and food
pantries, maintains a disaster relief fund for farmers, and provides
grants to organizations promoting organic research and advocacy.
And from a purely fi nancial perspective, the Class E shares
perfectly suited Hough’s needs. “I’m 53, I’m half retired relying
on a freelance income which comes and goes, so a steady
6 percent check every three months worked well for my fi nancial
situation. All the pieces of the puzzle fell into place for me. I buy
their products. And I really like the idea that it’s a co- op. I think
this every- man- for- himself economy that we live in is a bad thing