All About Organics
OCA's Organic Resource Center
Organic Consumers Association Campaigns, Essays, Headlines, Action Alerts, Downloads and Videos on Organic Food.
Organic food is pure food. It's safer, more nutritious and free of chemical additives. Organic crops are grown without chemical pesticides or fertilizers and organic livestock are raised without antibiotics, growth hormones or other drugs. Organic food isn't genetically modified or irradiated.
Press Release
May 25, 2006
Organic Consumers Association Says, 'No Factory Farmed Organics' Consumers Across the US Tell the USDA to Not Allow Imposter Organics
WASHINGTON, DC - Across the United States, thousands of consumers are responding to the US Department of Agriculture's (USDA) public comment period on revisions to the National Organic Program (NOP). A number of the USDA revisions relate to the "access to pasture" requirement for organic dairies. The Organic Consumers Association and other public interest groups are very concerned that the USDA NOP Read more
WASHINGTON, DC - Across the United States, thousands of consumers are responding to the US Department of Agriculture's (USDA) public comment period on revisions to the National Organic Program (NOP). A number of the USDA revisions relate to the "access to pasture" requirement for organic dairies. The Organic Consumers Association and other public interest groups are very concerned that the USDA NOP Read more
News
May 23, 2006
Web Note by Ronnie Cummins:
Since the yearly budget of the USDA is $90 billion (yes billion, not million) this expanded allocation for organic farming research (from last year's paltry $1.8 million to $5 million) is not exactly a Great Leap Forward for organics, the fastest growing, healthiest, and most sustainable component of American food & farming. This is a perfect example of why the nation's 50 million organic consumers have got to get better organized and make our message heard in Washington. Organics represents 2.5% of all grocery sales, and we deserve at least 2.5% of Read more
Since the yearly budget of the USDA is $90 billion (yes billion, not million) this expanded allocation for organic farming research (from last year's paltry $1.8 million to $5 million) is not exactly a Great Leap Forward for organics, the fastest growing, healthiest, and most sustainable component of American food & farming. This is a perfect example of why the nation's 50 million organic consumers have got to get better organized and make our message heard in Washington. Organics represents 2.5% of all grocery sales, and we deserve at least 2.5% of Read more
News
June 1, 2006
Organic grain farming can increase farmers’ incomes significantly, but there are also challenges, particularly in transitioning to organic. This was a key message at a Beginning Organic Farming Workshop held at Purdue University this past February.
Gary Reding, president of Langeland Farms, Inc., discussed the “real life” economics of growing organic and conventional crops, including popcorn, dry beans, soybeans, wheat, and corn on 900 acres in Greensburg, Indiana.
Reding compared revenues from conventional and organic farming. Referring to 2005 data Read more
Gary Reding, president of Langeland Farms, Inc., discussed the “real life” economics of growing organic and conventional crops, including popcorn, dry beans, soybeans, wheat, and corn on 900 acres in Greensburg, Indiana.
Reding compared revenues from conventional and organic farming. Referring to 2005 data Read more
News
June 1, 2006
More and more consumers worldwide want safe, healthy foods that sustain the environment, family farms, and rural communities and contain fewer pesticides and no genetically modified ingredients. “Ethical” consumer demand is forcing the agricultural and food industries, particularly in Europe, to adopt sustainable agricultural practices.(This is the first of a two-part series on sustainable
food production.)
Consumer demand for food produced using sustainable methods, including organic, is especially strong in Europe. Consumers there have seen food safety Read more
food production.)
Consumer demand for food produced using sustainable methods, including organic, is especially strong in Europe. Consumers there have seen food safety Read more
News
May 23, 2006
The Spanish language doesn't have a concise word for "sweatshop." Whenever I explain the word to workers in Central America, they ask me how a sweatshop is different from any other workplace. Nearly every factory violates local and international labor laws.
Wages are often between a half and a third of a living wage, and yet, since workers frequently receive no more than 1% of what we pay in the store, minute increases in price or changes to the supply chain could provide workers a just wage.
Textile companies scour the globe in search of the cheapest production Read more
Wages are often between a half and a third of a living wage, and yet, since workers frequently receive no more than 1% of what we pay in the store, minute increases in price or changes to the supply chain could provide workers a just wage.
Textile companies scour the globe in search of the cheapest production Read more
News
May 22, 2006
Chicago - In his 2001 best-seller Fast Food Nation, author Eric Schlosser is out to kill our appetite for fast foods like the Big Mac and its $1 cousin, the Whopper Jr. He admits they taste great, but he argues that such meals are filled with chemicals that could make cardboard smell delicious, while the actual food often contains microbes spread by fecal material. He's spinning his argument forward these days with a movie adaptation of Fast Food Nation and a new kid's version of the book, Chew on This.
But what would happen if Americans did become healthier-minded and stopped Read more
But what would happen if Americans did become healthier-minded and stopped Read more
News
May 18, 2006
Hyderabad, India
Noted environment activist Ms Vandana Shiva has alleged that Bt cotton was responsible for the increased cost of farm production and indebtedness of farmers, forcing many of them to end their life.
Addressing a press conference here on Thursday, she called for a moratorium on cotton planting and an independent study of the socio, economic, environmental and health impacts of Bt cotton.
Ms Shiva was here as part of the 20-day, three-State `beej yatra' to promote `desi seeds' and sustainable agriculture. It would also promote "GMO-free, patent- Read more
Noted environment activist Ms Vandana Shiva has alleged that Bt cotton was responsible for the increased cost of farm production and indebtedness of farmers, forcing many of them to end their life.
Addressing a press conference here on Thursday, she called for a moratorium on cotton planting and an independent study of the socio, economic, environmental and health impacts of Bt cotton.
Ms Shiva was here as part of the 20-day, three-State `beej yatra' to promote `desi seeds' and sustainable agriculture. It would also promote "GMO-free, patent- Read more
News
WCCO - Minneapolis, MN, USA
It's not like Byerly's to leave customers wanting, but for weeks this spring, the chic St. Louis Park, Minn. grocer hung signs in its dairy cases; the organic milk had disappeared.
The supermarket sold out on some days because of lower winter production and the calving cycle. The milk came back this month when cows returned to pasture during what's known in the industry as "spring flush."
It's a seasonal shortage that grows more acute each year with surging demand for organic milk. Estimates range from 10 percent to 25 percent undersupply for the nation. It's enough to Read more
The supermarket sold out on some days because of lower winter production and the calving cycle. The milk came back this month when cows returned to pasture during what's known in the industry as "spring flush."
It's a seasonal shortage that grows more acute each year with surging demand for organic milk. Estimates range from 10 percent to 25 percent undersupply for the nation. It's enough to Read more
News
May 18, 2006
Socially concerned investors, who filed a shareholder proposal with Dean Foods, today questioned the company's management at its Annual Meeting of Stockholders in Dallas as its marquee organic brand faces a growing consumer backlash over its reliance on factory-farm milk production. Investors believe the large-scale dairy operations are damaging the Horizon Organics brand and threaten shareholder value.
Dallas, TX (PRWEB) May 18, 2006 -- Socially concerned investors, who filed a shareholder proposal with Dean Foods, today questioned the company's management at its Read more
Dallas, TX (PRWEB) May 18, 2006 -- Socially concerned investors, who filed a shareholder proposal with Dean Foods, today questioned the company's management at its Read more
News
May 16, 2006
LONDON - Organic farming can help reverse a sharp decline in Britain's agricultural workforce, creating on average 32 percent more jobs than conventional farming, according to a study issued by the Soil Association on Monday.
"The decline in the agricultural workforce has been just as dramatic as the decline of skylarks," Soil Association policy director Peter Melchett told a news conference, referring to the British bird whose population has fallen sharply.
Melchett said British policymakers had tended to focus on the benefits of organic farming for biodiversity but Read more
"The decline in the agricultural workforce has been just as dramatic as the decline of skylarks," Soil Association policy director Peter Melchett told a news conference, referring to the British bird whose population has fallen sharply.
Melchett said British policymakers had tended to focus on the benefits of organic farming for biodiversity but Read more
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