It's great that information about the proposed organic rule has been
brought to the attention of this group of folks. There's really an
overwhelming amount of information out there!
One important aspect of the comment process which I haven't seen mentioned
here but which came up at teh Upper Midwest Organic Farming Conference Feb.
20-21 was the sentiment that the current rule just can't be fixed to the
satisfaction of organic farmers, producers and certifiers (let alone
consumers). (The Campaign for Sustainable Agriculture and others identified
a list of 60 critical issues they felt would be needed for a good rule)
What the overwhelming majority of attendees at that conference agreed to do
is to submit comments (detailed, if possible) about what's wrong with teh
rule and also ask USDA to:
1) Withdraw the proposed rule;
2) resubmit it with changes based on comments from the public and the
National ORganic Standards Board; and
3) Retain the record of comments already received.
If USDA decides to start over, then the thousands of comments already
received will be lost.
----------------------------------------------------------
Jackie Hunt Christensen
Food Safety Project Director
Institute for Agriculture and Trade Policy
2105 1st Avenue South
Minneapolis, MN 55404
612-870-3424 (direct line)
612-870-4846 (fax)
e-mail: <jchristensen@iatp.org>
IATP's Endocrine Disrupter Resource Center: http://www.iatp.org/edrc
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