The Wall Street Journal By Bill Tomson WASHINGTON—The Senate failed to vote as planned Thursday on passage of a bill to overhaul the nation’s food-safety system and grant new powers to the Food and Drug Administration, a delay that may threaten the legislation. Sen. Tom Harkin (D., Iowa) blamed the delay on the insistence of… Read more »
Hagan and Tester Successfully Fight for Farmers
Senators came to an agreement to include the Tester-Hagan amendment as part of the food safety bill WASHINGTON, D.C. – Last night, U.S. Senator Kay R. Hagan (D-NC) and Jon Tester (D-MT) successfully fought for small farmers. An agreement was reached on the Tester-Hagan amendment to the Food Safety Modernization Act, which is currently being… Read more »
Grass-based Organic Dairy Farming Promotes Cow Health, Enhances Milk Quality, and Lightens the Environmental Footprint of Dairy Farming
The Organic Center (this link no longer available) Reproductive health problems on high-production, grain-based dairies lead to fewer and longer lactations, increasing costs and cutting lifelong production and revenue BOULDER, Colo. (November 10, 2010) – Organic dairy farming systems promote cow health and longevity by placing less stress on cows and feeding them healthier forage-based diets,… Read more »
Food Safety Bill Update — Senate Debate Underway
Steve Gilman NOFA Policy Coordinator In the Senate it’s well understood that the only safe place for proposed legislation to be for a Floor vote is in the “Manager’s Package”. Because there’s already lengthy and considerable bipartisan negotiation and buy-in at the committee level — the resulting Manager’s Package Bill is good to go for… Read more »
Why Farmers Are Turning To Local Food
OPB News Guy Hand A just released Zagat survey found that 68 percent of restaurant goers say they prefer locally grown food. Sixty percent of those would pay more for that food. That’s good news for the small, but increasing number of farmers and ranchers who grow products for local markets. Guy Hand finds out… Read more »
NY Organic Dairy Initiative Completes 5-Year Project, Will Continue
Madison County Courier (Cortland, NY) The 5-year-old NY Organic Dairy Initiative (NYODI) has helped the state’s 370 organic milk producers (NY is the 2nd largest organic milk producer in the East) learn how to lower costs, enhance production and income, and expand market opportunities. The NYODI project that has had funding support from the NY… Read more »
(ALERT OVER) Act by Nov. 17 on Senate Food Safety Legislation
Call your Senators MONDAY or TUESDAY— Urge their support for the Tester Amendment The Cornucopia Institute It now appears that the Food Safety Modernization Act (S. 510) will be voted on in the Senate during the “lame-duck” session as early as Wednesday, Nov. 17. This bill, as we have noted before, would impose extremely burdensome… Read more »
Coalition Pushes for Amendment to Controversial Senate Food Safety Bill
Over 125 national, state, and grassroots organizations are notifying members of the United States Senate that an amendment proposed by Sen. Jon Tester (MT) and Sen. Kay Hagan (NC), is critical to ensuring that the food safety bill being considered by the Senate does not injure the livelihoods of family-scale farmers and undercut consumers’ opportunity… Read more »
Listing of Certified Organic Operations Now Available from the National Organic Program
Agricultural Marketing Service – USDA AMS No. 226-10 Soo Kim WASHINGTON, Nov. 8, 2012–The National Organic Program (NOP) made available today a complete listing of organic operations certified by U.S. Department of Agriculture accredited certifying agents during the 2009 certification year. For the first time, the listing, available at http://apps.ams.usda.gov/nop/, can be searched by keywords,… Read more »
What Is Organic? USDA Trying to Define It
AOL News Dave Thier, Contributor If you’ve ever wondered exactly what that “USDA organic” seal actually means, you’re in good company. The U.S. Department of Agriculture itself has been asking the same question ever since it established the National Organic Program in 2002. “Organic” is intended to mean agricultural products produced without hormones, pesticides, artificial… Read more »
