Corporate takeover of organic products imminent

[Guest guest]

I hope it isn't terribly OT to share this. Please spread the word.

I'm afraid it is a real possiblity, given governmental efforts in

Europe to ban herbal remedies.

~Joe

" If you want to be able to buy organic products you had better act

now. Forward this to your friends and respond yourself. Organic

products can be history before you know it. "

From: biodemocracy-bounces@...

Sent: May 05, 2004

Subject: ACTION ALERT: Bush Administration moving to allow corporate

takeover of organics!

GO AT http://www.organicconsumers.org/sos.cfm#action TO TAKE ACTION!

(please forward this important email alert far and wide)

Over the past few weeks America's organic standards have once again

come under heavy attack. First the USDA's National Organic Program

(NOP) announced on April 14 that they would no longer monitor or

police " organic " labels on non-agricultural products, literally

opening the door for unscrupulous companies to put bogus organic

labels on products such as fish, body care products, pet foods,

fertilizer, and clothing.

In the case of seafood and body care products, the marketplace is

already starting to become flooded with products bearing the organic

label, even though the production methods (industrial fish farms) or

content ( " organic " shampoos with organic claims based upon added

water) in many of these products violate traditional organic

principles. Besides giving the green light to bogus organic labels

the new USDA " scope policy " penalizes genuine organic companies that

have begun sourcing, certifying, and labeling their products as

organic.

Corporate agribusiness and the biotech lobby have apparently decided

that strict organic farming practices and the booming organic market

constitute a threat to their bottom line, and have called on their

friends in the Bush administration USDA to degrade organic standards

and prepare for a restructuring of organic production so as to

facilitate the use of industrial agriculture practices such as

pesticides, antibiotics, non-organic feed, growth hormones and even

genetically engineered animal drugs.

USDA's NOP announced on April 28 controversial new

directives/guidance statements on national organic standards

including:

" Organic " Crops Raised with Pesticides?

The USDA has now stated that as long as the farmer and the organic

certifier don't know the specific ingredients of the pesticides

applied to the " organic " plants, the crops can be sold as " organic " .

To make matters worse, it is not required by law for pesticide

companies to list the ingredients on their products (it's considered

proprietary information), so the farmers rarely know what the

specific ingredients are.

(Read full USDA pesticide statement at

http://www.ams.usda.gov/nop/Compliance/PesticidesCompliance.pdf)

" Organic " Dairy Cows Injected with Antibiotics and Synthetic Hormones?

The USDA has announced that individual cows can be treated with any

kind of drug at any time, including synthetic growth hormones, but

milk can only be sold from that cow 12 months after that treatment.

The problem with this directive is that it opens up the door for

split operation factory style dairy farms, whereby organic and non-

organic dairy operations are carried out simultaneously, and hundreds

if not thousands of " organic " dairy cows are kept in intensive

confinement. Not only are industrial sized dairy farms bad for the

environment, but they inevitably give rise to sick cows who have to

be treated with drugs. Of course many of these drugs build up in the

body fat and are released in the milk and meat from these animals..

If this new directive is allowed to stand, organic milk could

potentially contain residues of drugs and hormones.

(Read full USDA dairy statement at

http://www.ams.usda.gov/nop/NOP/GuidanceStatements/AntibioticGuidance0

41304.pdf)

Mercury and PCBs Allowed in " Organic " Beef?

The USDA also stated on April 28 that non-organic fishmeal can be fed

to cattle and the beef can still be sold as " organic " . Fishmeal is

used as a protein supplement on conventional cattle ranches, but it

frequently contains mercury, PCBs and other synthetic chemicals.

Mercury and PCBs are " bioacculmulators " meaning they are concentrated

and stored in the " meat " of the animal.

(Read full USDA livestock feed statement at

http://www.ams.usda.gov/nop/NOP/GuidanceStatements/FishmealGuidance041

304.pdf)

The Organic Consumers Association is working hard to stop the

degradation of organic standards by the USDA and head-off the

takeover of the organic market by corporate agribusiness and biotech

interests. We are now launching a national campaign called SOS--

Safeguard Organic Standards, to make sure that strict organic

standards are maintained and that organic monitoring, certification,

and policing extends to the full range of consumer products,

including body care, clothing, pet food, fertilizer, and other items.

GO AT http://www.organicconsumers.org/sos.cfm#action TO TAKE ACTION!

Organic Consumers Association

6101 Cliff Estate Rd, Little Marais, MN 55614

218-226-4164

http://www.organicconsumers.org