Cornucopia Institute co-director Mark Kastel accuses the USDA of reversing 20 years of precedent in the National Organic Standards Board's self-governance, and farmers and consumer activists plan to confront regulators at the board's San Antonio meeting.
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Politics
Food law, regulation, government advisories and the legal fights over what reaches your plate.
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Politics
Rattling the Pitchforks - newsletter from Organic Consumers Association
The Organic Consumers Association argues USDA organic standards need defending, saying the National Organic Program sometimes yields to industry pressure. Organic apple and pear growers must stop spraying the antibiotic tetracycline after Oct. 21, 2014; OCA wants the same deadline for streptomycin.
Advisories
What Kind of Fish Is That?
FDA scientists are building a DNA barcode database of commercial fish species so inspectors can identify unknown fillets, sticks and sushi and catch species substitution. Mislabeling can inflate prices and sicken people, as when toxic puffer fish sold as monkfish in 2007.
Politics
Organic Veterans Join Farm Policy Research Group
The Cornucopia Institute elected Wisconsin organic beef and produce farmer Helen Kees as board president and New York organic dairy farmer Kevin Engelbert as vice president. Both were their states' first certified organic producers in their sectors.
Politics
Albuquerque Memorial Calls For Statewide and National Labeling of GMOs
Albuquerque councillors Isaac Benton and Diane Gibson introduced a memorial supporting statewide and national labeling of genetically engineered foods, drafted with Food and Water Watch and backed by more than 50 New Mexico groups and businesses. It would put the city alongside Santa Fe.
Politics
Sow Non-GMO Seeds in the Rainforest
A fundraising appeal to pay for translating and subtitling educational materials for Brazilian rainforest communities, so residents living beside eucalyptus plantations can push back against agrochemical companies and GMO seeds.
Politics
Tell the EPA: Stop letting companies replace BPA with other toxic chemicals
EWG president Ken Cook asks readers to sign a CREDO Action petition pressing the EPA to scrutinize BPA substitutes, citing a study finding the replacement chemicals can interfere with hormone signaling and show potential to damage DNA.
Legal Actions
Farm, Ranch and Consumer Groups Applaud Federal Appeals Court COOL Ruling (PR)
Four farm, ranch and consumer groups that joined a federal appeals case as amici welcomed the court's refusal to block country-of-origin meat labeling, a ruling that found the meatpacking industry unlikely to succeed on the merits of its claims.
Politics
Fluorides Under Fire
A news release from Dan Stockin of the Lillie Center: the Fourth Circuit will hear oral arguments in Nemphos v. Nestle Waters, a case over dental fluorosis from childhood fluoride ingestion, and ads seeking students with fluorosis have begun appearing in university newspapers.
Politics
Big Food Bill Would Kill GMO Labeling
POLITICO reported that food industry lobbyists are canvassing Capitol Hill for a sponsor to preempt state GMO labeling laws with a weak federal rule that would limit FDA's power to require labels and let companies call GMO-containing products "natural."
Politics
Why Does Meat Need Inspection? Here's Why!
USDA recalled 8.7 million pounds of beef from Rancho Feeding Corp., saying the plant processed diseased and unsound animals without full federal inspection. The article links the case to HIMP, the self-policing program that will cut 800 federal meat inspectors.
Politics
Oganic Consumers Association Newsletter: Monsanto's 'Science' Doesn't Add Up
An Organic Consumers Association newsletter argues Monsanto's appeal to sound science is an ideological label rather than a standard of evidence, and cites five recent reports on Roundup, kidney disease and environmental persistence that it says undercut the company's claims.
Politics
Cheap Eggs? Not When You Consider These Practices
Millions of farmed animals die each year in preventable barn fires, including 250,000 chickens at an Ohio Fresh Eggs operation and 500,000 at Moark Hatcheries. The National Fire Protection Association proposed requiring sprinklers in newly built animal housing.
Advisories
USDA Food Safety Tips for Areas Affected by Snow Storms
With snow storms crossing the Upper Midwest and western Great Lakes, USDA's food safety service advised keeping the refrigerator at 40°F or below and the freezer at 0°F or below, freezing water in quart bags beforehand, and following its power-outage video and guide.
Politics
Appearance by Agribusiness Executive at Organic Conference Stirs Controversy (PR)
The Cornucopia Institute asked sponsors of the MOSES organic farming conference in La Crosse to cancel a workshop by WhiteWave's Suzanne Kevlyn. Mark Kastel accuses the company of dropping Midwest organic soybean growers for Chinese supply and shifting Silk to 94% conventional products.
Politics
Tell the USDA to Stop Dow Chemical’s "Agent Orange" Crops
USDA has opened a 45-day comment period on Dow Chemical's corn and soybeans engineered to survive 2,4-D. The alert urges readers to tell USDA and President Obama to reject them, citing links between 2,4-D and cancer, Parkinson's and endocrine disruption, plus dioxin contamination.
Politics
Tell USDA to Protect Organic and Non-GE Farmers--Don’t Punish Them
An advocacy alert urging comments on USDA's co-existence proposal, which would have organic and non-GE farmers insure themselves against contamination from genetically engineered crops rather than require biotech companies to prevent gene flow.
Politics
Leading Organic Brand, Horizon, Blasted for Betraying Organics (PR)
The Cornucopia Institute accuses WhiteWave Foods of blurring the organic line: its Horizon label, which sold only organic products until late 2013, now offers macaroni and cheese dinners, four of six made with conventional or synthetic ingredients including milk protein concentrate.
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