[This action alert is now closed] Application Deadline is June 17 Two positions for organic farmers are among the five vacancies the USDA is seeking to fill on the National Organic Standards Board (NOSB). Appointees will serve a five-year term beginning in January 2016. Vacancies for the 15-member organic advisory board must represent a particular… Read more »
Tell the USDA to Support Stronger Conservation of Biodiversity in Organic Agriculture Systems
[This action alert has been completed. The comment period is now closed.] Comments Due by February 27, 2015 Source: USDA Long held principles of organic farming commonly articulate values and goals that link organic farms with protection of biodiversity. “Organic production” is defined in federal regulations as a “production system that is managed to respond… Read more »
Food Safety Petition and Action Alert
[This alert is over–comment period now closed] Food Safety Modernization Act: New Draft Rules Comments Due on December 15 to FDA Please take action by reading the full Action Alert available on the Cornucopia website: https://www.cornucopia.org/food-safety/ Although improved over the first draft the FDA’s proposed food safety rules are still onerous enough that they could… Read more »
Action Alert — Food Safety Modernization Act: New Draft Rules Comments Due on December 15
[This alert is over–comment period now closed] In response to recent widespread, and sometimes deadly, outbreaks of foodborne illness, Congress passed the Food Safety Modernization Act (FSMA) charging the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) with improving their oversight of the food industry. But the intense blowback the FDA received last year from family-scale farmers and… Read more »
EPA Accepting Comments on Pollinator Health Until November 24, 2014
[This action alert is now closed] Beyond Pesticides Co-Chairs of Pollinator Health Task Force: USDA’s Tom Vilsack and EPA’s Lisa Jackson Image Source: USDA At the close of Pollinator Week 2014 President Obama called on government agencies to create a plan to “promote the health of honey bees and other pollinators.” However, at the end… Read more »
Living With GMOs
[This action alert is now closed] The Letter From America An open letter to the citizens, politicians, and regulators of the UK and the rest of the EU about the hazards of genetically modified crops We are writing as concerned American citizens to share with you our experience of genetically modified (GM) crops and the… Read more »
WHITE HOUSE PETITION: President Obama, Please Reverse USDA Coup Undermining Organics
[This petition is now closed] WHITE HOUSE PETITION: Ask President Obama to Reverse USDA Coup Undermining Organic Governing Board and Shifting Power to Agribusiness Lobbyists Stop allowing corporations to add gimmicky and risky synthetic chemicals to organics When Congress passed the Organic Foods Production Act of 1990 (OFPA), they created a unique and powerful citizen… Read more »
ACTION ALERT: Stop the Corporate Takeover of Organics
[This petition is now closed] After years of pillaging the conventional dairy industry, Dean Foods recently spun-off their branded products division (WhiteWave), including the Horizon and Silk labels. The company has cheapened organics and its brands. Now, at the nation’s largest organic farming conference, the company will again have a prominent role. This Saturday, at the… Read more »
ACTION ALERT: Protect Organic/Non-GMO Farmers and the Purity of Our Food Supply
Comments Due March 4 Credit: USDA NRCS Organic and Non-GMO agriculture has shouldered the burden of GMO contamination for too long. This is our opportunity to tell the USDA that it must use its authority to: 1. Implement mandatory contamination prevention measures to avoid the problem and protect the organic and non-GMO sector; 2. Ensure… Read more »
Subterfuge: FDA’s Phase Out of Antibiotics for Animal Growth Purposes Ineffective — Will Disadvantage Small Farmers
[This action alert is now closed] [Please note that we have updated the previously incorrect docket number on the sample letter.] On December 11, 2013 the U.S. Food & Drug Administration (FDA) released a new draft guidance that asks animal-drug makers to voluntarily discontinue marketing antibiotics to farmers for faster livestock growth, limiting their use… Read more »
