Daily Grist: Organic coffee may go bye-bye, and more

[Guest guest]

At 01:18 PM 4/9/07, you wrote:

>Grinding to a Halt

>Changes in USDA policy could hit organic coffee hard

>

>Hold onto your latte: News is seeping out about a change at the U.S.

>Department of Agriculture that could affect the cost and availability of

>organic products from developing countries, including bananas, spices,

>sugar, and coffee. Normally, a farm must undergo an annual inspection to

>get certified. But for years, co-ops and large growers' groups in the

>global south have been allowed to largely police themselves, with USDA

>inspectors visiting 20 percent of each group per year. Now, motivated by a

>Mexican group that let some violations slide, the agency says every farm

>needs an annual inspection, an expensive process that may make some small

>farmers quit the organic biz. " We're literally talking about hundreds of

>thousands of farmers who will be affected, " says Michael Sligh of Rural

>Advancement Foundation International USA. Fellow organic advocates are

>steamed, saying the USDA could have reviewed the system instead of

>deep-sixing it. And our barista was all like, " Omigod, that totally sucks. "

>

>[ email | discuss | + digg | + del.icio.us ]

>

>straight to the source: Salon, Samuel Fromartz, 03 Apr 2007

>

>see also, in Gristmill: The last organic latte

 

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