After Cornucopia’s investigative report, The Organic Watergate, found that an unholy alliance between corporate agribusiness and the USDA was resulting in gimmicky and risky synthetics being added to organic food production, we promised that the National Organic Standards Board (NOSB) would never meet again without an unbiased scientific review of all synthetic and non-organic materials proposed for use in organics.

Now, before every NOSB meeting Cornucopia food scientists and policy staff carefully review all proposals and prepare a briefing for board members. If you’d like a chance to become an organic policy wonk, please click here to review Cornucopia’s critique of the April 2013 agenda proposals.

One of the issues covered in our analysis is the continued use of antibiotics on apple and pear trees as a control for fire blight. Not only is antibiotic use inconsistent with the foundational precepts of organics, a national survey of tree fruit producers conducted by Cornucopia found that less than half have ever needed to depend on tetracycline and streptomycin for fire blight. One of the thresholds for any synthetic used in organics, to be approved, is that it is “essential” in organic production.

Since dedicated organic farmers know how to produce apples and pears, relying on preventative cultural practices, the crutch of using antibiotics appears to be unnecessary and thus not legally approvable.

Mark Kastel
Senior Farm Policy Analyst
The Cornucopia Institute

Posted in Cornucopia News

By Charlotte Vallaeys

Image by Petro

For babies and children, whose brains are rapidly developing, it is especially important to buy organic versions of foods whose counterparts are commonly sprayed with neurotoxic pesticides or fumigants. Even on relatively “clean” conventional foods, if pesticides were used someone was exposed to them – if not you or your child then farmworkers and possibly their children.

But avoiding neurotoxic residues is not the only reason to buy organic. Organic also means avoiding genetically engineered organisms, solvent-extracted ingredients, synthetic growth hormones, and other potential hazards to children’s healthy development. Whenever possible choose organic, especially for these 10 foods: Read Full Article »

Posted in Cornucopia News

Organic farmer Steve Sprinkel and his wife, Olivia Chase, were named Stewards of Sustainable Agriculture at the 33rd annual EcoFarm conference held earlier this year  in California. Sprinkel, a long-time policy advisor and director, has served as the president of The Cornucopia Institute Board of Directors since 2010. The Harvard-educated farmer is also an author, organic certification inspector, and restaurateur.

EcoFarm founder Amigo Cantisano cited Sprinkel’s lifetime of leadership in the organic farming movement, including his participation in regional and statewide organic certification with CCOF, his long tenure as associate editor and “Transitions” columnist at ACRES USA, and his work with Cornucopia.

With her husband, Olivia Chase owns The Farmer and The Cook, an all-organic restaurant, bakery and grocery store located in Ojai, California.  Chase was honored as a prominent regional activist and educator in the good food movement. The couple operate a 12-acre organic farm.

In accepting the award, Sprinkel noted that it “seems entirely premature because I feel like I am not done yet!” Read Full Article »

Posted in Cornucopia News

Today’s Smorgasbord of Ag Chemicals Poses Special Risks to Children’s Health

By Charlotte Vallaeys

The numbers are staggering. With 1,400 pesticides registered with the EPA—200 of them known neurotoxins and others identified as carcinogens or endocrine disruptors—is it any wonder childhood epidemics are on the rise.  Indeed, 54% of American children now have a chronic health condition.

Conventional foods commonly contain residues of pesticides linked to cancer, damage to the nervous system and cognitive development, or disruption of hormone functions in humans. Also, genetically modified crops are allowed in our food supply, sans labeling, introduced without adequate testing as to their potential harm on human beings or the environment. In addition, conventional processed foods often contain ingredients that were processed with synthetic solvents like hexane, which are neurotoxic.

All these human health hazards can be avoided simply by choosing organic food.

This spring Cornucopia will release a new report that explores the scientific data regarding risks associated with conventional foods, and what parents can do to reduce their children’s exposure. Read Full Article »

Posted in Cornucopia News

The Cornucopia Institute Releases Report
Formally Requests Removal of Carrageenan from List of Allowed Additives

Cornucopia, WI – The Cornucopia Institute formally requested that the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) remove the common additive carrageenan from the US food supply.

Last year the FDA rejected a 2008 citizen petition, which presented scientific studies linking carrageenan to gastrointestinal inflammation and disease, including cancer.  The petition was filed by Dr. Joanne Tobacman, a physician-researcher at the University of Illinois – Chicago College of Medicine, who has been studying food-grade carrageenan for more than a decade.

“The FDA’s justification for denial was based on a sloppy and incomplete evaluation of available published research, and it was riddled with overt bias which appears to protect an industry’s profits at the expense of public health,” says Charlotte Vallaeys, Director of Farm and Food Policy at Cornucopia, a Wisconsin-based non-profit food policy research group.  ”We have asked them to reevaluate.”

Carrageenan is a highly processed additive extracted from red seaweed.  The controversial material contributes no nutritional value or flavor, but is added to affect the texture of a wide range of foods and beverages.

Scientists have raised concern about its safety for decades, based on research linking food-grade carrageenan in the diet of laboratory animals to gastrointestinal disease, including colon tumors. Read Full Article »

Posted in Cornucopia News