Consolidation in Organic Agriculture - CCOF

NEWS BRIEFSCA SENATE TO VOTE ON BEAUTY REPEALThe State Senate will vote in 2004 on a bill torepeal the personal care products provisionsof the California Organic Products Act of2003. The State Assembly has alreadyapproved the measure, AB 1335. Eliminatingthis portion of the state law would re-openthe door to misleading claims on personalcare products. The state law sets a minimumof 70% organic ingredients for makingorganic claims. The National Organic Programdoes not regulate organic claims on personalcare products. Please contact statesenators and urge them to vote against therepeal (www.senate.ca.gov).OTA URGES PRECAUTIONARY APPROACHHard on the heels of the FDA preliminaryannouncement that meat from cloned animalswould be allowed into the food supply,the Organic Trade Association issued a statementcriticizing the FDA for taking a shorttermapproach. OTA’s position is that meatPage 28from a cloned animal could not be labeled“organic” even if it came from an organicallyraised cell donor.DIFFERENCE BETWEEN ORGANIC ANDCONVENTIONAL VEGETABLES PROVEDA Danish study concludes that organic vegetableshave a higher concentration offlavonoids—natural antioxidants. The scientistsbehind the study do not exactly knowwhy this difference appears. One theory isthat organic producers use plant varieties thatare more resistant to insects and diseases, andanother possibility is that organic vegetablesare not sprayed with highly toxic chemicals.Until now, flavonoid studies have mainlyconcentrated on the effect of single flavonoidsgiven in large doses. However, this particularstudy focuses on the excretion of a number offlavonoids at a realistic dietary intake andderived from a variety of flavonoid sources.ORGANIC COFFEE SALES SURGEWhile the regular coffee market has remainedflat and specialty coffeesare growing at only1–2% each year, theorganic coffee marketgrew last year by 10.5%overall. Many companiesreport sales increases upto 25%. Reaching out tonew markets (churches,zoos, websites) hashelped sales dramatically.INSPECTION STATIONSCLOSEEasier access for pestsand diseases to California’s$27 billion ag economymay be theuntended consequenceof the state’s budget crisis.Already 11 of the 16inspection stationsastride the state’s bordershave been ordered shutby the end of 2003. Thefive remaining could beclosed in 2004, according to a CDFAspokesperson.STATE’S PESTICIDE USAGE CLIMBSFollowing four years of declining pesticideusage in California, the Dept. of PesticideRegulation reports a jump in usage in 2002in its new Pesticide Use Report. The reportdocuments a 14% increase from 151 millionpounds applied in 2001 to 172 million in2002. This is still lower than any year in the1990s. The farming industry used 156.5 millionpounds of the total, up 19 millionpounds from the year before. While TulareCounty shows a slight decline, other SanJoaquin Valley counties report increases,ranging from 7% in Merced County to 26%in San Joaquin County. Fresno, Kings andMadera counties were in the 14% –16%range. Kern County was unable to reportaccurate figures in 2001 so comparisons arenot possible. Coastal counties generally wereabout even with the year before but MontereyCounty increased by 7.5% and SanDiego by 10%. Imperial County pesticideusage declined.PESTICIDE DRIFT SICKENS 136 IN KERN COClororpicrin applied in an onion field inLamont is blamed for drifting into a residentialarea sickening 136 people and hospitalizingfour during the weekend of October 4.The product, Metapicrin, which is 100%chloropicrin, was being applied by WesternFarm Service on a 40-acre field. Kern Countyag officials said the drift was unusually strong.Kern and state DPR officials are investigating.In July 2002 a drift of metam-sodium inArvin hospitalized 20, with 250 peoplereporting illness.UC STUDY: EASEMENTS SHIELD FARMSAgricultural easement programs are slowingthe rate of farmland conversion in suburbanand semi-rural parts of major metropolitanareas—counties with populations greaterthan 100,000 that have been experiencingrapid population growth. The 46 programsstudied have spent a total of $1.8 billion toprotect 887,000 acres on 5,800 farms. SixCalifornia programs are included in thestudy, A National View of AgriculturalEasement Programs, which was conducted byCCOF Magazine