Many of us don't have time to follow every issue we're concerned about...
That's what emboldens policymakers and lobbyists to push their agendas through.. if no one objects, no one is accountable.
It's one of the prime reasons our 'food' is in the state it's in today...processed, full of synthetic additives, non-organic, and nutrition-devoid.
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Takeover of Organic Standards by Corporate Food Industry
Champions of organic food brought the National Organic Standards Board (NOSB) meeting to a halt on Tuesday as they raised their voices against what they see as the takeover of the organic standards by the corporate food industry.
The NOSB—an advisory board to the USDA and designed to represent farmers, consumers and other advocates of organic food—is charged with overseeing organic standards and presenting recommendations to the federal government.
In recent years, however, critics charge the quality and integrity of the national organic standards set by the NOSB have been eroded by the influence of a large agricultural interests and powerful corporations in the food industry.
In order to delay the opening of a four-day meeting in San Antonio, Texas, demonstrators stood at the front of the conference room displaying a banner which read: "Safeguard Organic Standards."
Sunset Process
Tuesday's protest, organized by the Organic Consumers Association (OCA), was held to draw attention to what the group is calling the "last straw" in the corporate-backed erosion of organic standards: a recent change to what is known as the "sunset process," which determines the synthetic ingredients that are permitted in organic foods.
Mark A. Kastel, co-director of The Cornucopia Institute stated, "agribusiness" and corporate food companies "had their minions at the U.S. Department of Agriculture" change the rules in order to push "gimmicky synthetics and nutraceuticals in organic food."
One protester, Alexis Baden-Mayer, the political director for OCA, refused to disperse and was eventually placed under arrest and carried out.
Synthetics in Organic Food!
A recent Consumer Reports survey found that 7 out of 10 Americans want as few non-organic ingredients approved for organic food as possible,
"People don't have time to follow the wonky policy decisions, so it's easy for standards to be eroded without them knowing about it."
The 'sunset process' required that non-organic food materials approved by the NOSB for use in organic foods—such as sausage casings from factory-farmed animals, synthetic vitamins, and the antibiotic streptomycin—must be reviewed every five years.
Unless re-approved by a two-third majority vote, the items would be dropped from the list.
READ MORE HERE: http://www.organicconsumers.org/articles/article_29914.cfm