February 2010 E-Newsletter
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 […]
Comments on Draft Environmental Impact Statement Glyphosate-Tolerant Alfalfa
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 […]
Black Farmers, USDA Agree to $1.25 Billion Settlement
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 […]
Wisconsin’s Organic Farmers Are Largely Weathering the Economic Storm
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. “Organics has held its position as an area where all sizes of operations can find opportunities to meet a […]
Corporate Baking Giant Sara Lee Hijacks Organics
“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, […]
FSIS Curious, Not Too Curious
Food Safety News by Dan Flynn When tests for the deadly E. coli O157:H7 pathogen come back with positive results, the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s Food Safety and Inspection Service (FSIS) makes sure the product does not reach consumers, but that’s about it. Nobody tracks down the source of contamination or figures out if there […]
Maine Dairy Farmers Put New Organic Milk on Market
Madison Daily Leader (link no longer available) PORTLAND, Maine (AP) — Maine dairy farmers hope their new organic milk, called MOOMilk, becomes as popular among natural-food buffs as Maine lobster is among seafood lovers. Ten dairy farmers formed Maine’s Own Organic Milk Co., MOOMilk for short, last year after their contracts weren’t renewed by large milk […]
New USDA Rules Establish Strong Organic Standards for Pasture and Livestock
Family Farmers Call Rule a Victory for Integrity of Organic Food and Agriculture Swift and Judicious Enforcement of Abuses Now Expected by Obama Administration WASHINGTON, DC — After over 10 years of lobbying, family farmers across the country, who produce organic milk, are celebrating the release of strict new USDA regulations that establish distinct benchmarks […]
Monsanto Pulls GM Corn Amid Serious Food Safety Concerns
The Permaculture Research Institute of Australia GMOs, Health & Disease — by Dr. Brian Applicant’s dossiers contained wide-ranging fraudulent research For the first time, a GM multinational has pulled two GM corn varieties from the regulatory and assessment process at the eleventh hour (1), after planning for a future income of several billion dollars per […]
USDA Sets Sights on New Plan for National Animal Identification System
Farm and Dairy by Other News WASHINGTON — After hearing public outcry about the proposed national animal identification system, United States Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack has decided a more flexible path is needed in the plan. New plan Vilsack announced Feb. 5 that USDA will develop a new, flexible framework for animal disease traceability in […]
Link Between Birth Defect Gastroschisis and the Agricultural Chemical Atrazine Found
e! Science News In a study to be presented today at the Society for Maternal-Fetal Medicine’s (SMFM) annual meeting, The Pregnancy Meeting ™, in Chicago, researchers will unveil findings that demonstrate a link between the birth defect gastroschisis and the agricultural chemical atrazine. Gastroschisis is a type of inherited congenital abdominal wall defect in which […]
Finding Organic Farms in Illinois Like Hunting Needles in a Haystack
Medill Reports – Chicago by Sachpreet Chandhoke The presence of organic farms in Illinois could be a rounding error. “I have been perplexed for many, many years why Illinois doesn’t have as much organic production as other states,” said Lynn Clarkson, president and founder of Illinois-based organic-only Clarkson Grain Company. Of the 26.8 million acres […]
