Blog
The US House Agriculture Committee has submitted a Climate Change Questionnaire to groups, including the Organic Consumers Association, that are interested in the agriculture and forestry sectors' emissions of greenhouse gases and the potential of these sectors to mitigate the climate crisis. I'll be posting the Organic Consumer's Association responses to the Committee's 30 questions here and I encourage you to give us your feedback and take the readers' poll in our forum: Read More
The following note is typical of the calls and e-mails Organic Consumers Association has been receiving this week:
"Do you know anything about HR 875, a 'food safety' bill that was written by Monsanto, Cargill and ADM? I've heard a few individual activists scream about this as the death of farmers markets, CSAs and local organic food, yet have seen no alerts from any of the reliable groups, including OCA. Any idea what's up with this?"
HR 875 is a food safety bill that, as it is Read More
On Sunday, March 1, 2009, I attended an extraordinary event organized by the Chesapeake Climate Action Network, Artists for the Climate. Before the main event, I attended a more intimate gathering where I had the opportunity to meet Wendell Berry. I asked him about the next day's Capitol Climate Action, a direct action to shut down the coal plant that fuels the Capitol. He said he joined Bill McKibben in organizing the protest Read More
On February 28, 2009, OCA's DC intern Chantal Clement spoke at Power Shift '09, a gathering of 12,000 young climate activists, on a panel about the film Food Inc.:
"Our food system is an extremely outdated one. Created in the post-war 1950s, agriculture’s industrialization was meant to increase food production to provide Americans with cheap, easily accessible and abundant food. Its main tool was mass production to create economies of scale. Decades later, it has left us with a legacy of terrible food industry labor rights issues, overproduction, waste, excessive pesticide use, Read More
On February 25 and 26, 2009, OCA's Political Director Alexis Baden-Mayer was in Lacrosse, WI, attending the U.S. National Organic Action Plan summit where a grassroots group of organic producers and consumers are discussing a coordinated plan to work proactively, rather than merely reacting to policy, programs and industry changes. Countries all over the world have developed and implemented national organic action plans with clear targets, benchmarks,
and protocols to improve public health, preserve the environment, protect biodiversity, dramatically reduce fossil fuel use, and Read More
On February 5, 2009, Alexis Baden-Mayer, the Organic Consumers Association's Political Director, participated as a panelist in the national Green Jobs, Good Jobs conference in Washington, DC, a joint effort of the labor, consumer, and environmental movements.
The U.S. system of petroleum-based, bio-tech, and chemical-intensive agriculture produces an enormous amount of relatively inexpensive food, at least if you ignore the huge hidden costs to taxpayers and damage to public health, the environment, and climate stability; not to mention the routine Read More
The Organic Consumers Association's Washington DC office, led by Alexis Baden-Mayer, participated in the Inauguration of Barack Hussein Obama, 44th President of the United States, by organizing a roving band of dancing polar bears. The Polar Bears Against War & Melting Ice (PAWMI) carted a mobile disco and distributed 6,000 free commemorative postcards and calendars to crowds that celebrated by dancing in the streets.
Read MoreAs of February 6, 2009, the Senate had confirmed 11 of the 14 cabinet members requiring Senate review (new hearings were not required for Robert Gates who was confirmed as Bush's Defense Secretary in 2006 and will stay in Obama's cabinet). The Senate is still reviewing the nomination of Hilda Solis for Labor Secretary. On February 3, 2009, President Obama nominated Judd Gregg for Commerce Secretary, but he has not yet appointed Read More
by Alexis Baden-Mayer, Organic Consumers Association
Hello, my name is Alexis Baden-Mayer and I work here in Washington, DC, with the Organic Consumers Association. I'd like to talk about grower groups, aquaculture, the 100% organic claim, and methionine. I want to thank all of you for your hard work. I am encouraged by the National Organic Program's several new hires in compliance and enforcement and the plans to make trainings more accessible. I'm very impressed by the work of the Board, especially the improvements made to the grower group Read More
First the bad, or shall we say the really bad, news. Not since the Great Depression have Americans been Read More
Pages
for Blogs/Essays