Inside This Issue: USDA Establishes Strong New Organic Standards for Pasture and Livestock * Genetically Modified Alfalfa Threatens Organic Agriculture * USDA Seeking Comments on Finish Feeding of Organic Beef and Ruminants * Visit With Cornucopia Staff at the Upper Midwest Organic Farming Conference — Feb 25-27 in LaCrosse, WI * Organic, Local, Authentic Food and Farming News 24/7 at www.cornucopia.org
The following comments concern the potential deregulation of Monsanto’s genetically engineered alfalfa. They are provided by Jim Munsch, a certified organic beef farmer and The Cornucopia Institute’s key advisor on this important issue. We are posting these as an aide to others still composing comments to the USDA and for those who seek to know more about this issue that is so critical to organic and conventional farmers.
Comments on Draft Environmental Impact Statement
Glyphosate-Tolerant Alfalfa
Docket No. APHIS-2007-0044
We own and operate Deer Run Farm, a certified organic beef-producing farm. This is a grass and forage based cow/calf to finished beef operation. It has been certified organic since 1999. Prior to 1995 we farmed conventionally. In addition I have a business consulting company specializing on performance analysis methods and general management for organic and small farms.
As an organic animal farmer I have easily co-existed with neighbors choosing to use genetically engineered (GE) corn and soybeans and the industry that supports them. This is done with simple – although costly – measures to minimize genetic contamination of my crops and the crops of seed producers. Six years ago I heard of the possibility of GE alfalfa from an alfalfa seed grower. I was concerned that because alfalfa is a perennial, is pollinated over long distances and seed is grown in geographically confined areas with shared equipment that there is high probability of significant contamination between GE and non-GE varieties especially in seed production. This would have the effect of eliminating alfalfa from the organic production model. Read Full Article »
Wall Street Journal
By LAUREN ETTER
A group of black farmers reached a $1.25 billion settlement with the U.S. Department of Agriculture over a longstanding civil-rights case that had cast a pall over the agency for decades.
In a conference call Thursday, Secretary of Agriculture Tom Vilsack said the settlement would close a “sordid chapter in USDA history.”
“This is a very historic, emotional day for black farmers,” said John Boyd Jr., president of the National Black Farmers Association who once traveled 200 miles in a mule-drawn wagon from Baskerville, Va., to Washington to raise awareness about black farmers. “But the [Obama] administration is going to have to help me finish the job.”
Thursday’s settlement, which remains contingent on the money being appropriated by Congress, stems from a 1997 class-action civil-rights lawsuit, Pigford v. Glickman, that was filed by three African-American farmers alleging the USDA had discriminated against them and other black farmers. Read Full Article »
University of Wisconsin-Madison News
by Bob Mitchell
The current financial downturn hasn’t spared Wisconsin’s organic farmers, but in general they have been able to ride it out, says a new report about the state’s organic sector.
“EcoGrain” Marketing Blitz — Greenwashing New Bread Produced with Toxic Agrochemicals as Something Better Than Organic
Cornucopia, Wisconsin: With the growing success of organics, and increasing consumer interest in buying foods that were grown on sustainable farms without toxic chemicals, Sara Lee Corporation has launched, with much fanfare, a marketing campaign for its EarthGrains bread, chock-full of environmental-friendly catchphrases.
Sara Lee claims that “Eco-Grain™,” an ingredient actually used in small proportions in its EarthGrains brand breads, is more sustainable than organic grain. What has been described as a “crass and exploitive marketing ploy” has angered many in the organic community.
“Corporations like Sara Lee clearly want to profit from consumers’ interest in ecological and healthy food production. But unlike organic companies, Sara Lee is doing practically nothing to ensure its ingredients are truly ecologically produced,” said Charlotte Vallaeys, a Food and Farm Policy Analyst at The Cornucopia Institute, a Wisconsin-based organic industry watchdog. “It’s a crass example of a corporation trying to capitalize on the valuable market cachet of organic, while intentionally misleading consumers–without making any meaningful commitment to protect the environment or produce safer and more nutritious food.” Read Full Article »
