permaculture

[Lawrence London <lfljvenaura@gmail.com>]

The hydroponics and CAFO (confined livestock) industry trying to undo NOP &
NOSB, USDA Certified Organic
and our access to organic labelled foods in stores, i.e. back to the pre
organic conventional days. Since real organic
or natural food is important to the adoption and practice of permaculture,
what do you think about this anti forward-thinking,
regressive development?

----- Original Message -----
*From:* Dave Chapman
*To:* kris.j...@ecunet.org
*Sent:* Wednesday, September 06, 2017 8:21 AM
*Subject:* The Final Meeting?

View this email in your browser
<http://mailchi.mp/keepthesoilinorganic/is-our-leadership-leading-us-over-a-cliff-1182437?e=dc0e4e9460>
The Final Meeting

As we approach the November meeting of the NOSB in Jacksonville, we are
engaged in the great organic debate of our time. Can the National Organic
Program (NOP) serve the organic community? Can the NOP protect and preserve
strong standards that reflect the beliefs of real organic? Can the National
Organic Program reclaim integrity?

The NOP is beset by news reports of its failures and compromises. It
appears that we can’t trust that the milk, meat and eggs that we buy as
certified organic. Much of this food is actually produced on confined
animal operations with no pasture at all. We can’t trust that the
"certified organic" grain that these animals are fed isn’t actually
conventional GMO grain. And we can't trust that the vegetable and berries
that we buy are actually grown in the soil. This is a massive disservice to
the honest organic farmers who have embraced the practices known as organic
for the last 75 years. This is also a failure of the USDA program to
protect the millions of trusting eaters who choose to spend their hard
earned money on “certified organic” food.
One of the largest “organic” egg operations in the United States keeps 1.6
million hens.
This November the NOSB (National Organic Standards Board) will finally vote
(AGAIN) on a proposal to prohibit hydroponics from certification. In the
meantime, hydroponic vegetables and berries continue to pose as soil grown
organic produce. There are no standards for hydroponic production, and
there is no labeling.  Go to any supermarket in NYC at the height of the
local outdoor tomato season, and you will only find hydroponic beefsteak
tomatoes, mostly from Mexico, in the organic section. There will be no sign
warning the customers that this Fauxganic food was grown without soil.

And so we are in a final battle for the soul of the organic label. The real
organic movement is still strong. Most certified organic farmers are real
organic. But we can no longer say that most "certified organic" products
are real organic.  Miles McEvoy has said that three-quarters of the
"certified organic" eggs will be decertified if the animal welfare reform
standards are ever implemented! Miles wants those reforms to be enacted as
much as the rest of us. But that won’t happen, because the Trump USDA and
the Senate don’t want it to happen. The two most powerful Senators on the
Senate Ag committee, Roberts and Stabenow, are strongly opposed to the
animal welfare reform standards. That is because the two biggest Fauxganic
egg producers in the country are their constituents.
Theo Crisantes testifies to the Senate Ag Committee for the Hydro
Coalition, calling for the deformation of the NOSB.


And as I wrote in my last letter, (Hydro Declares War On Organic
<http://longwindfarm.us10.list-manage1.com/track/click?u=49b011e822aefbbeb68709181&id=b9bee35600&e=dc0e4e9460>
) the hydroponic lobby recently made common cause with the CAFO (Contained
Animal Feeding Operations) producers in their Senate testimony. The
Coalition called for the "reformation" of the NOSB with 5 additional seats
dedicated to representing industrial Ag interests. As if the industrial
interests weren’t already well represented!  Welcome to Walganic. They also
say it is time for the NOP to stop paying attention to “outlier issues”
like animal welfare. In this time of Trump, taking over the NOSB seems
quite possible. Roberts hopes to make these changes as part of the next
Farm Bill.

Perhaps the only way we can stop this destruction of something precious is
to stand together and speak with one voice. We must say YES to fertile soil
as the foundation of all organic farming. We must say YES that animals
deserve access to sun and soil.

We must say NO to hydroponics and CAFOS. We must say NO to fraud from some
of the biggest producers in the world. Who gives them a pass? How is it
that a single reporter from the Washington Post can clearly document so
much fraud on such a massive scale while the NOP cannot? Why does it take
endless task forces and studies to act, when a single reporter has shown
how easy it is to find the truth?
Driscoll's sells over 1000 acres of Fauxganic berries like these.

I especially want to address this letter to the many members of the
California Certified Organic Farmers (CCOF) and the Organic Trade
Association (OTA). I wrote a private letter to the board of OTA last year,
but my letter was never shared with the board by their leadership. So I
will try a more public approach. If you know a member of one of these
organizations, please forward this to them.

When I sent out my last public letter, I got a tremendous amount of
positive feedback, including strong support from board members of each
organization. They agreed with all I said but insisted that I got one thing
wrong. They said that both CCOF and OTA were neutral on the hydroponic
issue.
Phil LaRocca, President of CCOF.

It is important to understand that this is simply not true. At the last
NOSB meeting, Phil LaRocca, identifying himself as the President of CCOF,
said, “I’m speaking here in favor of organic hydroponics with two caveats.
One, we should create standards that are strict with 100% organic inputs,
and two, that we should label it.”  This is not a neutral stance, and it
was not presented as a personal opinion. His comments were further
supported by the testimony of CCOF Policy Director Kelly Damewood. I
consider Phil a friend, but we disagree mightily on this.
Speaking for OTA, Nate Lewis responded to a question from NOSB member Steve
Ela:

MEMBER ELA: "Where would you draw the line between hydroponics and
containers?"

MR. LEWIS: "I've done a lot of thinking on that. It's challenging but where
I would draw the line is on what's the matrix in which the biology lives.
Is the biology that is ultimately cycling the nutrients and bringing things
to, making them available to plants in suspension, in solution, or is it
living in a solid matrix? And if it's living in a solid matrix, like it is
in a container production, you know, 2010 recommendation was that that
should be allowed, and we continue to think that that should be allowed."


OTA Senior Crop And Livestock Specialist Nate Lewis testifying to the NOSB.



Nate is ignoring the heart of the 2010 recommendation, which says,
"Observing the framework of organic farming based on its foundation of
sound management of soil biology and ecology, it becomes clear that *systems
of crop production that eliminate soil from the system, such as hydroponics
or aeroponics, can not be considered as examples of acceptable organic
farming practices."*

OTA's position is that if the hydroponic feeding takes place when the roots
are in a solid medium like coconut husks, it isn’t hydroponic anymore.
Magic! This statement is in accord with all OTA public comments for the
last year. They repeatedly insist that they support the 2010 NOSB
recommendation banning hydroponics. Then they insist that the growing
practices of their two biggest hydroponic members, Driscoll’s and Wholesum
Harvest, are NOT hydroponic because they grow in coconut husks instead of
in water.

All of the hydroponic tomatoes, berries, cucumbers, and peppers in
conventional hydroponics are grown in containers with the roots in coconut
husks or rockwool. Rockwool is like fiberglass insulation. Many
conventional hydro producers now prefer growing in coconut husks (called
coco coir) because coir is so recalcitrant that it breaks down VERY slowly.
That is why they have mountains of the stuff on Sri Lanka. It is very
resistant to fungal breakdown, much like cedar shavings. It makes a
marvelous substrate for hydroponic production for this reason. The same
material can be used in hydro production for years due to its antifungal
qualities. It has been rapidly overtaking rockwool around the world as the
preferred hydroponic substrate. Conventional growers like it because it
doesn’t break down (and thus *doesn’t contribute anything to the nutrition
of the plant*). It looks like soil, but it ain’t soil.

The OTA position is purposely misleading because the leadership understands
all this very well. The OTA stance is that this is much too complicated for
us to understand so quickly (only 7 years of study since the last
recommendation). Thus they conclude it requires years MORE study. And
hopefully another task force!

It IS difficult to understand when so much misinformation is being put out.
These positions are calculated to postpone a decision on hydroponics
forever. After all, who wants to stand up in the NOSB meeting and vote that
fertile soil is not the foundation of organic farming? OTA is seeking to
confuse this issue in an effort to support two of their members. But at
what cost to the rest of their members!

How does it serve the OTA membership to destroy the integrity of the
organic brand? *The damage being done to the National Organic Program by
their defense of hydroponics is incalculable.* OTA is serving the rest of
their members very poorly by fighting to defend two big members.
.

Hydroponic tomatoes grown at Wholesum Harvest.

I bring these points up at such length because OTA and CCOF are the big
dogs in the room. If the Organic Trade Association ACTUALLY supported the
2010 NOSB recommendation, they would embrace the latest Crops Subcommittee
proposal. It allows container growing, but insists that most of the
fertility for the plant must still be supplied by the soil in that
container. It is in complete alignment with the language and intent of the
2010 Recommendation. It clarifies the one significant point that the 2010
recommendation left unclear. *And if OTA did support the proposal, it would
pass easily.*

But they won’t….

So I ask all the members of OTA and CCOF to really consider if the
leadership speaks for you. Because the leadership is leading you off a
cliff. The erosion of real standards is going to destroy the National
Organic Program. The organic community is not going to accept hydroponics,
and they are not going to accept CAFOs. And if the organic standards DO
accept Hydros and CAFOs, then the organic community is going to leave the
National Organic Program. *What happens to the organic label without the
organic movement?*
Thetford, Vermont Rally in the Valley in 2016, listening to Senator
Patrick Leahy and NOFA VT Director Enid Wonnacott.

The only reason that the organic label is continuing to grow so quickly in
sales is because people haven’t yet learned what is going on.

But they will….

Going forward, there is no more neutrality. Being neutral at this point
means allowing Hydros and CAFOs. They are now the status quo. They are
the New Organic. A vote to delay in Jacksonville is a vote for Hydro. It is
that simple. Many of us have spent our lives supporting the organic
movement. We are now making every effort to save it, before we are forced
to leave it.

It doesn’t matter if I speak up on this or not. The truth is going to come
out. I have been accused by one CCOF leader of shooting organic in the
foot. By telling the truth. Surely we want to tell the truth. But we need
everybody.
Farmer Pete Johnson talking about what the future of organic means to his
daughter.

There is a series of Keep The Soil Rallies coming in the next 7 weeks. We
have commitments for 17 Rallies so far, from California to Maine, and from
Canada to Costa Rica. Perhaps there will be more, perhaps less, but there
will be many people coming together to express their support for real
organic. Some will be big. Many will be small. A few will be tiny, maybe
only ten people. It doesn’t matter. *What matters is showing up.*


I will send out a schedule soon. If you are willing to organize a Rally,
however small, please contact me. Call some friends make a few signs, and
march around the block. Talk about the issues. If you want to attend a
Rally organized by others, go to Keepthesoilinorganic.org for an ongoing
schedule. Please remember that we are a small grassroots group, with little
funding and no staff. We don’t even have a name, let alone dues! We are
doing a lot with very little. We see the Rallies as our last chance to send
a signal to the NOSB. They need to pass the compromise proposal, that will
be so fiercely attacked by the Hydro lobby. They need to stop delaying and
take a stand.

*No vote is a vote for Hydro.*
If you can’t make it to an earlier Rally, come to the final Rally at
Jacksonville on Tuesday, October 31. *Join organic pioneers Eliot Coleman,
Fred Kirschenmann, Jim Riddle, Lisa Stokke, Tom Beddard, Anais Beddard,
David Zuckerman, Jim Gerritsen, Will Allen and many other farmers and
eaters.* The Rally will be outside during the lunch break. And sign up ASAP
to testify to the NOSB, so you can tell them what you think.

https://www.ams.usda.gov/event/oct-2017-national-
organic-standards-board-nosb-meeting-registration-in-person
<http://longwindfarm.us10.list-manage.com/track/click?u=49b011e822aefbbeb68709181&id=434be488df&e=dc0e4e9460>

If you can’t come in person, sign up for the virtual testimony.

https://www.ams.usda.gov/event/oct-2017-national-
organic-standards-board-nosb-meeting-registration-webinar
<http://longwindfarm.us10.list-manage1.com/track/click?u=49b011e822aefbbeb68709181&id=bd4d773b4a&e=dc0e4e9460>

You can sign up for either testifying in person or testifying online. But
in either case, you can also submit a written comment.

https://www.regulations.gov/document?D=AMS_FRDOC_0001-1600
<http://longwindfarm.us10.list-manage.com/track/click?u=49b011e822aefbbeb68709181&id=3403b98acb&e=dc0e4e9460>
 Once there, click the blue "comment now!" button in the top right corner.

*This is very important.* We need to speak up before the organic program is
lost. This will be our last chance.

*Please forward this letter to as many friends as possible.*
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82 Wilson Rd
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-- 
Lawrence F. London, Jr.
lfljvenaura@gmail.com
https://sites.google.com/site/avantgeared