USDA Moving to Allow Corporate Takeover Of Organics

[Guest guest]

At this rate, why BOTHER having anything even called an " Organic "

Production Standard?

::sigh::

 

Have a great weekend anyway folks...

 

*Smile*

Chris

 

http://www.alittleolfactory.com

 

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http://www.organicconsumers.org/sos.cfm#action

 

 

Over the past few weeks America's organic

standards have once again come under heavy

attack. First the USDA's National Organic

Program (NOP) announced on April 14 that they

would no longer monitor or police " organic "

labels on non-agricultural products,

literally opening the door for unscrupulous

companies to put bogus organic labels on

products such as fish, body care products,

pet foods, fertilizer, and clothing.

 

In the case of seafood and body care

products, the marketplace is already starting

to become flooded with products bearing the

organic label, even though the production

methods (industrial fish farms) or content

( " organic " shampoos with organic claims based

upon added water) in many of these products

violate traditional organic principles.

Besides giving the green light to bogus

organic labels the new USDA " scope policy "

penalizes genuine organic companies that have

begun sourcing, certifying, and labeling

their products as organic.

 

Corporate agribusiness and the biotech lobby

have apparently decided that strict organic

farming practices and the booming organic

market constitute a threat to their bottom

line, and have called on their friends in the

Bush administration USDA to degrade organic

standards and prepare for a restructuring of

organic production so as to facilitate the

use of industrial agriculture practices such

as pesticides, antibiotics, non-organic feed,

growth hormones and even genetically

engineered animal drugs.

(For more info on corporate agribusiness

control of U.S. government, click here)

 

USDA's NOP announced on April 28

controversial new directives/guidance

statements on national organic standards

including:

 

" Organic " Crops Raised with Pesticides?

The USDA has now stated that as long as the

farmer and the organic certifier don't know

the specific ingredients of the pesticides

applied to the " organic " plants, the crops

can be sold as " organic " . To make matters

worse, it is not required by law for

pesticide companies to list the ingredients

on their products (it's considered

proprietary information), so the farmers

rarely know what the specific ingredients are.

(Read full USDA pesticide statement here)

http://www.ams.usda.gov/nop/Compliance/PesticidesCompliance.pdf

 

 

" Organic " Dairy Cows Injected with

Antibiotics and Synthetic Hormones?

The USDA has announced that individual cows

can be treated with any kind of drug at any

time, including synthetic growth hormones,

but milk can only be sold from that cow 12

months after that treatment. The problem with

this directive is that it opens up the door

for split operation factory style dairy

farms, whereby organic and non-organic dairy

operations are carried out simultaneously,

and hundreds if not thousands of " organic "

dairy cows are kept in intensive confinement.

Not only are industrial sized dairy farms bad

for the environment, but they inevitably give

rise to sick cows who have to be treated with

drugs. Of course many of these drugs build up

in the body fat and are released in the milk

and meat from these animals.. If this new

directive is allowed to stand, organic milk

could potentially contain residues of drugs

and hormones.

(Read full USDA dairy statement here)

http://www.ams.usda.gov/nop/NOP/GuidanceStatements/AntibioticGuidance041

304.pdf

 

 

Mercury and PCBs Allowed in " Organic " Beef?

The USDA also stated on April 28 that

non-organic fishmeal can be fed to cattle and

the beef can still be sold as " organic " .

Fishmeal is used as a protein supplement on

conventional cattle ranches, but it

frequently contains mercury, PCBs and other

synthetic chemicals. Mercury and PCBs are

" bioacculmulators " meaning they are

concentrated and stored in the " meat " of the

animal.

(Read full USDA livestock feed statement here)

http://www.ams.usda.gov/nop/NOP/GuidanceStatements/FishmealGuidance04130

4.pdf