Attack on national organic standards

[Guest guest]

Hi everyone,

 

I know I've been away for awhile, and I'm planning to return more regularly

during the first week or so of October. I'll update everyone then.

 

In the meantime, the U.S. Senate is about to vote THIS WEEK on a rider to

the agriculture appropriations bill that would both gut parts of the federal

organic standard and transfer considerable powers from the National Organic

Standards Board to the USDA, which has a long history of strong and overt

hostile actions with respect to the organic standard.

 

A copy of the proposed law change, and additional information, may be found

at: HYPERLINK

" http://www.agmatters.net/Staff/C_OFPAPostHarveyAmendCleanfinal.doc " http://w

ww.agmatters.net/Staff/C_OFPAPostHarveyAmendCleanfinal.doc.

 

From the Organic Consumers Association HYPERLINK

" http://www.organicconsumers.org " http://www.organicconsumers.org:

 

We are now at a serious crossroads in the history of Organic in the United

States. A behind-the-scenes law change by industry could severely weaken the

integrity of the organic label – both through its substance, and through

it’s back-room process. Opposition to this amendment may get loud and very

public, and also threaten the future support of the label. For more

analysis, see: HYPERLINK

" http://www.agmatters.net/Organic/C_My_Briefcase_Liana_ORGANIC_Harvey_Lawsui

t_MYTHANDREALITYfinal.doc " http://www.agmatters.net/Organic/C_My_Briefcase_Li

ana_ORGANIC_Harvey_Lawsuit_MYTHANDREALITYfinal.doc

 

Additional information about this entire issue may be found at: Center for

Food Safety HYPERLINK

" http://www.centerforfoodsafety.org/ " http://www.centerforfoodsafety.org,

Organic Consumers Association HYPERLINK

" http://www.organicconsumers.org/ " http://www.organicconsumers.org, Consumers

Union HYPERLINK " http://www.eco-labels.org/ " http://www.Eco-Labels.org,

Beyond Pesticides HYPERLINK

" http://www.beyondpesticides.org/ " http://www.beyondpesticides.org and the

Organic Trade Association HYPERLINK " http://www.ota.com/ " http://www.ota.com

 

 

I have sent email, text below, to Senators Boxer and Feinstein pf

California. Should you wish to do the same, please feel free to use all or

any part of the text of my message. To send email to these Senators:

 

Boxer: HYPERLINK

" http://boxer.senate.gov/contact/webform.cfm " http://boxer.senate.gov/contact

/webform.cfm

Feinstein: HYPERLINK

" http://feinstein.senate.gov/email.html " http://feinstein.senate.gov/email.ht

ml

 

To find out how to contact senators in a different state, visit HYPERLINK

" http://senate.gov/ " http://senate.gov. For representatives, visit HYPERLINK

" http://house.gov " http://house.gov.

 

Looking forward to returning to more " active duty " in the near future. Best

to all,

Elchanan

_____

 

Dear Senator <<<<<Boxer/Feinstein>>>>>,

 

It has come to my attention that various strong lobbyist representing Kraft,

Wal-Mart, Dean, and other large corporations are seeking, once again in

conjunction with the USDA, to gut the powers and virtually eliminate the

leadership role of the National Organic Standards Board’s (NOSB) in

developing and suggesting organic food standards, transferring much of the

control instead to the USDA. But the USDA has a long history of acting

against organic standards, beginning even before the current federal

legislation went into effect.

 

The NOSB represents the people, has done so for years, and should be left

intact in every respect.

 

Now, a rider to the current Ag appropriations bill would allow a

presidential appointee to create a list of synthetic ingredients that would

be allowed organic production. Even worse, public discussion will be

dramatically reduced for future proposed regulatory changes affecting

organic standards.

 

I urge you to vote " No " on this rider, and more generally I urge you to

support the strongest organic standards possible. There are so many reasons

for doing this, ranging from preservation of personal liberty and choice to

many serious health and environmental concerns. Such reasons have been

broadcast far and wide many times, I will not belabor them here.

 

Specifically I urge you to act and to vote at every opportunity to:

 

(1) Leave the federal statute, OFPA (Organic Food Production Act) intact on

organic standards.

 

(2) Leave control over policies governing synthetic ingredients, animal

feed, and commercial availability of organic ingredients in the hands of the

National Organic Standards Board and the organic community, not the USDA.

 

(3) Fund and fully support appropriations for the NOSB, as well as

appropriations to help farmers meet strict requirements for organic

production.

 

Thank you very much.

 

 

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