The Fanatic Cook writes to me:
Last Wednesday, when everyone was caught up with the indictments, Congress met in a quiet session to pass the bill you wrote about stopping – HR2744, the 2006 Agriculture Appropriations Bill, that weakened organic standards, allowing synthetics, GMO’s, growth hormone etc. in “organic” food. They caved to big food producers, even though 300,000 letters were written to halt it and they did in fact shelve it … until this moment when everyone was distracted.
He wrote about it on his site as well. Fanatic’s much more knowledgeable than I am when it comes to this subject, so I’ll defer to him. However, let me just say a few things beforehand. This is a miserable disgrace and yet another sign that large corporations have taken over our democracy. We no longer have a democracy; that was evident before this of course. We have a Business Kleptocracy. It is wholly corrupt and panders primarily to corporate interests; no longer is the health and well being of the citizenry anywhere near as important as the green lining in their pockets.
Fanatic points out that the Bill will:
Organic Consumers Association has more.
We’ll keep fighting them, but they’re so powerful. I don’t know how this is anything but inevitable. Start buying from food producers you know and can talk to, folks, if you want to know the story behind your food. Otherwise, your milk may come from tortured cattle (already organic milk is somewhat of a joke), your pork may come from antibiotic-filled zombie pigs, and your produce might be soaked in poisons, all without your knowledge.
UPDATE: Laurie rolled out of bed, still sick, to unleash the fury.
Here’s the list of dirty corporations who own companies that produce supposedly “organic” products. Smucker’s, Dean Foods, and Kraft, pushed Congress to “quietly” change the law to allow the use of such synthetic ingredients and potentially weaken the organic dairy standards. These are the big players in getting this legislation passed, and you should really boycott them to show them who really holds the power:
• Brand Name(s): Silk Soy Milk, Horizon Dairy
Owned By: White Wave
Principle Stockholders: Dean Foods
Significantly Owned By: Citigroup, Coca Cola, ExxonMobil, General Electric, Home Depot, Microsoft, Pepsico, Pfizer, Philip Morris, Walmart
• Brand Name(s): Knudsen, After the Fall, Santa Cruz
Owned By: J.M. Smucker
Significantly Owned By: Pepsico
• Brand Name(s): Balance Bar, Boca Burger
Owned By: Kraft Foods
Principle Stockholders: Philip Morris
“Congress voted last night to weaken the national organic standards that consumers count on to preserve the integrity of the organic label,” said Ronnie Cummins, National Director of the Organic Consumers Association.. “The process was profoundly undemocratic and the end result is a serious setback for the multi billion dollar alternative food and farming system that the organic community has so painstakingly built up over the past 35 years. The rider will take away the traditional role of the organic community and the National Organic Standards Board in monitoring and controling organic standards. Industry’s stealth attack has unnecessarily damaged the standards that helped organic foods become the fastest growing sector in the food industry.”