On Sun, 21 Dec 1997, Douglas M. Hinds wrote:
> Subject: Re: Pardon my naivete...another long but highly informative note
>
> More on the inner machinations of the organic certifications issue. All
> interested parties are advised to read it. I think you'll find that valid points
> are clearly made that explain the reasons behind the no compulsory certification
> position.
> grown food; i.e. DEFINING what is and what isn't organic), while others mixed
> that issue up with their avarice and greed - they wanted to corner the market -
> to set themselves up as a direct channel for "cashing in on the lucrative organic
> market", as experts or guides for wading through the ever more complicated and
> costly process of "getting certified", the organic farmer's "meal ticket". These
This smoke & mirrors charade is currently going on full tilt.
> people (and if you want names, a number of us have had personal and very negative
> contact with them), have highly placed contacts in the USDA and have become
Yes indeed. Those vultures did their flyby through North Carolina. Showed
how easy it is to take hush money , oops, I mean a Federal grant, and do
as little as possible for the American taxpayers who made it possible.
Essentially thumbed their noses at the organic small farming community.
That Federal money could have been put to much better use developing much
needed resources for those seriously involved in alternative agriculture.
> recognized figures in the organic movement. In fact, they've got their double
> dialog down fairly pat. On the one hand, they're in favor of consistent
> standards and against fraud. But at some point it takes a turn. What happened
> (and is happening) is this: Government funds were used to organize meetings
> related to the development of OFPA, BUT - the results of that "altruistic" labor
> turns out to be a PRIVATE marketing organization, set up by those who received
> that $166,000 grant. But that's not all. It could be said that maybe there's a
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