the USDA one size fits all are making a lot of good folks mad and worried
and undoing lots of our hard work .
IMHO this is only the beginning . they have taken a grass roots movement and
dream and turned it into a bureaucratic nightmare .
check out an organic farmers homepage
http://www.rain.org/~sals/my.html
sals@rain.,org
----- Original Message -----
From: "Sojourner" <sojournr@missouri.org>
To: "Homestead mailing list" <homestead@listserv.unc.edu>
Sent: Tuesday, May 30, 2000 9:08 AM
Subject: [Fwd: [ORGANICVITICULTURE] Sulfites & Organic Labeling.]
>
>
> -------- Original Message --------
> Subject: [ORGANICVITICULTURE] Sulfites & Organic Labeling.
> Date: Tue, 30 May 2000 11:35:22 EDT
> From: "Ed Goist" <zenkoan@hotmail.com>
> Reply-To: ORGANICVITICULTURE@egroups.com
> To: ORGANICVITICULTURE@egroups.com
>
> Hi All:
>
> I trust that everyone is doing well. It's been a very cool & wet Spring
>
> here.
>
> I thought that everyone on the list would find this interesting &
> important.
>
> Prosit:
> Ed
>
> --------------------
>
> New USDA Proposal Threatens Future of Organic Wine Industry; Organic
> Grape
> Growers and Producers Mount Massive Response to USDA Ruling
>
> HOPLAND, Calif.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--May 26, 2000--A new group of organic
> wine
> industry leaders, Organic Wines International (OWI), has been formed to
> challenge a proposed ruling by the USDA that would eliminate the use of
> the
> term "organically grown grapes" from the labels of wines produced from
> certified organic vineyards. This ruling comes at a time when
> organically
> grown foods and wines are gaining widely in consumer acceptance.
>
> Headed by prominent growers, winemakers, and importers of organically
> grown
> wines, OWI is attempting to provide new insight to the USDA, whose
> recent
> unexpected ruling on organic labeling has caused a major stir in the
> organic
> wine community. The USDA opinion fails to heed input initiated in 1995
> and
> reiterated again in 1998 from the National Organic Standards Board
> (NOSB),
> the group appointed by USDA to advise on such issues.
>
> The USDA ruling would allow only those producers not adding any sulfur
> dioxide to their wines to claim the term "organic." The terminology
> "made
> from organically grown grapes" would be eliminated by the recent ruling.
> OWI
> is seeking to unify support and generate a massive consumer
>
> letter-writing
> campaign to USDA opposing the ruling during the inquiry period, which
> ends
> on June 12, 2000.
>
> Already, over 40 U.S. Congressional members, including Mike Thompson (D)
> and
> George Radanovich (R) from California, have responded to the USDA ruling
> with a letter indicating their opposition.
>
> Winemaker Robert Blue with Bonterra Vineyards offers, "The recent ruling
> by
> USDA misses the whole point of growing grapes organically, and, if
> adopted,
> it would set the industry back light years. All of the hard work we've
> put
> into achieving certification of our vineyards would be nullified if
> we're
> not allowed to truthfully state, as we have in the past, that the wines
> are
> made from 'organically grown grapes'."
>
> Pointing out the important role of sulfur dioxide in producing quality
> wines, Veronique Raskin, whose family owns organic vineyards in France,
> comments, "Sulfur dioxide has been used by winemakers in the production
> of
> quality wines for centuries, dating back to Greco-Roman times. As an
> anti-bacterial, anti-oxidant agent, there is no current suitable
> alternative
> to ensure consistently shelf-stable wines."
>
> The wine industry has utilized the "Contains Sulfites" warning,
> currently
> required by the BATF on all wine labels since 1987. "This statement
> clearly
> informs and protects the small percentage of consumers who are
> hyper-sensitive to sulfites, which are a by-product of sulfur dioxide,"
> says
> Brian Fitzpatrick, owner of the small Fitzpatrick Winery, established in
> 1980, and a pioneer in the organic wine movement.
> Ron Bartolucci, a veteran organic grape-grower, explains, "If the use of
> sulfur dioxide is forbidden in organic wine production, the demand for
> certified organically grown grapes will be drastically diminished, if
> not
> totally eliminated. This will nullify the incentive and long-term
> commitment
> for current and future growers to pursue sustainable growing practices
> that
> protect the environment and contribute to high quality, shelf-stable
> wines."
>
> OWI recommends that all interested wine industry members and wine
> consumers
> address this issue by offering input to the USDA prior to June 12, 2000.
> For
> further information and a sample letter, which can be sent to USDA,
> please
> visit the web site www.organicwines.org/OWI/comment.html.
>
> Organic Wines International includes Veronique Raskin, President, Dr.
> Michel
> Ginoulhac, VP, and Nina Zeiger, Marketing Director of Organic Wine Co.,
> who
> import French organically grown wines; Robert Blue, winemaker of
> Bonterra
> Vineyards, one of California's most successful and critically-lauded
> organically grown wine brands; Paul Chartrand of Chartrand Imports, who
> pioneered the sales of organic wines in the U.S. in 1985; and Ron
> Bartolucci, independent organic grower and viticulture consultant to
> Fetzer
> Vineyards, one of the most prominent organic wine growers in the world;
> and
> Brian Fitzpatrick, owner of the pioneering Fitzpatrick Winery.
>
> CONTACT:
> Brown-Forman Wines
> Sid Goldstein, 415/444-7441
> ----------------------------
>
>
> The Viticulture FAQ & Glossary: http://www.itsmysite.com/vitfaq/
> ************************************************************
> "Wine is sunlight, held together by water..."
> -Louis Pasteur
>
> Give me Silence, Water, Hope
> Give me Struggle, Iron, Volcanos.
> -Pablo Neruda
>
> "The Sun, with all those planets revolving around it and depending on
> it,
> can still ripen a bunch of grapes as if it had nothing else in the
> universe
> to do."
> -Galileo
> ************************************************************
>
> ________________________________________________________________________
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>
>
> ------------------------------------------------------------------------
> Great savings and lots more -- beMANY!
> http://click.egroups.com/1/4114/0/_/820337/_/959700964/
> ------------------------------------------------------------------------
>
> By Sharing We Learn
> Remember to View and Add Information to our website at
> http://www.onelist.com/group/ORGANICVITICULTURE
>
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