Here is the notification I recieved about organic standards.

ACTION ALERT: CONGRESS UNDERMINES ORGANIC LABEL!

A last minute, behind-closed doors provision was added to to the 2003 federal spending bill recently signed into law that would permit livestock producers to label their meat and poultry as "organic" even if the animals are feed partly or entirely on conventional feed rather than organic grains. Although the bill was passed on February 13, 2003, we have a short window of opportunity to raise voices in support of those in Congress who are trying to repeal the provision.

Under the provision included in the spending bill, if the USDA certifies that organic feed is commercially available only at more than twice the price of convential feed, then the department cannot enforce regulations requiring livestock and poultry labeld organically raised be fed only organic feed. This is in direct contradiction to the NAtional Organic Standards, implemented in October 2002, which clearly stipulates that any meat or poultry product labeled as organic must be fed a 100% organic ration. While the NAtional Organic Standards were developed over a twelve-year public process, this provision was added in response to a private request the night before the vote on the bill.

As reported by the New York Times, Speaker of the House Dennis Hastert added the last minute provision at the behest of Rep. Nathan Deal (R-GA) at a closed door session on behalf of Georgia poultry producer, Fieldale Farms, who also produce poultry under the Springer Mountain Farms and Redding labels. The firm had been trying to get an exemption from the USDA that would allow it to feed its chickens a mix of convential and organic feed and still call it organic.


WHAT YOU CAN DO TO HELP

Bills have been introduced to repeal this provision in the Senate (S. 457) by Senators Leahy (D-VT) and Snowe (R-ME) and in the House (HR 955) by Reps. Farr (D-CA) and Kind (D-WI). Both of these bills are called the Organic Restoration Act. For the repeal bill to be suvvessful, we must generate a lot of intererst and public comment on the Organic Restoration Act. It is important that we all talk to our Members of Congress and get them on board in supporting this bill. Contact your representatives in Washington, D.C. and request that they support the Organic Restoration Act to repeal the language inserted in section 771 of the Omnibus Appropriations bill undermining the integrity of the organic lable for meat, poultry, eggs and dairy.

Please e-mail/fax or telphone your Member. Postal mail going to the Congress is irradiated and takes months to get to the Offices. In particular, if you live in the Roanake/Harrisonburg/Lynchberg/Stauton, Virginia area, please immediatley contact Rep. Bob Goodlatte, chairman of the House Agriculture Committee. He is apparently creating a bottleneck for many Republicans to sign onto the Organic Restoration Act. He can be reached at 202 225-5431 or talk2bob@mail,house.gov.

You can find your Senator at: www.senate.gov/general/contact_information/senators_cfm.cfm

You can find your Representative at: www.house.gov/house/MemberWWW_by_State.html

SAMPLE FAX/EMAIL/TELEPHONE TEXT

Dear Senator/Representative:

I am very concerned to learn of the back door provision added to section 771 of the recently passed Omnibus Appropriations bill that undermines the integrity of the organic label for meat and poultry. The 100% livestock feed regulations, as included in the National Organic Standards implemented in 2002, must be reinstated. These regulations came about through many years of a truly democratic, public development process and must not be undermined by special interst groups and private companies. Many reputable large and small scale organic livestock producers are already in compliance with the 100% livestock feed regulations and are not experiencing any difficulty in locating enough fairly priced organic feed to meet their needs.

I urge you to support and co-sponsor, if you have not already done so, Senators Leahy (D-VT) and Snowe (R-ME) and Reps. Farr (D-CA) and Kind (D-WI) with their repeal bills (S. 457 and HR 955), the Organic Restoration Act. Section 771 must be repealed. Research shows that over 55% of American consumers purchased an organic product last year and a weakening of the NAtional Organic standards will definitely be noticed by many of your constituents. More than 275,000 comments were sent to the USDA when the draft of the organic standards was watered down. Expect a similar outrage if action is not taken to repeal this provision.

I thank you for your consideration and support. This is needed to ensure trust is maintained in the production of our organic products.

Sincerely yours,
[Name]
[Address]
[Phone NUmber]