Consolidation in Organic Agriculture - CCOF

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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
American Farmland Trust and the Universityof California’s Agricultural Issues Center, incollaboration with Farm Foundation.BUSH ADMINISTRATIONCHANGES PESTICIDE LAWSUITSA new interpretation of federal law at EPAwill limit farmers’ ability to sue pesticidemanufacturers when their products do notperform as promised. This interpretation isdiametrically opposed to the previous administration’sposition on the subject. In effect,the new ruling says that growers cannot usestate laws to sue a manufacturer when theproduct fails to do what the federallyapproved label says it will do.EMORY U. STUDY WARNS OF PESTICIDESA new study conducted by Emory U.School of Medicine and reported at theSociety for Neuroscience meeting says threepesticide active ingredients attack humanmitochondria. Rotenone, which is also toxicto mitochondria, has been cited as a potentialcontributor to Parkinson’s disease, butno relationship has been drawn from thethree pesticides’ active ingredients tested—pyridaben, fenazaquin and fenpyroximate.Mitochondria are described as the “powerplants that provide all cells with energy.”METHYL BROMIDE UPDATEMontreal Protocol signatories failed toapprove the US request to increase its use ofmethyl bromide in 2005 from the baselinefigure of 30% to 38.2% at a UN-sponsoredmeeting in Nairobi, Kenya. As a last ditcheffort, the 180 nations that signed the reductionplan will meet in early 2004. In themeantime Congressman George Radanovich(R-Mariposa, CA) plans to introduce legislationallowing higher usage in violation of theProtocol.GROUPS SUE FDA OVER CLAIMSThe Center for Science in the Public Interestand Public Citizen sued the FDA over its July2003 policy of allowing more health claimson foods even when the evidence to supportthose claims is weak or inconclusive. TheFDA will also permit claims in which theweight of the evidence suggests the claim islikely false, as long as a disclaimer accompaniesthe claim.EPA BACKS OFF “SENIOR DEATH DISCOUNT”The Bush EPA recently proposed recalculatingthe effects of pollution so that an olderperson’s life is worth only 63% of a youngerperson’s life. By that formula, power plantemissions cause fewer American deaths peryear. In response to media coverage and outrageby seniors at “listening sessions,” theEPA said it will no longer use this calculation.WHO URGES END TOGROWTH-PROMOTING ANTIBIOTICSThe World HealthOrganization has urged nations to “phase outthe widespread and controversial use ofantibiotic growth promoters in animal feed”;this action will “help preserve the effectivenessof antibiotics for medicine…without significantexpense or health consequences tofarm animals.”CONSUMER TRENDSA nationwide survey released in May 2003showed that approx. three-quarters of Americansare concerned about the presence ofantibiotics in meat production when theyshop for beef and poultry. Less than one-halfare aware that beef and poultry purchased atsupermarkets are commonly raised on feedcontaining antibiotics.A survey of 4,014 Ohio residents conductedby Ohio State U. asked respondentsto rank seven perceivedfood safety risks. Pesticideresidues in food wasranked first, followed bydrinking water contamination,growth hormonesin meat or milk, bacterialcontamination, bioterroristattacks on thefood supply, mad cowdisease, and geneticallymodified foods.Sources: Field Talk, a weeklye-newsletter of Rincon Publishing;Alternative AgricultureNews; Biodemocracy,OCA; National Campaignfor Sustainable Agriculture;NewFarm.Org; UCANR;www.foodoresund.com; TheOrganic Report, Sept. 2003;Organic Business News, Sept.& Oct. 2003; CaliforniaEnvironment, Fall Report2003.CDFA PEST& DISEASEINFO ONLINEGlassy-winged Sharpshooter(GWSS)www.cdfa.ca.gov/phpps/pdcpMediterranean Fruit Flywww.cdfa.ca.gov/phpps/pdep/mediterranean_ff_profile.htmMexican Fruit Flywww.cdfa.ca.gov/phpps/pdep/mexican_ff_profile.htmOlive Fruit Flywww.cdfa.ca.gov/phpps/pdep/olive_ff_profile.htmWest Nile Virus (WNV)www.cdfa.ca.gov/ahfss/ah/wnv_info.htmExotic Newcastle Disease (END)www.cdfa.ca.gov/ahfss/ah/avian_health_program.htmPest Detection/Emergency Projects Branchwww.cdfa.ca.gov/phpps/pdep/insect_pests_and_diseases.htmWinter 2003–2004 Page 29
Page 1 and 2: California Certified Organic Farmer
Page 3: Anna Alexis Dery was born onOctober
Page 6 and 7: Heffernan believe that although the
Page 8 and 9: estrictions on corporate involvemen
Page 10 and 11: MEMBERSOrganic Farming: Proactive E
Page 12 and 13: MEMBERSFROM R U BBERB O OTS TOS C H
Page 15 and 16: PROGRAMSNRCS &ORGANIC FARMERSBy Jes
Page 17 and 18: VValley Center is the avocado capit
Page 19 and 20: what it’s supposed to, but at som
Page 21 and 22: EDUCATIONPhoto courtesy of Life Lab
Page 23 and 24: occur (e.g., rose mosaic). Parasiti
Page 25 and 26: public and conventional farmers on
Page 27: health, environmental and economic
Page 33 and 34: iotech foods were introduced, the i
Page 35 and 36: CCOF in order to verify compliance,
Page 37 and 38: the food processing or handling fac
Page 40 and 41: NATIONAL ORGANIC STANDARDS BOARDREP
Page 42 and 43: BRAND NAME OF PRODUCT SUPPLIER GENE
Page 45 and 46: CCOF CERTIFIED OPERATIONSAUGUST 16
Page 47 and 48: CALENDARJ ANUARY 21-24Ecological Fa

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