Earthbound Farm grew the tainted spinach that left three dead last year. The firm is on a safety crusade but knows that threats always lurk. Los Angeles Times By Marla Cone, Staff Writer SAN JUAN BAUTISTA, CALIF. – On a hot, bone-dry afternoon — not unlike the one last summer when something went horribly wrong… Read more »
Search Results for: GMO
New Report Puts Farmers Back in Charge of Organic Certification
USDA Has “Willfully Failed” on Congressional Mandate to Prevent Fraud When farmers lobbied Congress to pass the Organic Foods Production Act in 1990, their intention was to create a level playing field in the market and to affirm the credibility of organic labeling in the eyes of consumers. Unfortunately, according to a newly released report… Read more »
Report from the Fall 2021 NOSB Meeting
This week’s National Organic Standards Board meeting was lively. Dr. Jennifer Tucker, Deputy Director of the National Organic Program, announced encouraging news: The NOP will hopefully publish the final Origin of Livestock and Strengthening Organic Enforcement rules in spring 2022, with the Organic Livestock and Poultry Practices Rule to follow on their heels. [More on this as it unfolds.] Dr. Tucker asked that oral comments avoid disparaging remarks, noting that she and… Read more »
China Stacks Hogs to Save Land and Transportation Costs
Cornucopia’s Take: The article below offers surreal imagery of hogs raised in high-rise farms. Hog waste from one such facility will be shunted to on-site waste treatment facilities before being sold to farmers as fertilizer and sprayed on nearby forests. Observers of intensive livestock management worry that the set-up creates a massive disease vector. Seven… Read more »
Organic Industry Watchdog Shuffles Leadership, Squares Off with Powerful Lobbyists
[Read Cornucopia’s formal Citizen Petition to the USDA for new regulations to prohibit the use of oil and gas wastewater in organic production.] Fracking Water, Synthetic Ingredients on Agenda at This Week’s USDA Meetings On the eve of the biannual meeting of the USDA’s National Organic Standards Board (NOSB), in St. Paul, Minnesota, The Cornucopia Institute has… Read more »
As Forest Fires Rage, Grasslands are a Very Good Carbon Sink
Cornucopia’s Take: As continued drought raises the risk of forest fires, grasslands have become a more reliable carbon sink in California, according to the study below. Grasslands fix carbon underground, while trees fix carbon in their above-ground structure. Although trees remain the largest carbon sinks, grasslands retain more carbon after burning. Grasslands more reliable carbon… Read more »
FDA Announces Intent to Enforce the Use of the Word ‘Milk’
Cornucopia’s Take: Cornucopia applauds the FDA Secretary’s announcement that the agency will work toward reclaiming the word “milk” for the dairy industry. At the same time, the “enforcement effort” comes very late in the game. The FDA appears to be ingratiating itself with dairy farmers, whose markets have been declining while plant-based beverage sales have… Read more »
Handsome Brook and Humane Farm Animal Care Settle
Cornucopia’s Take: After two years of litigation, Handsome Brook, a marketer of certified organic and conventional eggs, and Humane Farm Animal Care (HFAC) have reached an out-of-court settlement, agreeing to pay their own court costs. HFAC had sent emails to Handsome Brook’s retail outlets, claiming Handsome Brook’s certifications for organic and pasture-raised were not current…. Read more »
Subsidies May Reverse Alarming Decline in Bird Numbers in UK
Cornucopia’s Take: Bird populations have been in decline in the UK since the 1970s, due to loss of habitat and food plants and insects. Researchers tracked bird populations on 60 farms that left fallow fields for bird habitat and encouraged insects and plants for feed, finding increases in bird numbers. In order to make meaningful… Read more »
Carlsbad Opts for Organic Pest Control
Cornucopia’s Take: Following a ripple of response from cities across the state to rising regulatory and scientific scrutiny of glyphosate and neonicotinoids, Carlsbad, California has now also voted to rely first on organic pesticides and herbicides to tend city property and school athletic fields, in response to resident safety concerns. Councilmembers have chosen voted unanimously… Read more »
