Watering down organic standards

http://www.organicconsumers.org/bytes/ob419.html

Subscribe & Read Past Issues | OCA Homepage | Donate  ESSAY OF THE WEEK Organics Under Attack The OCA has a long history of defending the integrity of organic standards. Last September, the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA), under pressure from corporate interests represented by the Organic Trade Association, made our job harder. They also made it more important than ever for consumers to do their homework, even when buying USDA certified organic products. Without any input from the public, the USDA changed the way the National Organic Standards Board (NOSB) decides which non-organic materials are allowed in certified organic. The change all but guarantees that when the NOSB meets every six months, the list of non-organic and synthetic materials allowed in organic will get longer and longer. The USDA’s new rule plays to the cabal of the self-appointed organic elite who want to degrade organic standards and undermine organic integrity. For consumers, farmers, co-ops and businesses committed to high organic standards, the USDA’s latest industry-friendly move is a clarion call to fight back against the corporate-led, government-sanctioned attack on organic standards. Read the essay ACTION ALERT Save Organic Standards! You’d think an organization called the Organic Trade Association (OTA) would be keen on protecting organic standards. But it was the OTA that played a key role in pressuring the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) to weaken the standards for organic. Again. The National Organic Standards Board (NOSB)—those are the folks who get to decide what’s allowed in organics, and what isn’t—recently changed the rules. The upshot? The list of non-organic and synthetic materials allowed in organic is likely to get longer and longer. The NOSB didn’t ask for our opinion before it made its rule change. But we plan to share it. In person. At the next NOSB meeting, April 29 - May 2, in San Antonio, Texas. We’ll also deliver a petition to USDA Secretary Tom Vilsack asking him to reverse this disastrous new rule. Can you sign on? Thanks! TAKE ACTION: Tell USDA Secretary Vilsack: Save organic standards! Reverse the NOSB’s new rule that weakens organic standards.