[Market-farming] CNG News
Andrew R. King
andrew.king2 at worldnet.att.net
Sat Jan 19 13:15:24 EST 2008
Opposition to the USDA's proposed "naturally-raised" label is rising. (See
action alerts from OCA and SAC below.) Since the new term encroaches on our
name, we should all feel extra motivation to voice our opposition.
To make things as easy as possible, I've drafted a short letter below for
you to copy or modify as you wish (thanks to OCA for providing the initial
draft of this letter). The deadline to post comments is coming soon -
Monday, January 28th. Check out the action alerts below from Organic
Consumers Association and Sustainable Agriculture Coalition for more
background.
We can't let them take away these words, too - please write today! - Alice
************************************
There are three ways to submit your comments.
1. The AMS web site at http://www.regulations.gov/ (Insert "naturally
raised" in the search box, hit "go", then you'll see it's the first item
listed. Click "send a comment or submission").
2. The Mail (but it must be *received* by 1/28/08)
Naturally Raised Marketing Claim
Room 2607-S, AMS, USDA,
1400 Independence Avenue, SW
Washington, DC 20250-0254
3. By Fax (202) 720-1112.
Important - All Comments Must Reference "Docket No. LS-07-16"
***********************************
Here's the letter for you to copy or modify as you wish. Please send it
today!
Dear Mr. O'Connor:
I do not support the USDA proposal for a "naturally-raised" label standard
[Docket No. AMS-LS-07-0131; LS-07-16]. As a farmer and a consumer, I expect
such a product to be from an animal raised in a natural environment, having
free access to pasture and grazing and not confined in a CAFO type setting.
Any "naturally-raised" standard should certainly not allow for use of
antibiotics and growth hormones, of course. But if the new standard means
little more than that, it would be more appropriate to label the product as
"raised without antibiotics or supplemental growth hormones", simply put.
Should the farmer wish to convey that the animal was "never fed mammalian or
avian by-products", those words would do the trick.
But all these elements combined still aren't enough to define "naturally
raised". If a product is labeled "naturally raised", I expect it to be
raised in a natural environment. So while this proposal is intended to
provide clarity to consumers, it does the exact opposite. Should USDA's
draft proposal for this "naturally raised" claim proceed, consumer
confidence in all USDA verified or certified labels would no doubt decline.
Please go back to the drawing board to consider more transparent labels that
clearly and accurately convey the raising practices of producers seeking to
promote their products.
Sincerely,
[your name, your farm name, etc.]
-------------- next part --------------
An HTML attachment was scrubbed...
URL: http://lists.ibiblio.org/pipermail/market-farming/attachments/20080119/9256dbec/attachment.htm
More information about the Market-farming
mailing list