Cornucopia in 2014: The Power of the Organic Farmer–Organic Eater Connection
[This story originally appeared in the Fall 2014 issue of The Cultivator, The Cornucopia Institute’s quarterly print publication available to members and online.]
Commentary by Mark Kastel
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Some of our members have probably heard me say this before: Farmers have no clout in Washington or the marketplace. With less than 2% of our population engaged in production agriculture, after the presidential candidates get done kissing the rear ends of the ethanol lobbyists in Iowa during the primary season, you will never hear about food or farming again.
But organics is different. Although farmers continue to make up the base of our constituency and membership, Cornucopia’s secret weapon is partnering with millions of our urban-allies who passionately care about the quality and authenticity of their food and are willing to stand with farm families they respect.
Most of you who receive this newsletter are financially supporting our mission at Cornucopia. You have our sincere thanks. The remaining recipients, generally staff or board members of other nonprofits, have complimentary subscriptions because we appreciate their service to the organic community.
It’s hard to believe it was 10 years ago that Will Fantle and I co-founded The Cornucopia Institute, in response to the increasing corporate encroachment upon and erosion of organic values. While we are celebrating our anniversary, I thought I would mention a few incremental successes we’ve had lately:
Organic Labeling Deception
In August, the USDA, four years after receiving a formal legal complaint from Cornucopia, agreed that companies using the word “organic” in their brand name, prominently on their packaging, but not selling certified organic food, are misleading the public. This will force companies like Newman’s Own Organics to discontinue their deceptive marketing practices.
Removing Carrageenan from Organic Food
Congress charged the National Organic Standards Board (NOSB) with reviewing all synthetic and non-organic materials used in organics to make certain they don’t endanger human health or the environment and that they are essential to organic production. However, this process has been corrupted by corporate money and lobbyists. But Cornucopia is making headway.
Recently, WhiteWave Foods (formerly Dean Foods’ branded product division) announced they would pull the dangerous food additive carrageenan from their Horizon and Silk products over the next two years. Carrageenan is a derivative of red seaweed that independent research has shown causes intestinal inflammation and even cancer in laboratory animals. WhiteWave now joins a list of other organic marketers who lobbied for carrageenan’s use but who have acquiesced after being pounded with questions by their customers.
The Cornucopia Institute will petition the NOSB to remove carrageenan from all organic food.
USDA Enforcement
Unfortunately, the records of the Bush and Obama administrations have been uneven when it comes to cracking down on organic scofflaws. As an example, six years after filing a complaint on the 16,000-cow Shamrock Dairy in Arizona, and three years after the USDA informed us that they upheld our allegations and banned Shamrock from organics, the company is still selling milk and appealing the USDA’s findings. Shameful.
At the same time, we need to give the USDA credit when they are executing their duties as Congress intended.
When one of our “intelligence agents” (members) informed us that organic cows waiting to be auctioned off in the San Joaquin Valley of California, were being fed conventional feed, USDA investigators intervened and shut down the auction before it could even happen. Good for them!
More recently, when another intelligence agent let us know that a Saskatchewan, Canada farmer, Bob Thomas, was applying banned agrichemicals on “organic” crops bound for the U.S., his organic certification was, likewise, suspended. (No word on any monetary fines.)
Our power comes from you—a unique farmer-consumer coalition. With your help, we will continue to fight, over the next 10 years, to help maintain the integrity of organic farming and food production.
