[cgfc] Organics Standards Weakened by Backroom Deal

[Molly]

Hi Co-op members,

You may have been following the news from the Organic Consumers
Association regarding   the proposed serious changes to our national
organic standards. Well, apparently they just happened. Large
corporate organic producers were successful in convincing congress to
add loopholes to the USDA regulations that govern the production and
labeling of organic products. The result is that our standards have
been weakened to grant concessions to these large producers. A summary
is below.

If you find this as upsetting as I do, please contact me to determine
what can do as consumers who care about the integrity of our food.

-Molly


 -----Original Message-----
 From: Schafer, Jessica <Jessica.Schafer at mail.house.gov>
 Sent: Fri Oct 28 12:10:34 2005
 Subject: RELEASE: Organics Standards Weakened by Backroom Deal

NEWS FROM CONGRESSMAN SAM FARR
 17th Congressional District of California
 October 28, 2005
 CONTACT: Jessica Schafer, 202-225-2861, jessica.schafer at mail.house.gov
 http://farr.house.gov/

BACKROOM DEAL WEAKENS ORGANICS STANDARDS

Washington, D.C. -  In a late night deal, language was slipped into
the FY06 agriculture funding bill that weakens the organic label by
allowing chemically derived ingredients, some without careful,
independent review, to be used in organic products. The bill passed
the House this morning and is expected to pass the Senate shortly.

"Consumers are willing to pay more for organic food because they know
organic produce and products offer the most authentic and verified
form of natural food possible. Synthetic ingredients should only be
used when there's no organic alternative, and under supervision of the
National Organic Standards Board. The weakened standards inserted into
today's final bill will undermine consumer confidence in the integrity
of the organic label," warned Congressman Sam Farr (CA-17).

The "legislative fix" inserted into the FY06 Agriculture
Appropriations Bill was added to modify the Organic Foods Production
Act (OFPA) in response to the U.S. Court of Appeal's ruling in Harvey
v. Johanns. The provision was not in either the House or Senate
versions of this bill and was added after congressional negotiators
from the two sides adjourned. Farr, a long-time advocate of organics
and the most senior Californian on the House Agriculture
Appropriations Subcommittee, participated in these final negotiations.

"If the history of organics has taught us anything, it is that changes
should follow an inclusive and transparent process that unites, rather
than divides, the organic community. At the very least, the process
should have given all stakeholders a fair chance to review the
proposed changes and their likely consequences. Backroom deals without
proper debate undermine the integrity of the entire organic industry.
You can be sure we'll be visiting this 'fix' again," said Farr.

Changes allowed by the new organics provision in today's bill include:

*       Numerous synthetic food additives and processing aids,
including over 500 food contact substances, can now be used in organic
foods without public review.

*       Young dairy cows can now continue to be treated with
antibiotics and fed genetically engineered feed prior to being
converted to organic production.

*       Loopholes under which non-organic ingredients could be
substituted for organic ingredients can now occur without any public
notification based on emergency decrees.

# # #

::::::::::::::::::::::::
 Jessica Schafer
 Press Secretary
 Rep. Sam Farr (CA-17)
 202.225.2861

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