From Organic News Wire

USA: STORMS OF PROTEST AS BILL ATTEMPTS TO UNDERMINE THE NOP

February 27, 2003

TAKE ACTION- To Protect the Integrity of Organic Standards

A last-minute rider was added to the recent Omnibus 2003 Appropriations Bill that would permit organic livestock producers to feed their organic animals conventional feed and still label the products - meat, dairy, and eggs - as organic. The rider was the work of Georgia congressmen Rep. Nathan Deal, R-Ga., and the state's other seven Republican House members to get a special category for Fieldale Farms of Baldwin, Georgia¹s Springer Mountain Farms "organic" chicken. The rider (Section 771 of the Fiscal Year 2003 Consolidated Budget Bill approved by Congress, Feb. 13, 2003) would allow no funds to be used to enforce the 100 percent organic feed requirement for certified organic livestock operations unless a report prepared by the Secretary of Agriculture confirms that organically produced feed is commercially available at no more than twice the cost of conventionally produced feed.

This "exemption" is in direct contradiction to the Organic Foods Production Act of 1990 and the National Organic Standards implemented in October 2002, which require that for the meat, poultry, eggs, or dairy products to be labeled as organic, the livestock must be fed 100 percent organic feed. In a letter urging Veneman to allow the "organically grown" seal, Deal and Reps. Saxby Chambliss, Johnny Isakson, Jack Kingston, Charlie Norwood, Bob Barr, John Linder and Michael Collins said they were "not advocating this approach as a permanent fix, nor are we attempting to redefine organic farming principles. "It is our position this is a temporary, common-sense approach that would allow producers necessary time to meet the new standards and continue in the organic poultry and meat market," they wrote.

According to the Center for Responsive Politics, which monitors campaign contributions, Mr. Deal received $4,000 from employees of Fieldale, which is in his district, during his last campaign. The organic industry and its supporters mobilised quickly once the issue came to light. "This is a sad day," said Bob Scowcroft, executive director of the Organic Farming Research Foundation in Santa Cruz. He was one of seven people who wrote the original draft of federal organic food standards and worked on revisions that took 12 years.

They took effect in October. The provision "puts at risk the term 'organic' across the board," Scowcroft said. "If a single private company can amend the Organic Food Act in the dead of night, who's to say that another company won't come along and do it again, and again?" "The Organic Trade Association is outraged to see such underhanded methods used by those unwilling to play by the rules. This is an example of someone doing an end-run to manipulate the government, with disregard for the public's wishes," said Katherine DiMatteo, executive director of the Organic Trade Association.. "Inserting this language in the appropriations bill was an underhanded attempt to circumvent consumer expectations and the integrity of the organic industry.

This is a slap in the face to the many certified organic farmers who are legitimately following the standards, and an attempt to undermine their hard work to provide consumers, both domestically and abroad, with products meeting the requirements the Organic Foods Production Act," DiMatteo said. The more than 500 organic farmer owners of Organic Valley, the largest organic cooperative in the world rejected the efforts of special interests to dismiss the mandate of the American people for stringent organic standards. "The passage of the organic standards represents America at its best --- the private and public sectors working in unison with more than a quarter million consumers, all demanding the implementation of strict organic standards. It was democracy in action," said George Siemon, founding farmer/CEO of Organic Valley, and chairperson of the Livestock Committee of the National Organic Standards Board.

"These standards were 12 years in the making and we cannot stand by and let the self-interests of a few lay to waste the integrity of the organic seal a mere four months after the standards went into effect." "Rather than comply with regulations which uphold the integrity of organic food, corporate-run factory farms, who want a piece of the $11 billion a year organic industry, are manipulating the USDA and Congress to change the rules to suit their toxic-industrial style of farming," stated Ronnie Cummins, National Director of Organic Consumers Association. "Allowing non-organic, and potentially genetically engineered, feed to be included under the definition of organic is a major setback for the integrity of what is the fastest growing sector of the food industry in this country."

Randy Duranceau, Sales and Marketing Director for Petaluma Poultry, the USA¹s leading producer of certified organic chicken said, "This rider is laughable. Organic feed is one of the critical ingredients in organic husbandry. You can't be half-organic; you either are or you aren't. The future of organic agriculture is based on the trust and confidence that consumers have in the farmers, processors and retailers within the organic community. We need purity and clarity, not deception. We urge the organic community to contact their representatives and ask them to reconsider this rider."