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Organic Standards for Fish Farms

The National Organics Standards Board opened a week of meetings Tuesday on the question of whether farmed fish should qualify for the federal government's official organic label.

Opponents say that would violate the Agriculture Department's own standards. They claim the fish meal and fish oil used in aquaculture concentrates pollutants such as PCBs and mercury that are hazardous to human health. They also say the most common method of fish farming, called open pen net farming, is inconsistent with the principles of organic agriculture.

Read more:  http://www.organicconsumers.org/articles/article_8642.cfm

Organic is Tastier - More Evidence

In any controversy it can be helpful to consider the views of disinterested parties. So, on the subject of agricultural policy and practice, it’s worth noting that an unimpeachably neutral group has joined the ranks of those who prefer organic foods over foods produced with the help of synthetic chemicals. That group is 40 Swiss rats... the rats were better at telling the difference between organic and conventional foods than many humans have beenm...organic produce generally does pack more antioxidants and other potentially healthful and potentially flavorful phytochemicals than conventional produce...

What do phytochemicals have to do with flavor?

Phytochemicals are chemicals created by plants, and especially those that have effects on other creatures.

Plants make many of them to defend themselves against microbes and insects: to make themselves unpalatable, counterattack the invaders and limit the damage they cause.

Most of the aromas of vegetables, herbs and spices come from defensive chemicals. They may smell pleasant to us, but the plants make them to repel their mortal enemies.

http://www.nytimes.com/2007/10/03/dining/03curi.html

Thanks to www.vegMichigan.org

Organic rules and regulations

You probably know about this web-site already, and I just found out about it.  www.ams.usda.gov/nop   

This is the website for all the organic food rules and regulations.

- Sharon Liess

EPA approves cancer-causing pesticide

EPA APPROVES PESTICIDE KNOWN TO CAUSE CANCER & MISCARRIAGES

California has categorized it as cancer causing.
EPA admits it causes thyroid tumors. It's still been approved.

http://www.organicconsumers.org/articles/article_7580.cfm

Study shows organic food is healthier

DAVIS, Calif., July 11 (UPI) Growing food organically over time may result in healthier food, according to a U.S. study that found higher flavonoid levels in organic tomatoes.

Alyson E. Mitchell, of the University of California at Davis, and colleagues compared levels of key flavonoids in tomatoes harvested over a 10-year period from two matched fields -- one farmed organically and the other with conventional methods that included commercial fertilizers.

The research focused on tomatoes because per capita consumption in the United States is so high, second only to potatoes. Researchers analyzed organic and conventional tomatoes that had been dried and archived under identical conditions from 1994 to 2004.

The levels of flavonoids increased over time in samples from organic treatments, whereas the levels of flavonoids did not vary significantly in conventional treatments, according to the study published in the Journal of Agricultural and Food Chemistry.

Flavonoids may protect against cancer, heart disease, and other age-related diseases.

From United Press International

USDA's newest sneak attack on Organic Standards

Thanks to all of you who joined thousands of organic consumers in late May and signed OCA's petition to the USDA opposing the agency's latest "Sneak Attack" to allow 38 new non-organic ingredients in products labeled as "USDA Organic". (Read full petition here: http://www.organicconsumers.org/articles/article_5225.cfm)

USDA's controversial proposal to allow 38 new non-organic ingredients in products labeled as "organic" has fueled the anger of organic consumers and generated a backlash of negative press coast to coast. Over the weekend the New York Times and the L.A. Times (as well as a number of other major news outlets) ran feature stories on the debacle.

The New York Times noted that the mega-brewer Anheuser-Busch pressured the USDA into allowing them to use hops grown with pesticides and chemical fertilizers in their "Organic Wild Hop Lager" beer. In the Los Angeles Times, Ronnie Cummins, OCA's National Director, was quoted as saying, "This proposal is blatant catering to powerful industry players who want the benefits of labeling their products 'USDA organic' without doing the work to source organic materials."

Although industry was given the better part of two years to work with the USDA in developing this proposal, the agency only gave the public a brief 7-day comment period. During that short time, the OCA generated over 8,000 petition signatures telling the USDA to back off on allowing non-organic hops, factory-farmed animal intestines, tainted fish oil, and other problematic ingredients in organic products.

On Friday June 8, the USDA took its third swing at organic standards and struck out, violating federal law by refusing to respond to a federal court order to stop allowing companies to use the 38 non-organic ingredients proposed for inclusion in products labeled "USDA Organic". Unprepared for the firestorm of protest against their latest Sneak Attack, the USDA has been refusing to talk to the press.

RECENT HISTORY OF USDA ORGANIC LAWBREAKING

January 2005 (Strike One): Federal court rules that the USDA has violated federal regulations in allowing conventional and synthetic ingredients in products labeled as "organic".

May 2007 (Strike Two): After heavy lobbying from industry, USDA proposed to allow 38 conventionally grown ingredients in foods labeled as organic. One of those ingredients, fish oil, has never undergone review, which is a violation of federal law.

June 2007 (Strike Three): A federal judge had given the USDA until midnight Friday (6/8) to post its final ruling, which the agency failed to do.


YOUR HELP IS STILL NEEDED

We need to put a lot more pressure on the USDA, demanding they re-open the public comment period on this issue. Industry was given two years, and the public was only given 7 days. Through that process, it appears the organic standards will be significantly weakened unless we can generate enough comments to force the USDA to reconsider its proposal to weaken organic standards.

Please forward this email to all interested friends and colleagues and send a letter to the USDA here: http://www.organicconsumers.org/articles/article_5225.cfm

Family farmers can't compete with Big Organics and imports

Problem:

The value of U.S. organic imports now exceeds exports by a ratio of approximately 8 to 1.
In California, which grows 40% of US organics, the number of acres transitioning into organic are now nearly balanced by the acres transitioning out. Evidently, many farmers aren't making enough money growing organically to remain certified, despite the booming retail market.

In the U.S., organic food accounts for about 2.5 percent of all food sales. But out in the field, just 0.2 percent of farmland is under organic production.

Source: http://www.organicconsumers.org/articles/article_4587.cfm

Solution:

BUY LOCAL WITH OCA'S NEW ORGANIC & GREEN BUSINESS DIRECTORY

Buying locally, direct from farmers, or at your community-owned co-op, is one of the best ways to ensure that farmers are getting a fair shake. That's why the OCA is proud to announce the launch of one of the most expansive online directories of organic and green businesses. Now local food is just a few clicks away! http://www.organicconsumers.org/btc/BuyingGuide.cfm

Avoid the "dirty dozen" when not eating Organic

According to the Environmental Working Group's (EWG) analysis of data from over 43,000 tests on pesticides in conventional produce, over 90% of ingestion of pesticides in foods can be eliminated by avoiding the most contaminated foods.

The "Dirty Dozen" most contaminated foods are peaches (97 percent tested positive for residue), apples (92 percent tested positive), sweet bell peppers, celery, nectarines, strawberries, cherries, pears, imported grapes, spinach, lettuce and potatoes.

The "Consistently Clean" are onions (90 percent tested negative), avocados (90 percent), sweet corn (90 percent), pineapples, mango, asparagus, sweet peas, kiwi, bananas, cabbage, broccoli and papaya.

"Federal produce tests tell us that some fruits and vegetables are so likely to be contaminated with pesticides that you should always buy them organic. Others are so consistently clean that you can eat them with less concern." Says EWG Senior Vice President Richard Wiles.

Download your wallet-sized shopper's guide here: http://www.foodnews.org

USDA to ban cloned food from Organics

Last month, the USDA proposed that the offspring of cloned animals could be considered "organic".

But last week, the USDA's National Organic Standards Board voted 12-0 to ban foods from cloned animals and their progeny from the organic market.

Regulators apparently recognize, after being flooded with complaints from organic consumers, that cloning is incompatible with the Organic Foods Production Act and is prohibited under the National Organic Program regulations.

The real difficulty will be in tracking these animals, particularly 2nd and 3rd generation offspring of cloned animals.

Learn more: http://www.organicconsumers.org/articles/article_4699.cfm

Conspiring to degrade Organic Dairy standards

USDA & LEADING ORGANIC DAIRIES CONSPIRING TO DEGRADE ORGANIC DAIRY STANDARDS BY NOT REQUIRING PASTURE FEEDING

As Organic Bytes has reported, the most serious threat to U.S. organic standards since 1998 is in the dairy sector. Two rapidly growing and profit-obsessed corporations, Horizon and Aurora Organic, are sourcing much of their milk from intensive confinement dairy feedlots, where the cows have little or no access to pasture.

Now, in a secret letter obtained by the Cornucopia Institute, OCA has learned that three other major organic dairies, Stonyfield Farm, Organic Valley, and Humboldt Creamery have joined forces with Horizon and Aurora to lobby the USDA to keep dairy standards vague and unenforceable, by not requiring any specific percentage of the cow's feed to come from pasture.

The National Organic Standards Board and the overwhelming majority of the nation's dairy farmers have repeatedly stated that at least 30% of an organic cow's feed during the growing season should be coming from pasture. Scientific studies have shown that milk and meat from pastured animals are qualitatively healthier than milk and meat derived from animals kept in unhealthy and inhumane concentrated animal feeding operations (CAFOs).

Learn more: http://www.organicconsumers.org/sos.cfm.

Eating Better Than Organic

Nearly a quarter of American shoppers now buy organic products once a week, up from 17% in 2000.

But for food purists, "local" is the new "organic," the new ideal that promises healthier bodies and a healthier planet. Many chefs, food writers and politically minded eaters are outraged that "Big Organic" firms now use the same industrial-size farming and long-distance-shipping methods as conventional agribusiness.

"Should I assume that I have a God-given right to access the entire earth's bounty, however far away some of its produce is grown?" asks ethnobotanist Gary Paul Nabhan in his 2002 memoir, Coming Home to Eat: The Pleasures and Politics of Local Foods.

Nabhan predicted my apple problem when he vacillated over some organic pumpkin canned hundreds of miles from his Arizona home. "If you send it halfway around the world before it is eaten," he mused, "an organic food still may be 'good' for the consumer, but is it 'good' for the food system?"

Read more: http://www.time.com/time/magazine/article/0,9171,1595245-1,00.html.

USDA loads government Organic panel with food industry reps

In the last issue of Organic Bytes, the Organic Consumers Association blew the whistle on the USDA's appointment of four new representatives to the National Organic Standards Board (NOSB) with strong ties to corporate agribusiness.

The NOSB is the organic community's traditional watchdog over organic standards. According to the Organic Foods Production Act of 1990, the USDA is supposed to appoint a NOSB that is broadly representative of the organic community, including environmentalists, consumer representatives and scientistst.

But the USDA has begun to arbitrarily fill vacant seats with industry representatives from companies such as General Mills and Campbell's, companies whose profits are almost entirely based on nonorganic crops grown with synthetic pesticides and fertilizers.

Thousands of organic consumers have responded to this outrage by sending emails to the USDA demanding the removal of these appointees. The USDA's stonewalling so far indicates the agency feels that its appointees, indeed, are as "diverse" as federal law requires. In fact, in a letter to the Syracuse New Times Standard, the agency points out that diversity is truly present in the current industry appointees, pointing out that they all work in different parts of the U.S.. Now that's diversity!

If you haven't already done so, contact the USDA and demand that true organic advocates be appointed to the NOSB: http://www.organicconsumers.org/rd/nosb.cfm.

The growing Organic myth

The Growing Organic Myth
Pastoral ideals are getting trampled as organic food goes mass market

(Business Week Online) The dilemma of the entire organic food business: Just as mainstream consumers are growing hungry for untainted food that also nourishes their social conscience, it is getting harder and harder to find organic ingredients. There simply aren't enough organic cows in the U.S., never mind the organic grain to feed them, to go around. Nor are there sufficient organic strawberries, sugar, or apple pulp -- some of the other ingredients that go into the world's best-selling organic yogurt.

Now companies from Wal-Mart to General Mills to Kellogg are wading into the organic game, attracted by fat margins that old-fashioned food purveyors can only dream of. What was once a cottage industry of family farms has become Big Business, with all that that implies, including pressure from Wall Street to scale up and boost profits: http://www.businessweek.com/magazine/content/06_42/b4005001.htm?chan=search.

Scientists debate superiority of Organic foods

These are good times for those who grow and sell organic foods. But there may be trouble in paradise.

Prompted by a quest for safer, healthier diets and a cleaner environment, more American consumers are buying the bountiful harvests of organic farmers. Last year, U.S. spending on organic foods reached close to $10.4 billion, making this the fastest-growing segment of the American food industry. Amid scares over mad cow disease, mercury in fish and produce tainted with harmful bacteria, new customers are joining existing ones in embracing organic foods as a sanctuary from harm and a surer route to long life and good health.

But as organic products — and their claims to superiority — have grown more common, scientists, policy analysts and some consumers have begun to ask for proof. Where's the evidence, they ask, for the widespread belief that organic foods are safer and more nutritious than those raised by conventional farming methods? http://www.acsh.org/news/newsID.960/news_detail.asp

Organic boycott spreads

In April the Organic Consumers Association launched a boycott of two leading organic dairy brands and distributors, Horizon (a division of Dean Foods) and Aurora, for mislabeling their products as "USDA Organic." All of Aurora's and much of Horizon's "organic" milk is coming from factory farm feedlots where the cows have been brought in from conventional farms and have little or no access to pasture. After three months, thousands of consumers and a number of co-ops and natural food stores have joined the boycott: http://www.democracyinaction.org/dia/organizationsORG/oca/campaign.jsp?campaign_KEY=4756.

Whole Foods market pledges to support local farmers

(Reuters) - The CEO of supermarket chain Whole Foods Market Inc., responding to a critic in an online war of words, has pledged to add $10 million to his company's annual budget for supporting locally grown food: http://news.yahoo.com/s/nm/20060630/us_nm/food_local_wholefoods_dc.

About non-food products labeled "organic"

About the “Organic” Label
By Julie Deardorff

Hoping to avoid harmful toxins in daily life, I began buying what I thought were "organic" soaps, shampoos and lotions. I assumed organic meant the product was wholesome, free of petrochemicals and carcinogens and manufactured in an ecologically friendly way.

Then I examined the label of my organic lavender and aloe shampoo. Olefin sulfonate and cocamidopropyl betaine didn't sound very herblike. In fact, they are chemical compounds that create suds.

Although we don't ingest shampoos and soaps, studies have shown that preservatives and additives in personal care products aren't necessarily just washing down the drain. Instead, the chemicals can soak into the body through the skin and be absorbed into the bloodstream. Some have proven to inhibit the effect of hormones. But while organic food now enjoys an official government seal and quality assurance, the body-care product sector of the industry is as lawless as the wild West in regard to content and labeling. The market for organic non-food products is burgeoning--it grew by nearly 20 percent last year--but consumers have no idea whether "organic" shampoos, toothpaste or soaps are really organic.

Not only are there no official standards, but there also is no agency policing the label claims on non-food items, which include personal care products, nutritional supplements, organic fiber, household cleaners, flowers and pet food.

The industry has been trying to devise guidelines to prevent "organic" from becoming as eviscerated and meaningless as "natural." But last month, the U.S. Department of Agriculture said manufacturers of non-food items cannot display the coveted USDA Organic Seal.

They can, however, call themselves "organic" or say the products are "made with organic ingredients," even if they're not, charges the Organic Consumers Association, which is fuming. The watchdog group believes body care standards should mirror the standards for food. Many in the industry, however, believe the food standards would be unrealistically rigid.

"Unfortunately right now most body care products are not organic and are making the claim based on water," said OCA President Ronnie Cummins during last week's organic conference and trade show in Chicago.

That's because of hydrosols, or floral waters, which have become central to the debate. Some manufacturers believe hydrosols, which are the waters collected when certain plants are distilled to create essential oils, should be considered organic if the steamed plants are organic.

This allows manufacturers of personal care products to claim a higher percentage of organic ingredients. California, the only state to issue organic standards for toiletries and cosmetics, allows products containing at least 70 percent organic ingredients--including hydrosol--to carry a state-approved organic seal.

But the OCA says this means some products labeled "70 percent organic ingredients" are 70 percent water, and the remaining ingredients are petrochemicals. This deceptive practice, says the OCA, is called "greenwashing."

"It's opening the door to massive labeling fraud, while punishing companies that have made significant investments in certified organic ingredients," said David Bronner, president of Dr. Bronner's Magic Soap, which uses organic oils in its products.

Last month, an industry task force finally agreed that floral water should not be counted as an organic ingredient, but at least three major natural body care companies with prominent shelf space still do. The industry is also trying to hammer out a consensus on how many petrochemicals--if any--can be included in an organic personal care product.

In the meantime, read labels diligently. If the first ingredient is hydrosol, or floral water, Cummins of the OCA says you've bought a bogus organic ingredient. Companies that use solid organic ingredients include Aveda products, Dr. Bronner's and Terrestrials, he said.

Also watch for parabens and ingredients with "eth" endings, such as sodium laureth sulfate. Parabens are widely used petroleum-based preservatives that have been found to accumulate in breast tumors. Methylparaben and propylparaben are the most common.

Sodium laureth sulfate, meanwhile, carries powerful irritant detergents, said Samuel Epstein, professor emeritus of environmental medicine at the University of Illinois at Chicago School of Public Health.

I know chemicals are part of everyday products, are considered safe in small doses and give products the shelf life we expect. But "organic" should represent a legitimate alternative for those who want it. It shouldn't simply be another way to market chemicals at a higher price.

Defending state food safety labeling laws

DEFENDING STATE FOOD SAFETY LABELING LAWS - Despite massive public opposition, including 50,000 calls and letters from the Organic Consumers Association, the House of Representatives on March 8, 2006 passed a controversial industry backed "national food uniformity" labeling law, which would eliminate over 200 state food safety labeling laws.

The law would take away local government and states' power to require food safety labels such as those required in California and other states on foods or beverages that are likely to cause cancer, birth defects, allergic reactions, or mercury poisoning.

The bill would also prevent local municipalities and states from passing laws requiring that genetically engineered foods and ingredients be labeled. In order to become law, the bill will now have to go to the Senate for a vote. As we go to press, it appears we have created so much controversy that the bill will not pass in the Senate: http://www.democracyinaction.org/dia/organizationsORG/oca/campaign.jsp?campaign_KEY=2752.

Safeguarding organic standards

    SAFEGUARDING ORGANIC STANDARDS - In March 2006, Organic Bytes (OCA's electronic newsletter) subscribers voted 96% to 4% in an online survey to launch a boycott against two of the largest organic dairy companies in the nation, Horizon Organic (a subsidiary of Dean Foods), supplier to Wal-Mart and many natural food stores; and Aurora Organic, a supplier of private label organic milk to Costco, Safeway, Giant, Wild Oats, and others.

Horizon and Aurora, who together control up to 65% of the organic dairy market, are blatantly violating traditional organic standards by purchasing the majority of their milk from factory-style dairy feedlots where the cows are kept in intensive confinement, with little or no access to pasture.

These same so-called "organic" dairy feedlots are also continuously importing calves from conventional farms, where the animals have been weaned on blood, fed slaughterhouse waste and genetically engineered grains, and dosed with antibiotics.

In April and May of 2006 OCA submitted over 50,000 petitions signed by organic consumers to the NOSB, calling on the USDA National Organic Program to put an end to these practices. After widespread media coverage generated by the OCA and the Cornucopia Institute, millions of consumers are being alerted to this issue.

A growing number of natural food stores and coops have begun to pull these bogus organic dairy products from their shelves: http://www.organicconsumers.org/nosb2.htm.

I've been an organic farmer here in the UK for 17 years and can assure you that the appearance of Wal Mart on the organic scene is good only if....

Re. this piece from the weekend newsletter..............

"Wal-Mart, the nation's largest grocer, has decided to take organic food seriously. Beginning later this year, Wal-Mart plans to roll out a complete selection of organic foods - food certified by the U.S.D.A. to have been grown without synthetic pesticides or fertilizers - in its nearly 4,000 stores.

Just as significant, the company says it will price all this organic food at a tiny premium over its already-cheap conventional food: http://www.nytimes.com/2006/06/04/magazine/04wwln_lede.html?_r=1&oref=slogin.
[Our local Wal-Mart in Swainsboro, GA, has been a test store for the past six months, and we've been VERY happy with what they're carrying.]"

I've been an organic farmer here in the UK for 17 years and can assure you that the appearance of Wal Mart on the organic scene is good only if....

1.  They respect the costs of producing organic food
2.  They do not try to cut this by compromising the standards we use to justify the tag.
3.  They pay fairly.   

For too long our dear consumers have had their food too cheap and do not appreciate the VALUE it has and should be conveying to them.

Best wishes,
Oliver Dowding

Shepton Farms Ltd
Hill Farmhouse
Shepton Montague
Wincanton
Somerset
BA9 8JW