permaculture

["Lawrence F. London, Jr." <lfl@intrex.net>]

Subject:
[SlowFoodPT] Senate Vote to Lower Organic Standards THIS MORNING
Date:   Tue, 20 Sep 2005 04:47:13 -0700
From:   lponeill@slowfoodpiedmont.org
To:     SlowFoodPT@lists.ibiblio.org

Folks,
I generally try to refrain from this kind of thing, because I realize
it's a slippery slope, and we all get bombarded with political messages.
But this one is urgent and important.  It's a sneak attack on organic
standards in the Senate THIS MORNING!  We need to speak out RIGHT NOW.

Read more here:
http://www.organicconsumers.org/sos.cfm

Take action here:
http://www.demaction.org/dia/organizations/oca/campaign.jsp?campaign_KEY=1242

Call the Capital Switchboard here: 877-762-8762

From the OCA website:
-

The Organic Consumers Association (OCA) needs your immediate help to 
stop Congress and the Bush administration from seriously degrading 
organic standards.

After 35 years of hard work, the U.S. organic community has built up a
multi-billion dollar alternative to industrial agriculture, based upon
strict organic standards and organic community control over modification
to these standards.

Now, large corporations such as Kraft, Wal-Mart, & Dean Foods--aided and
abetted by the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) are moving to lower
organic standards by allowing a Bush appointee to create a list of
synthetic ingredients that would be allowed organic production.

Even worse these proposed regulatory changes will reduce future public
discussion and input and take away the National Organic Standards Board’s
(NOSB) traditional lead jurisdiction in setting standards.

What this means, in blunt terms. is that USDA bureaucrats and industry
lobbyists, not consumers, will now have more control over what can go into
organic foods and products.

(Send a quick letter to your Congressperson online here:
http://www.organicconsumers.org/sos.cfm

Tomorrow, Tuesday, Sept. 20, acting in haste and near-total secrecy, the
U.S. Senate will vote on a “rider” to the 2006 Agriculture Appropriations
Bill that will reduce control over organic standards from the National
Standards Board and put this control in the hands of federal bureaucrats
in the USDA (remember the USDA proposal in 1997-98 that said that genetic
engineering, toxic sludge, and food irradiation would be OK on organic
farms, or USDA suggestions in 2004 that heretofore banned pesticides,
hormones, tainted feeds, and animal drugs would be OK?).

For the past week in Washington, OCA has been urging members of the Senate
not to reopen and subvert the federal statute that governs U.S. Organic
standards (the Organic Food Production Act—OFPA), but rather to let the
organic community and the National Organic Standards resolve our
differences over issues like synthetics and animal feed internally, and
then proceed to a open public comment period.

Unfortunately most Senators seem to be listening to industry lobbyists
more closely than to us. We need to raise our voices. (Send a quick letter
to your Congressperson online here:
http://www.organicconsumers.org/sos.cfm)

In the past, grassroots mobilization and mass pressure by organic
consumers have been able to stop the USDA and Congress from degrading
organic standards.

This time Washington insiders tell us that the “fix is already in.”

So we must take decisive action now. We need you to call your U.S.
Senators today.

We need you to sign the following petition and send it to everyone you
know.

We also desperately need funds to head off this attack in the weeks and
months to come. Thank you for your support. Together we will take back
citizen control over organic standards and preserve organic integrity.

For more information go to the SOS section on our websiteClick here to
donate money to OCA’s SOS—Save Organic Standards—Campaign

Call the Capital Switchboard here: 877-762-8762

Send a quick letter to your Congressperson online here:
http://www.organicconsumers.org/sos.cfm

Thanks,ORGANIC CONSUMERS ASSOCIATION
6771 South Silver Hill Drive
Finland, MN 55603
Phone: (218)-353-7454 Fax: (218) 353-7652


-------- Original Message --------
Subject:        
Re: [SlowFoodPT] Senate Vote to Lower Organic Standards THIS MORNING
Date:   Tue, 20 Sep 2005 08:34:48 -0400
From:   George D. Peterson <george@dirtygreek.org>
To:     <lponeill@slowfoodpiedmont.org>, <SlowFoodPT@lists.ibiblio.org>

Assuming this passes, I suppose we'll seriously just have to start
buying local so that we know the story behind our foods.

I'm crossing my fingers.

-George