Who makes sure organic means organic?

By Alan Gionet, CBS4 Denver, Nov 22

If you get a taste of ice cream from Bliss Organic Ice Cream in Boulder, you're getting the product of an entire stream of organic products and inspections.

"We have to fill out a lot of paperwork," owner Kim Troy said. "And we have to prove every year that we are organic. We have to keep track of all our lot numbers. We have to keep track of all our certifications. We have to prove that every single pint of ice cream can be followed."

That means keeping some things separate in their shop, which also sells some items that aren't considered organic.

"So we have to have separate bins, separate containers, separate shelving, separate refrigeration for all of our organics," Troy said.

Troy pays over $2,000 a year to get the inspectors from the Colorado Department of Agriculture to take a look at her operation, study it and give her the right to use the symbol that says, "Organic."

Watch excellent news article

Organic Salmon?

COALITION SIGN LETTER URGING THAT "USDA ORGANIC" STANDARDS BE UPHELD FOR AQUACULTURE

A coalition of concerned advocates from 44 organizations have sent a message to the National Organic Standards Board (NOSB), urging caution as that body considers whether or not to weaken USDA Organic Standards, it was announced today. The NOSB is meeting in late November of this year to consider the report of their Aquaculture Working Group. If acted upon, their recommendations would allow fish to carry the USDA Organic label - despite being raised under conditions that fail to meet basic USDA Organic principles.

In their letter, the groups comment on the Aquaculture Working Group's recommendations to allow use of fishmeal from wild fish (which has the potential to carry mercury and PCBs) and open net cages (which promotes pollution from fish waste, can spread disease and parasites killing wild fish and allows escapes of farmed fish into the wild).

The co-signing organizations conclude that while the farming of herbivorous finfish may be conducted within organic regulations, farming carnivorous finfish (including salmon) in open net cage systems is an inherently flawed farming practice, incompatible with organic principles.

Read more

Lawsuits Announced Against Nation's Biggest Organic Dairy

Class Action Suits Seek Damages from Sale of Fraudulent Milk

Acting on behalf of organic food consumers in 27 states, class action lawsuits are being filed in U.S. federal courts, in St. Louis and Denver, against the nation's largest organic dairy. The suits charge Aurora Dairy Corporation, based in Boulder, Colorado, with allegations of consumer fraud, negligence, and unjust enrichment concerning the sale of organic milk by the company. This past April, Aurora officials received a notice from the USDA detailing multiple and "willful" violations of federal organic law that were found by federal investigators.

"This is the largest scandal in the history of the organic industry," said Mark Kastel of The Cornucopia Institute, a Wisconsin-based farm policy research group. Cornucopia's 2005 formal legal complaint first alerted USDA investigators to the improprieties occurring at Aurora. "Aurora was taking advantage of the consumer's good will in the marketplace toward organics, and the USDA has allowed this scofflaw- corporation to continue to operate," Kastel added.

Law firms based in Ohio, Illinois, and Missouri have so far have filed one of the lawsuits in Missouri, with another suit, covering dozens of additional states where plaintiffs live, due to be filed in Denver tomorrow. The attorneys are seeking damages from Aurora to reimburse consumers harmed by the company's actions and are requesting that the U.S. District Courts put an injunction in place to halt the ongoing sale of Aurora's organic milk in the nation's grocery stores until it can be demonstrated that the company is complying with federal organic regulations.

Aurora, with $100 million in annual sales, provides milk that is sold as organic and packaged as private label, store-brand products for some of the nation's biggest chains, including Wal-Mart, Target, Costco, Safeway, Wild Oats, and about 20 others.

Independent investigators at the USDA concluded earlier this year that Aurora-with five dairy facilities in Colorado and Texas, each milking thousands of cows-had 14 "willful" violations of federal organic regulations. One of the most egregious of the findings was that from December 5, 2003, to April 16, 2007, the Aurora Dairy "labeled and represented milk as organically produced, when such milk was not produced and handled in accordance with the National Organic Program regulations."

Note: Organic Connection only offers milk & dairy products from regional farmers, family businesses, farmer co-operatives or small organic companies. We maintain the preference and ability to communicate with real people in business rather than work with faceless corporations.

read more about the lawsuit (Cornucopia.Org)

Complaint against Mushroom Company for Organic Standards Violations

Last week, the Government Accountability Project (GAP) requested that the United States Department of Agriculture's National Organic Program (NOP) initiate an investigation into violations of organic standards allegedly committed by a mushroom production company based in California. A formal complaint from GAP was submitted earlier today against Golden Gourmet Mushrooms, Inc. (GGM) of San Diego County.

According to documents acquired by GAP, the specialty mushroom company may have violated organic standards and public confidence in several ways, including:

• The sale of conventional mushroom products as organic
• The manipulation of organic certification documents
• Making false claims regarding the nature and origin of its mushroom products.

"Every violation of the standards reduces public confidence in the organic label. It is critical that the National Organic Program thoroughly investigate complaints and weed out any bad actors now while the program is still young," says Jacqueline Ostfeld, GAP Food and Drug Safety Officer.

more info (WhistleBlower.org)

What Makes a Cow Organic?

By Kathie Arnold

What makes a cow organic? The answer has certainly been controversial over the last several years, especially when it comes to grazing cows on pasture. However, I would submit that the National Organic Program regulation, which states that all ruminants must have access to pasture, has been clear right from the start to the vast majority of organic dairy farms and certifiers.

Only a small minority of operators and certifiers took advantage of the absence of a definitively worded regulation to minimize grazing; they also loosely interpreted, if not disregarded, the several citations to pasture requirements in the USDA regulations. This failure to come to the same understanding and application as everyone else seems to stem from a profit motive-to make more organic milk for the marketplace. For example, documents that have recently come to light show that the first operation of Aurora Organic Dairy, in Platteville, Colorado, apparently started out with about 70 acres of pasture for the 5,000 cows they were transitioning. Their self-serving interpretation of the regulation - "all ruminants must have access to pasture" - was that the livestock just needed to have access to pasture at some point in their life.

read more (Chews Wise)

Help Enforce the Integrity of Organic Milk Labels!

One of the Center for Food Safety's main goals is to protect the integrity of organic food so that consumers have a dependable, safe, and environmentally sustainable alternative to food produced through industrial agriculture.

Unfortunately, the ongoing actions of one dairy company have violated the trust consumers place in the organic label. On August 29th the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) announced that from 2003 through 2006 Aurora Organic Dairy willfully violated the federal requirements for organic milk production by illegally failing to provide pasture, and by selling milk from cows that were not fully under organic management. The end result is that you - the organic consumer - may have paid a premium to purchase "organic" milk that was not truly organic!

Companies like Aurora hurt the integrity of the organic label, and threaten the future of organic agriculture. While the USDA has partially addressed Aurora's flagrant disregard for the organic standards, Aurora been allowed to continue to operate and many consumers are left feeling duped. CFS expects that there will be legal action taken against Aurora on behalf of consumers, and we want to make sure that YOUR rights are protected.

Aurora sells some of its milk under its own label: High Meadows. It also packages the majority of all private label organic milk and butter in the country for supermarkets such as Safeway, Costco, WalMart, Target and Wild Oats.

Center For Food Safety

Organic Dairy Agrees to Alter Some Practices

By Andrew Martin, New York Times, August 30, 2007

A huge Colorado organic dairy agreed yesterday to stop applying the organic label to some of its milk and make major changes in its operation after the Department of Agriculture threatened to revoke its organic certification for, among other problems, failing to provide enough pasture to its cows.

The dairy, Aurora Organic Dairy, which supplies private-label organic milk for many supermarket chains, must also remove some animals from the organic herd at its Platteville, Colo., farm, according to a Department of Agriculture statement released late yesterday that outlined the terms of a consent agreement with the dairy.

While the U.S.D.A. has taken action against other organic producers, the consent decree with Aurora represents a rare show of force against a leading supplier of products to the rapidly expanding market for organic foods.

USDA Says Almonds Labeled as 'Raw' Must Be Pasteurized

Under pressure from industrial agriculture lobbyists, the USDA has quietly approved a new regulation that will effectively end distribution of raw almonds, while putting many smaller almond farmers out of business. The regulation is scheduled to go into effect on September 1st, unless thousands of consumers take action now.

The rule requires pasteurization of almonds, including organic, yet allows those same almonds to continue to be labeled as "raw". Nutritionists point out that raw, organic almonds are far superior, in terms of nutrition, to pasteurized almonds. One of the FDA-recommended pasteurization methods involves the use of propylene oxide, which is classified as a carcinogen in California and is banned in Canada, Mexico, and the European Union. Organic and family-scale almond farmers are protesting the proposed rule, saying it will effectively put them out of business, since the minimum price for the pasteurization equipment is $500,000.

Read more (Organic Consumers Association) & Take Action

How the Media Missed the Organic Story

By Samuel Fromartz, Chewswise, June 28.

The USDA's recent approval of 38 non-organic ingredients in organic food products was widely portrayed in media reports as evidence that the USDA was watering down organic standards.

This is a standard interpretation - that, at the behest of agribusiness, the USDA is constantly chipping away at the integrity of organic food regulations, making it easier for big companies to subvert what organic food is all about. They were doing so now by including these 38 non-organic ingredients in organic food.

The only problem was this was flat out wrong.

read more (Chewswise)

Big Decertified Dairy Pulls Out of Organic

The Case Vander Eyk Dairy, which reportedly said it was seeking recertification of its 3,500 head organic herd, has decided not to pursue it after all.

The controversial dairy in the Central Valley of California had been certified by Quality Assurance International, but QAI suspended the company's organic dairy operations in May for failing to meet regulatory standards. The dairy then approached California Certified Organic Farmers about beginning the recertification process.

Peggy Miars, executive director of CCOF, one of the oldest organic certification agencies in the nation, said in an email the dairy was in "the initial review stage" for recertification. "Obviously, CCOF holds all applicants to the same strict standards and would ensure that all previous noncompliance issues are resolved."

"However, that seems to be a moot point based on my conversation with our contact at Vander Eyk," Miars continued. "He said that the Vander Eyk family is pulling out of the organic dairy business indefinitely."

read more (Chews Wise)

Label Watch: Annie's Homegrown and the "it's-too-hard-to-find-organic-ingredients" defense

Time has expired on the USDA's attempt to allow 38 non-organically grown ingredients as exceptions in certified organic food when their organic counterparts are unavailable.

Among the most objectionable items that were under consideration: conventionally grown hops for organic beer (thanks to whining from Anheuser-Busch, which says supply is too limited - or else doesn't want to pay the premium).

That most of the rest of the other ingredients were "natural" colors and flavors used in processed food has not escaped skeptics. The reason that companies are asking for exceptions is that the organically grown supply of things like elderberry juice (for turning foods red or purple) falls far short of what Big Organic needs to meet skyrocketing demand.

Annatto, one of the ingredients on the USDA's list, provides an illuminating example of what's wrong with the motivations behind approving these exceptions.

Annatto is a natural food coloring derived from the reddish pulp surrounding the seed pods of Bixa orellana, also known as achiote, which grows in tropical zones. John Foraker, CEO of Annie's Homegrown company - famous makers of boxed pasta products for kids - argued in his change-the-rules petition letter to the USDA that "Organic annatto is not readily available and does not deliver the same cheese color. Making orange colored macaroni and cheese is an important element of our offering. Without annatto, our macaroni-and-cheese products would be white" (as quoted in the Times; the USDA does not seem to have posted the comments it's received on this change, as it often does).

Read more (Ethicurean.com)

Boycott the Shameless Seven - Factory Farmed 'Organic' Milk

While USDA bureaucrats drag their feet on closing key loopholes in national organic organic standards, retailers, wholesalers and major "organic" brands are continuing to sell milk and dairy products labeled as "USDA Organic, even though most or all of their milk is coming from factory farm feedlots where the animals have been brought in from conventional farms and are kept in intensive confinement, with little or no access to pasture.

The Organic Consumers Association is expanding its boycott of Horizon and Aurora organic dairy products to include five national "private label" organic milk brands supplied by Aurora, as well as two leading organic soy products, Silk and White Wave, owned by Horizon's parent company, Dean Foods. Its time to turn up the heat on the "Shameless Seven.

Aurora Organic supplies milk for several private label organic milk brands, including Costco's "Kirkland Signature," Safeway's "O" organics brand, Publix's "High Meadows,"Giant's "Natures Promise," and Wild Oats' organic milk. Aurora Organic received a failing grade from the Cornucopia Institute's survey of organic dairies for its practice of intensive confinement of dairy cows. For pictures of Aurora Organic's operations, follow this link. The Cornucopia Institute recently blew the whistle on Aurora Organic's greenwashing and its bogus certification of animal welfare.

Additionally, its been revealed that much of the soy for Dean Food's White Wave tofu and Silk soymilk products are sourced abroad, primarily from Brazil and China. Environmental standards and workers' rights are routinely violated in these two countries.

Take Action

Factory Farm Producing "Organic" Milk Loses Certification

After a seven-year-long battle between organic farmers and consumers and the USDA, the first of a handful of industrial-scale dairies, producing what they claimed was organic milk, has been shut down by regulatory authorities. It was announced today by an organic industry watchdog group that a 10,000-cow feedlot dairy, near Fresno in central California, was found to be operating outside of the organic law and has had their certificate to produce organic milk suspended.

The Cornucopia Institute, a farm policy research group based in Wisconsin, which acts as an organic industry watchdog, announced that the Case Vander Eyk Jr. Dairy in Pixley, California, has been forced to suspend selling organic milk. In early 2005, Cornucopia filed the first of a series of formal legal complaints with the USDA against large factory-farm operators, including Vander Eyk, alleging that the mammoth "factory farms" were violating the spirit and letter of the organic law by confining their animals to pens and sheds rather than grazing them.

According to governmental regulators the dairy lost its ability to ship organic milk last month after receiving a notice of suspension from its USDA-accredited certifier, Quality Assurance International (QAI), for serious questions surrounding the record-keeping such as assuring that cows are actually managed organically (without antibiotics and hormones), fed organically produced feed (without toxic pesticides and herbicides), and are allowed to graze rather than being confined in a feedlot. View Video - R.I.P. Organic Dairy

read more...(The Cornucopia Institute)

USDA may relax standards for organic foods

The agency is considering a list of 38 nonorganic spices, colorings and other ingredients that would be allowed in products it deems 'organic.'

By Scott J. Wilson, Los AngelesTimes Staff Writer, June 9.

With the "USDA organic" seal stamped on its label, Anheuser-Busch calls its Wild Hop Lager "the perfect organic experience."

"In today's world of artificial flavors, preservatives and factory farming, knowing what goes into what you eat and drink can just about drive you crazy," the Wild Hop website says. "That's why we have decided to go back to basics and do things the way they were meant to be naturally."

But many beer drinkers may not know that Anheuser-Busch has the organic blessing from federal regulators even though Wild Hop Lager uses hops grown with chemical fertilizers and sprayed with pesticides.

(Picture: Shawn Moebius loads beer bottles at Milwaukee's Lakefront Brewery, which has been making beer with 100% organic hops since 1996. By comparison, less than 10% of the hops in Anheuser-Busch's two new organic beers are actually organic.)

read more (LA Times)

Another Sneak Attack on Organic Standards: USDA to Allow More Non-Organic Ingredients in Organic Foods

The USDA has announced a controversial proposal, with absolutely no input from consumers, to allow 38 new non-organic ingredients in products bearing the "USDA Organic" seal. Most of the ingredients are food colorings derived from plants that are supposedly not "commercially available" in organic form. But at least three of the proposed ingredients, backed by beer giant Anheuser-Busch, and pork and food processors, represent a serious threat to organic standards, and have raised the concerns of the Organic Consumers Association (OCA).

read more (Organic Consumers Association)

USDA Attempts to Pack Organic Standards Board with Corporate Agribusiness Reps

Organic Consumers Fight Hijacked Seats on NOSB

WASHINGTON, DC - On December 5, 2006, the USDA announced its new appointments to the National Organic Standards Board (NOSB). The NOSB essentially advises the USDA on how to interpret and implement federal organic laws that regulate industry. The NOSB also reviews and approves substances for placement on the National List of Approved and Prohibited Substances. In other words, the NOSB has the ability to significantly weaken or strengthen the effectiveness of the national organic standards.

According to federal law, the NOSB is to be made up of a diverse group of experts in the organic field, including a public interest group representative, an environmentalist, a scientist, and a handler. Despite this clear mandate of diversity, the USDA's new appointments are all industry representatives.

USDA’s new appointees are:

Scientist: Katrina Heinze (General Mills)
Consumer and Public Interest Group Representative: Tracy Miedema (Stahlbush Island Farms, a primarily non-organic operation)
Environmentalist: Tina Ellor (Phillips Mushroom Farms)
Handler: Steve DeMuri (Campbell Soup)

Historically, there has only been one other instance where the USDA has attempted to stack non-industry seats on the NOSB with industry representatives, and the results were an embarrassment for the USDA. One year ago, the agency attempted to put a General Mills’ company representative, Katrina Heinz in the NOSB Public Interest Group Representative seat, which was closely followed by a massive consumer backlash spearheaded by the Organic Consumers Association (OCA) and the Consumers Union. The protests caused Heinz to decline the appointment.

“Never before has the Bush administration’s USDA made such a blatant attempt to pack the National Organic Standards Board with people who represent corporate agribusiness and industrial farming practices,” says OCA National Director Ronnie Cummins. “Stahlbush Farms, which admits on its website to using pesticides, fungicides, and insecticides on its crops (except for its canned pumpkins, sweet potatoes, and frozen green beans) is not, by any stretch of the imagination, an organic consumer or public interest group. Likewise, General Mills is not an academic institution, qualified to submit an impartial "scientist" to serve on the NOSB.”

read more & take action...(Organic Consumers Association)

An organic farmers' thoughts as large food companies begin to co-opt organic movement

Michael Pollan

As a consumer who generally tries to do the right thing, I've always thought the decision to buy organic was a no-brainer. But in recent years organic has grown to include paradoxes such as the organic factory farm and the organic TV dinner. And now, there is even organic high-fructose corn syrup. We are not far from organic Coca-Cola.

Now these aren't absolutely good or absolutely bad developments. As offensive a concept as organic high-fructose corn syrup may be, a product like organic Coke will sponsor a lot more organic acreage in this country. But this is certainly not what the founders of the organic movement had in mind.

It's worth remembering what they did have in mind. There were three legs to the original organic dream. One was growing food in harmony with nature --- a non-industrial way of farming that treated animals humanely and did not use chemical pesticides. The second leg was that our system of food distribution should be different; food co-ops, farmer's markets, and community supported agriculture could replace the national agricultural system. And the third leg was the food itself.

The lesson to be learned is that consumers of all kinds, but especially eaters, are producers in the most important sense. With every food purchasing decision, we are helping to create the world we want to live in, one bite at a time.

Today the organic dream is in peril. The USDA developed a set of rules --- and they got pesticides, hormones, and many drugs out of the system. All wonderful. But if you look at the new rules, that's all they address. There is nothing written about the kind of food that may be called organic, or its distribution. There is no rule against high-fructose corn syrup. This is organic food forced through the industrial system, shorn of its holism. What has been lost is that one key insight about organic: that everything is connected. The organic dream has been reduced to a farming method.

Michael Pollan is the author of The Botany of Desire. This article is adapted from a talk hosted by the Great Barrington Land Conservancy.