Dear Readers,

Last week we scored an important victory to end the use of antibiotics in organic apple and pear production and to uphold organic integrity! Thank you for your support!

More and more people are beginning to understand that what we put on our food, land, and water ends up in our bodies. Organically grown food is the only food legally-mandated to safeguard human health, animal welfare and the environment. That’s why organic is the best choice for people wanting to eat foods grown without the use of toxic, synthetic chemicals; sewage sludge; genetic engineering; growth hormones or irradiation. Although consumers also expect organic to be free of antibiotics, USDA temporarily allowed them in apple and pear orchards to fight the destructive fire blight problem that attacks tree blossoms, limbs and shoots. But last week that all changed.

With your help, tetracycline was banned for use in organic apple and pear orchards last year and now, with the National Organic Standards Board's (NOSB) latest vote to ban streptomycin, all uses of antibiotics in organic have been completely eliminated!

Thanks to the over 50,000 CFS members like you who signed our petitions to the NOSB and to the good work of our allies like Consumers Union, Food and Water Watch, and others, we convinced the NOSB to prohibit the use of  streptomycin after 2014 and end antibiotic use in organic once and for all.  We could not have achieved this victory without YOU!

For more information on this victory, check out our new video and blog post, “The Choice is Simple: Choose Organic Apples” from CFS’s Organic Policy Director.

Support our Organic & Beyond campaign! Our work on Organics depends on your financial support. Please consider making a donation in honor of this tremendous victory!

(Send your news to foodconsumer.org@gmail.com)