Sneak Attack on Organic Standards

[Guest guest]

Unfortunately, the anti-organics industries also hired the

quackwatch/junkscience teams to do PR for them. Stossel of ABC

was caught giving false info and faking studies about this a couple

of years ago! We all know how brutal he has been to the breast

implant debacle by defending the manufacturer's junk science

as 'sound.'

Received about 10 copies of this in the last few days.

Sent: Thursday, October 06, 2005 6:53 PM

Subject: Sneak Attack on Organic Standards

Hi,

Thought you might find this interesting.

The Organic Consumers Association (OCA) needs your immediate help to

stop Congress and the Bush administration from seriously degrading

organic standards. After 35 years of hard work, the U.S. organic

community has built up a multi-billion dollar alternative to

industrial agriculture, based upon strict organic standards and

organic community control over modification to these standards.

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/organizations/oca/campaign.jsp?

campaign_KEY=1242

Take action now at http://www.democracyinaction.org/oca/campaign.jsp?

campaign_KEY=1242