Cornucopia’s Take: Spectroscopy offers hope for truly organic dairy farmers. It provides a fast and inexpensive way to show, scientifically, whether milk comes from cows pastured on grass. Cornucopia has, in the past, filed numerous complaints against “organic” livestock operations who are in our judgement flouting the organic pasture rules. This is based on flyover images… Read more »
Search Results for: GMO
Health Advantages of Organic Beef
We’ve all been there. Faced with the range of beef choices available on the retail shelf, the simple act of deciding what’s for dinner turns into a rumination on the short- and long-term impact of our food choices. Add the steady chorus of marketing messaging embedded in your brain courtesy of Big Meat, and the… Read more »
Frack Water Considered for Irrigation and Drinking in New Mexico
Cornucopia’s Take: Fracking wastewater is notoriously polluted with radiation and numerous chemicals, many of which remain under the cloak of industry secrecy. In New Mexico, where water is scarce while oil and gas provide a significant part of the state’s funding, state officials are considering recycling frack water for use on crops and even in… Read more »
Will Wisconsin’s New Governor Address the Dairy Crisis?
Cornucopia’s Take: As a national farm policy group, we don’t universally track state and local political issues. But in the prime organic agricultural production states, like California and Wisconsin, we do pay attention. As an example, the green-light for “organic” factory dairies in Texas has just six operations in the Longhorn State producing 1.4 times… Read more »
The Farm Bill is Headed to Conference, Where Members of Congress Will Work to Combine the House and Senate Versions of the Bills
[This alert is over. President Trump signed the Farm Bill on December 20, 2018.] 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… Read more »
Organic Industry Watchdog Response to USDA on Import Fraud
[Read the USDA’s Office of Inspector General review of the NOP’s oversight of imports.] The USDA’s National Organic Program, under increasing criticism regarding wholesale fraud in organics under their watch, today conducted a “virtual town hall” to present proposed rulemaking to address the improprieties. Port of Oakland Image source: Travis Leech For most of the… Read more »
Dow Weed Killer, Nearing Approval, Runs Into Opposition
The New York Times By ANDREW POLLACK To Jody Herr, it was a telltale sign that one of his tomato fields had been poisoned by 2,4-D, the powerful herbicide that was an ingredient in Agent Orange, the Vietnam War defoliant. “The leaves had curled and the plants were kind of twisting rather than growing straight,”… Read more »
New USDA Rules Establish Strong Organic Standards for Pasture and Livestock
Family Farmers Call Rule a Victory for Integrity of Organic Food and Agriculture Swift and Judicious Enforcement of Abuses Now Expected by Obama Administration WASHINGTON, DC — After over 10 years of lobbying, family farmers across the country, who produce organic milk, are celebrating the release of strict new USDA regulations that establish distinct benchmarks… Read more »
Behind Mass Die-Offs, Pesticides Lurk as Culprit
In the past dozen years, three new diseases have decimated populations of amphibians, honeybees, and — most recently — bats. Increasingly, scientists suspect that low-level exposure to pesticides could be contributing to this rash of epidemics. Environment 360 by Sonia Shah Ever since Olga Owen Huckins shared the spectacle of a yard full of dead,… Read more »
Giant Organic Livestock Operation Decertified by USDA
Federal Organic Enforcement Hammer Falls Hard to Protect Farmers/Consumers WASHINGTON, DC: In an investigation and legal case that dragged on for almost four years, one of the largest organic cattle producers in the United States, Promiseland Livestock, LLC, was suspended from organic commerce, along with its owner and key employees, for four years. The penalty… Read more »
