Cornucopia Institute's Mark Kastel circulates a memo on the National Organic Standards Board's November meeting in Savannah, which he calls the most contentious in memory. The Board rejected a petition to allow synthetic sulfur dioxide preservatives in organic wine.
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Politics
USDA and Corporate Agribusiness Continue to Push Animal ID Scheme (PR)
USDA proposed a rule requiring mandatory animal traceability well beyond existing disease-control programs. Family farm and ranch groups including R-CALF USA and the Cornucopia Institute say the agency has not explained why the tagging and tracing program is necessary.
Politics
Organic Food May Become a Thing of the Past
A jury awarded Riceland Foods $11.8 million in compensatory and $125 million in punitive damages after Bayer's unapproved genetically modified rice contaminated US long-grain rice and EU buyers refused it. Mercola also relays Don Huber's claim of a new pathogen tied to Roundup and GMO crops.
Miscellaneous
Deconstructing Dean Foods: Spinning-off Organic/Namebrand Division
Mark Kastel of the Cornucopia Institute picks apart Dean Foods' plan to spin off WhiteWave, its organic and branded division, noting the stock has lost 84 percent of its value since 2007, that CEO Greg Engels ranked last of 338 CEOs for wealth destruction, and that Danone is rumored to be circling.
Opinion
Conventional Cattle on Factory Dairies Producing "Organic" Milk (PR)
The Cornucopia Institute is filing a formal legal complaint to stop the USDA from letting factory dairies bring conventional replacement heifers onto farms producing organic milk, a practice the group says federal organic regulations explicitly prohibit.
Agriculture
In the Battle of the Strawberries, Did Organic Win
John Reganold's Washington State University team compared 13 organic and 13 conventional California strawberry fields, testing 31 soil properties, soil DNA, and the taste, nutrition and quality of three varieties. The conventional farms used the fumigant methyl bromide.
Politics
Prominent Brands Using “Organic" in Their Name When Products Don't Qualify (PR)
The Cornucopia Institute filed complaints with the USDA's National Organic Program and the FTC over Oskri Organics, Organic Bistro and Newman's Own Organics, saying they sell products that do not qualify for the USDA Organic seal while carrying Organic prominently in their brand names.
Law & Regulations
New Definitions for Organic Meat and Milk Issued
USDA replaced its vague "access to pasture" language with a rule that organic meat and milk come from livestock grazing pasture at least four months a year, with 30 percent of their feed from that grazing. The rules take effect in June.
Food
Are You Getting Cheated When Buying ‘Organic’ Produce?
Mercola says misleading organic labeling persists even at trusted stores such as Whole Foods, and urges shoppers to verify claims themselves. He notes the chain now stocks imported produce as readily as local crops, and warns imported items may not meet USDA organic standards.
Politics
Largest organic factory farm operator once again accused of illegal activity (PR)
The Cornucopia Institute filed a USDA complaint alleging that Aurora Dairy's High Plains operation near Kersey, Colorado fails to graze cattle as organic standards require. Aurora was found in willful violation of organic rules in 2007; family farmers want swift enforcement.
Politics
Family farmers fear being run over by food safety juggernaut
A Cornucopia Institute press release warns that food safety bills moving through Congress, among them Rosa DeLauro's HR 875, could sweep up organic growers and home gardeners. Research director Will Fantle says the industrialized food system does need a new regulatory focus.
Politics
Action Alert: Critical Pending Food Safety Legislation
An action alert on three 2009 food safety bills, HR 875, HR 759 and HR 1332, arguing that the industrial food system does need tighter federal oversight while calling claims that HR 875 would end organic farming a gross exaggeration.
Food
12 fruits and vegetables you don’t have to buy organic
Citing the Environmental Working Group, the piece names the 12 conventional fruits and vegetables carrying the fewest pesticides, among them broccoli, cabbage, bananas, mango, pineapple, avocado and onions, and the 12 worst, led by peaches, apples, sweet bell peppers and celery.
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