Beyond Pesticides is a highly-respected ally in our fight to protect the integrity of the organic label. Since we are doing less direct scrutiny of materials, we are depending more upon their analysis. Why?

1. In a process greatly accelerated during the Obama administration, the National Organic Standards Board has been successfully stacked with employees of members, or corporate allies, of the powerful industry lobby group, the Organic Trade Association — even in seats designated for citizens who “own and operate” organic farms.
2. Under the leadership of the NOSB board representative who works for Clif Bar, the OTA-friendly panel gave away much of its power and autonomy to set its work plan and meeting agendas to the political appointees at the USDA. The will of Congress, that the NOSB be an independent body advising the USDA Secretary, has been subverted.
3. Finally, since the Trump administration has taken over, USDA Secretary Sonny Perdue has shown no hesitation in overruling unanimous votes on approving/disapproving non-organic substances for use in organic food and agriculture (and has scuttled animal welfare policy advice as well). This disrespect for the public-private NOSB collaboration is unprecedented.

Thus, we are directing more of our resources to marketplace education and activism. However, Cornucopia staff will be at the upcoming NOSB meeting to “witness” the proceedings and report back to the organic community. And we will be testifying.

As an example, all the materials of concern to Beyond Pesticides, delineated below, are dubious in terms of their need. Good organic stewardship is about preventing problems with crops and livestock rather than having to remediate them, using chemicals, after the fact. It is quite questionable whether or not these proposals are consistent with the philosophies underpinning organic management (a requirement of law before they are approved).

MAK

Comment by October 4 to Protect Organic Integrity!

The Fall 2018 NOSB meeting dates have been announced and public comments are due by October 4, 2018. Your comments and participation are critical to the integrity of the organic label. Written comments may be submitted through Regulations.gov until 11:59 pm ET October 4, 2018. Reservations for in-person and webinar comments close at the same time. Read Full Article »

Posted in Action Alerts

With Two Very Different Bills Hitting the Editing Desk, Congress Needs Your Continuing Input

Update August 7, 2018

The House and Senate conference committee members have been appointed, and are now in recess.

This is a very good time to intensify contacting Members of Congress, particularly the conferees listed below. When they come back to the table, it’s important they support Farm Bill language that protects small farms and the integrity of the organic label.

After the Independence Day recess, the two farm bill drafts produced and passed in the House and Senate have gone to a conference committee. A conference committee, appointed by leadership, is a smaller group of Senators and Representatives charged with combining two separate bills into one. The House and Senate will each vote on the legislation that comes out of the committee.

Call Your Representatives in Congress:(202) 224-3121 Image source: RawPixel

It is important that members of the public continue to call their Senators and Representatives as the 2018 Farm Bill is debated in conference and eventually up to vote again. Supportive programs, mostly in the Senate version, for small organic farms, organic research programs, fraudulent organic imports tracking, and conservation programs could be on the chopping block as the conference tries to reach a compromise. Reciprocally, very damaging language in the House version that would undermine the authority of the National Organic Standards Board will be considered.

Members of the public have a chance to make a difference by staying on top of these issues and communicating their needs to their Congresspersons. The future of our agricultural system and particularly the administration of the organic label depends on support from the Farm Bill.

Keep the pressure on Representatives and Senators!

Call or email your Member(s) of Congress and tell them to support Farm Bill language that protects small farms and the integrity of the organic label. Click here to find your House and Senate Representatives. Read Full Article »

Posted in Action Alerts

Support a Strong, Sustainable Food System and an Independent NOSB

Source: Andrew Stawarz

Congress has been working to pass the 2018 Farm Bill, which governs an array of agricultural and food programs. The first draft bill failed to pass the House, but a new draft was just pushed past the vote on Thursday, June 21.

Meanwhile, the Senate Agricultural Committee has produced a bipartisan Farm Bill. This Senate draft bill has some advances for the organic market, including boosts to organic research funding, some provisions to address fraudulent imports, some enhanced conservation programs, and maintaining certification cost-share programs.

However, there are some problems in the Committee bill as well. First, the Senate draft bill cuts funding from the primary working lands conservation programs (Conservation Stewardship Program and Environmental Quality Incentives program). Second, there are changes to the National Organic Standards Board (NOSB) that are unnecessary and potentially harmful.

Those changes deal with how NOSB members vote on the inclusion and exclusion of synthetic (i.e. non-organic) materials on the National List of Allowed and Prohibited Substances (which dictates what farm inputs and food ingredients can be used in organic agriculture and food production). The change being proposed in the Senate Bill allows synthetic materials to stay on the list indefinitely unless voted off. This change has already been (in our opinion, illegally) enacted through order by former National Organic Program director, Miles McEvoy, and then rubber-stamped during the 2013 NOSB meeting. However, if immortalized in the Farm Bill, Cornucopia’s legal challenges to this policy will become moot.

It is vital that legislators know this change will make it easier for synthetic materials to continue being used by organic farmers – something neither consumers nor ethical organic farmers want from the marketplace.

Tell your Senators the materials on the National List should NOT stay on the list indefinitely. This move would only undermine the traditional powers of the NOSB and the integrity of the organic label.

CALL NOW!

1. Call or email your Member(s) of Congress and tell them to support Farm Bill language that protects small farms and the integrity of the organic label. Click here to find your House and Senate Representatives.
2. Call the Capitol switchboard: (202) 224-3121.
3. Ask for your Representative and/or Senator. Once they connect you, leave a message like this one:

Hello, my name is [____] and I am a constituent. Please support family farmers, a strong organic label, and robust conservation programs in the 2018 Farm Bill. We need a Bill that supports sustainable, local, small- to medium-scale businesses and disadvantaged farmers. It is important that the authority of the National Organic Standards Board is preserved to maintain trust in the organic marketplace. In particular, I am concerned that changes to how the National Organic Standards Board votes on substances in the National List will undermine the entire organic label. Thank you.

If you are an organic livestock farmer or rancher, or are involved in the industry, please be sure to mention that. Comments from organic consumers are vitally important too, especially if you tell your Congress member why you care. If you are a consumer, you can also let your Congress member know that this regulation is vital to your continued trust in the organic label.

Read Full Article »

Posted in Action Alerts

Sign the Proxy Asking Major Retailers to Offer Genuine Organic Choices 

We need the stores we shop at to quit trying to sell us fake organic food from inhumane livestock factories, masquerading as organic, or hydroponic vegetables fertilized with conventional soybeans and grown in ground up coconut waste … or even ground up recycled plastic!

Top retailers like Whole Foods Markets, Costco, Target, Safeway, Walmart, and Kroger must be convinced to provide choices in their grocery aisles for authentic, nutrient-dense organic food grown in rich, carefully stewarded soil.

If the nutrients are not in our soil, they are not in our food …. and they are not in our families! Factory farm meat, dairy and egg production, and fruits and vegetables grown without soil rich in humus result in inferior flavor and nutrition.

Increasingly, grocery aisles are filled with faux organics brought to consumers by corporations that are selling out the true meaning of organics.  Read Full Article »

Posted in Action Alerts

Sample images of chicken and distributor information

Cornucopia’s scorecard ratings help you choose the best food for your family while rewarding the most ethical organic producers.

We are starting investigative work to develop a new scorecard to rate brands of organic chicken and turkey, and we need your help!

In order to include all possible brands on the poultry scorecard, we need to know what brands of certified organic chicken and turkey are available at retail in your local grocery store or co-op.

Here’s how you can help: the next time you are food shopping, note the organic turkey or chicken brands available in your grocery store. Take a photo of the label or write down the following information:

1. The brand name
2. The organic certifier’s name
3. The processor or distributor’s name (if different than the brand name)
4. The name and location of the store

All of this should be available on the poultry package or on store signage.

NOTE: We are only collecting information on certified organic brands. Read Full Article »

Posted in Action Alerts