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December 15, 2006

Putting the Corporate Fox in Charge of the Organic Hen House

The Bush Administration has made an unprecedented, blatant attempt to place as many corporate agribusiness and industrial farming representatives on the National Organic Standards Board as possible. That Board is responsible for advising the USDA on interpretation and implementation of federal organic laws, among other duties. It is supposed to be made up of a cross-section of experts in the organic field. But at least three of the four new appointments to the Board are anything but organic industry representatives. These three new USDA appointees are: Katrina Heinze of General Mills (Heinze was already forced to resign from the Board once because of consumer protests, and General Mills has long fought aggressively against labeling genetically engineered foods); Tracy Miedema of Stahlbush Farms (a primarily non-organic operation that uses Monsanto products); and Steve DeMuri of Campbells Soup. For more on why this matters, check out the Accidental Hedonist's post on Labels and Standards.

Posted by Becky at December 15, 2006 11:39 AM