The Capital Press continues to perpetuate a myth in “The Big Cheese: How Tillamook grew to help its farmer-owners (The Astorian, Sept. 17).”

The article, which fosters the idea of coastal dairy farms, reads “the number of cows and acreage has stayed steady.” The Center for Food Safety has called for a boycott of Tillamook until the dairy giant commits to sourcing milk from farms which use the sustainable, humane practices that the company’s advertising suggests.

The article, in both words and pictures, gives the impression of small pasture-based, small-scale family farms — it could have been written by Tillamook as seen in the following: “the cooperative isn’t done growing, but expansion has already provided stability for its 60 dairy farmers …”

Most of Tillamook’s milk comes from the industrial dairy called Threemile Canyon Farms which is permitted for 70,000 cows, that produces more waste than Portland. Their 33,000 producing cows supply 2 million pounds of milk each day. Tillamook previously bought milk from Lost Valley Farms, which was permitted for 30,000 cows, but was finally shut down after 200 environmental violations.

The Animal Legal Defense Fund also filed a lawsuit for basically the same reason as the boycott mentioned above.

I have enjoyed Tillamook products for more than 70 years, but now find other wonderful Oregon products, like Umpqua Dairy ice cream.

GEORGE (MICK) HAGUE

Astoria