Huffington Post
Timothy LaSalle, CEO of the Rodale Institute

Good news! You can rest assured that the organic food you bought today is every bit as beneficial for you and the planet as it was three days ago. Advantages for health and ecological soundness are still there, despite a review released this week claiming that there is insufficient evidence to prove organic superiority on the nutritional grounds it evaluated.

The work, a review of research completed by the London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine and funded by the United Kingdom’s Food Standards Agency (FSA), was rigorous in its selection of 55 studies from 50 years of nearly 50,000 studies, some of which were conducted before the creation of national organic standards. Unfortunately, it failed to include contemporary research showing organic strengths, and dismisses areas of organic superiority within its reviewed work, including antioxidant capacity (important for cancer-fighting properties). Read Full Article »

Posted in Opinion/Editorial

CORNUCOPIA, WI — The US Department of Agriculture should publicly release the names of applicants for its expert advisory panel on organic food and agriculture practices, according to a farm policy group.  Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack is expected to announce the appointment for five open slots on the 15-member National Organic Standards Board sometime during the next few months.

“We believe a public and transparent selection process for members of this key advisory group is appropriate and will help assure the most qualified people are selected for this important work,” said Will Fantle, Codirector of The Cornucopia Institute.  Applicants to the National Organic Standards Board (NOSB) have been publicly announced in the past, although not in recent years, according to the Wisconsin-based farm policy research group. Read Full Article »

Posted in Cornucopia News

Grist
Kurt Michael Friese

Grinnell Heritage Farm is 152 years old. Andrew Dunham is the fifth generation of his family to work this land about 50 miles east of Des Moines. He is a direct descendant of Josiah Grinnell, founder of the town and the man Horace Greeley once famously quoted as having said, “Go west, young man, go west.” Andrew and his wife Melissa are a few months shy of receiving their formal certification as an organic farm.

Across the road, due north of their land, is a field of corn that is managed by the nearby Monsanto seed corn plant. In Iowa and anywhere commodity corn is grown, it is common practice around this time of year to use chemicals to control fungus. Read Full Article »

Posted in Media/News

Inside This Issue: Organic Dairy Farmers’ Rally, USDA Secretary Asked to Vigorously Enforce Organic Laws * Dean Foods Criticizes Cornucopia’s Soy Report * Raw Almond Lawsuit and Fundraising Incentive * Cornucopia Tracking Food Safety Reforms * Short Takes and Appetizers * More Tools

Read Full Article »

Posted in Newsletter Archive

BREAKING NEWS: Supporters of the food safety legislation HR 2749 sought to push the bill forward without amendments and only 40 minutes of debate. Their effort failed Wednesday afternoon to get the needed 2/3rds vote for this maneuver. To view a short news story on this, click here. Stay tuned for what comes next.

This week, as soon as Tuesday, the House will vote on HR 2749 — the Food Safety Enhancement Act.

We strongly encourage you to call or email your Representative as soon as possible and ask that they support the Farr-Kaptur amendment to HR 2749.

New food safety legislation should not penalize or threaten the nation’s organic and local, sustainable farmers. Read Full Article »

Posted in Completed Action Alerts