Now, large corporations such as Kraft & Dean Foods–aided and abetted by the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA), are moving to lower organic standards by allowing a Bush appointee to create a list of synthetic ingredients that would be allowed organic production. Even worse these proposed regulatory changes will reduce future public discussion and input and take away the National Organic Standards Board’s (NOSB) traditional lead jurisdiction in setting standards. What this means, in blunt terms. is that USDA bureaucrats and industry lobbyists, not consumers, will now have more control over what can go into organic foods and products.
This week, acting in haste and near-total secrecy, the U.S. Senate will vote on a “rider” to the 2006 Agriculture Appropriations Bill that will reduce control over organic standards from the National Standards Board and put this control in the hands of federal bureaucrats in the USDA (remember the USDA proposal in 1997-98 that said that genetic engineering, toxic sludge, and food irradiation would be OK on organic farms, or USDA suggestions in 2004 that heretofore banned pesticides, hormones, tainted feeds, and animal drugs would be OK?).
For the past week in Washington, OCA has been urging members of the Senate not to reopen and subvert the federal statute that governs U.S. Organic standards (the Organic Food Production Act – OFPA), but rather to let the organic community and the National Organic Standards resolve our differences over issues like synthetics and animal feed internally, and then proceed to a open public comment period. Unfortunately most Senators seem to be listening to industry lobbyists more closely than to us. We need to raise our voices.
In the past, grassroots mobilization and mass pressure by organic consumers have been able to stop the USDA and Congress from degrading organic standards. This time Washington insiders tell us that the “fix is is already in.” So we must take decisive action now. We need you to call your U.S. Senators today. We need you to sign the following petition and send it to everyone you know. We also desperately need funds to head off this attack in the weeks and months to come. Thank you for your support. Together we will take back citizen control over organic standards and preserve organic integrity.
Take action here:
http://www.demaction.org/dia/organizati
2 comments on “Bush-buddies to Weaken Organics (via Vegrecipes)”
this sort of thing actually sort of scares me. to just think there are people out there controling the world for the o mighty dollar.
I often think to my self that maybe the like minded people of the world should just pool what money we have and buy an extremly large portion of land and create our own small non commercial country. we will have no economic system, we will have no military, we will have no corporate structure. just people living in harmony with nature and the elements. we would stand up for our rights together and not discriminate against one another because of colour, race or religion. we would simply exist and exist as we please.
Segregation of any sort is harmful. We’ve gotta pull up the less evolved and evolve ourselves if we wish to create true change. It’s all about universal evolution, as challenging as that will be.