4/18/06

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Comments Needed! Protect Organic Standards 

Think all milk and cheese labeled organic comes from cows that were allowed to roam free on grassy pastures? Well, not necessarily. Most organic producers do have a sustainable production ethic, and in that spirit raise their cows on pasture. But they're not required to. Current U.S. Department of Agriculture

(USDA) regulations do not require organic dairy producers to give their cows access to open pasture, and some large dairies have taken advantage of this loophole and produced organic milk on factory farm-style feedlots. In response to numerous complaints and pressure from the organic farming community, sustainable agriculture and environmental groups, the USDA's National Organic Program (NOP) has opened a 60-day comment period to gather input regarding proposed changes to the pasture requirement.

Take action with the Center for Food Safety, or send your own personalized comments to: the National Organic Program, Docket # TM-05-14, valerie.frances@usda.gov.

RESTORING WETLANDS COULD CURB BIRD FLU

A new report by the United Nations Environment Programme examines the ecological factors driving the spread of bird flu and recommends that restoring natural wetlands might be one way to slow the spread of the disease. The report suggests that "the loss of wetlands around the globe is forcing many wild birds onto alternative sites like farm ponds and paddy fields, bringing them into direct contact with chickens, ducks, geese, and other domesticated fowl," where the chances are greater that the bird flu virus will spread between wild and domestic birds. Restoring wetlands, therefore, would provide more habitat for wild birds, and therefore reduce the likelihood they would come into contact with poultry. This would most likely need to be accomplished with actual wetland restoration, and not, as the Bush administration recently suggested, by redefining golf course ponds as wetlands.

The U.N report also recommends closing intensive poultry operations along major migratory bird flyways, and ensuring geographical separation between poultry facilities and pig operations. Pigs are susceptible to both avian and mammal strains of influenza, and therefore many scientists fear that a more contagious form of H5N1 could develop in pigs. Learn more.

ARE A FEW ORGANIC DAIRIES HOGGING THE MARKET?

Organic watchdog the Cornucopia Institute last week released a report alleging a handful of leading marketers are shortchanging organic consumers by producing some or all of their milk industrial-style confinement dairies. Their report, "Maintaining the Integrity of Organic Milk" looked at 68 different organic dairy brands and found that while "the vast majority of all name-brand organic dairy products are produced from milk from farms that follow accepted legal and ethical standards," nearly 20% of them rated as substandard according to Cornucopia's rating criteria. That 20%, unfortunately, contains some of the nation's most prominent organic brands, including Horizon, Alta Deana, and Aurora.

UN FINDS IRRIGATION AMONG TOP WATER PROBLEMS

A new report on the status and trends of water supplies worldwide found that much of the world's water will be diverted for farm irrigation in the next 20 years, causing trouble for ecosystems and public health. The report, titled the Global International Waters Assessment, was released by the United Nations last month. 1500 scientists looked at a variety of issues facing water systems that are shared by more than one nation. Overfishing and global warming were found to be important problems, but agriculture practices also have large impacts on water quality and quantity: "Globally, harmful algal blooms are considerably more widespread and frequent than they were a decade ago, a situation that is expected to further deteriorate by 2020 due to the increased application of agricultural fertilizers, especially in Asia and Africa." The report also finds that "Reduced stream flow, inappropriate irrigation practices and over abstraction of groundwater have increased the salinity of freshwater throughout the world." The report recommends international frameworks of equitable water allocations and "An integrated approach linking water management to land management."

Cultivating a vision where rural and urban communities join together

 to ensure abundant family farms, healthy critters, clean water and a wild Earth.  

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Rural Updates!
Scotty Johnson and Aimee Delach
National Rural Community Outreach Campaign
sjohnson@defenders.org