Neb.-based Promiseland sues USDA over suspension
The Belleville News Democrat By TIMBERLY ROSS, Associated Press Promiseland Livestock filed a federal lawsuit Friday to stop the U.S. Department of Agriculture from suspending the Nebraska-based company’s organic certification. The lawsuit accuses the USDA of abusing its power when it decided to strip Promiseland of its organic certification for five years after accusing the […]
Peace Cereal Illegally Misleading Consumers?
Prominent Brand Representing “Natural” Foods as Organic Organic Industry Watchdog Files Complaint with the Federal Trade Commission Cornucopia, Wis. – The Cornucopia Institute filed a complaint with the Federal Trade Commission, alleging that Hearthside Food Solutions, which manufactures Peace Cereal, is misleading consumers by suggesting that its “natural” breakfast cereals are grown and processed without […]
1,000 Coming to Granville for Ecological Food, Farm Conference
Newarkadvocate.com By Drew Bracken, Granville Sentinel correspondent Granville will be buzzing this weekend as almost 1,000 farmers, gardeners, researchers and consumers from all across Ohio and several Midwestern states arrive for the Ohio Ecological Food and Farm Association’s 32nd annual conference at Granville High School. “We have been amazed at the response to the conference,” […]
Why Aren’t G.M.O. Foods Labeled?
New York Times By Mark Bittman If you want to avoid sugar, aspartame, trans-fats, MSG, or just about anything else, you read the label. If you want to avoid G.M.O.’s — genetically modified organisms — you’re out of luck. They’re not listed. You could, until now, simply buy organic foods, which by law can’t contain […]
Systemic Problems with Organic Labeling and Signage: Widespread Market Place Misrepresentation
Formal rule change request by The Cornucopia Institute will address problem CORNUCOPIA, Wis. An investigation by The Cornucopia Institute found numerous stores in several states that carried “organic” signs on shelves of non-organic breakfast cereal, and bulk bins with non-organic granola that had “organic” bin labels. One specific company, Golden Temple, which manufactures bulk granola […]
A Boost to Organic Farming
AgWeek By John Crabtree LYONS, Neb. — The steady growth of organic farming and ranching in North Dakota and the economic affects of organics on rural communities cannot and should not be ignored. USDA recently reiterated its commitment to organic production by making available another $50 million in funding for the Environmental Quality Incentives Program […]
Letter to President Obama
By Arran Stephens, Nature’s Path Foods Dear President Obama, As a Canadian citizen, as an idealist, as the CEO of North America’s largest organic breakfast foods company, independent, strong and family owned—with plants in Wisconsin, Washington and BC employing hundreds of wonderful team members, I want to let you know that when my family and […]
No Seeds, No Independent Research
Los Angeles Times By Doug Gurian-Sherman Soybeans, corn, cotton and canola — most of the acres planted in these crops in the United States are genetically altered. “Transgenic” seeds can save farmers time and reduce the use of some insecticides, but herbicide use is higher, and respected experts argue that some genetically engineered crops may […]
USDA Uncovers Plot to Import Fake Chinese Organic Food
Chinese Import Moratorium Needed to Protect Consumers/Farmers Cornucopia, WI—After years of ringing the alarm bell about fraudulent Chinese organic production, the nation’s preeminent organic farming watchdog, The Cornucopia Institute, applauded the federal government’s current approach to enforcement and its transparency. On February 11, The Department of Agriculture (USDA) publicly released evidence of attempted fraud by […]
U.S. Corn Pile Getting Squeezed to 15-year Low
Reuters By Sam Nelson CHICAGO (Reuters) – America’s supply of corn is expected to keep shrinking as offtake from ethanol makers expands, dropping the 2010/11 supply to its lowest in 15 years even as use for feed and export stabilizes or wanes. “Ending stocks will have declined in eight of the past nine months as […]
Free trade: As U.S. corn flows south, Mexicans stop farming
McClatchy Washington Bureau Tim Johnson | McClatchy Newspapers SAN JERONIMO SOLOLA, Mexico — Look around the rain-fed corn farms in Oaxaca state, and in vast areas of Mexico, and one sees few young men, just elderly people and single mothers. “The men have gone to the United States,” explained Abel Santiago Duran, a 56-year-old municipal […]
Skyrocketing Prices Point To Looming Global Food Crisis
NPR Michel Martin and Marilyn Geewax Listen to the Story Global food prices hit a record high in January, according to the United Nations’ Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO). They are expected to continue to rise in the months ahead. Surging prices in 2007 and 2008 lead to protests in scores of countries, and Algerians […]
