PROMOTING ECONOMIC JUSTICE FOR FAMILY-SCALE FARMING NEWS FROM THE CORNUCOPIA INSTITUTE FALL 2014 Eye in the Sky Cornucopia’s Aerial Photography Investigates Factory Farm Cheating BY WILL FANTLE hen The Cornucopia Insti- tute was founded in 2004, a W primary goal of the fledg- ling organic watchdog was to draw attention to and rein in abuses from the rise of factory farm confinement dairy operations in organic agricul- ture. Not only were these industrial- scale operations squeezing out the op- portunity for family farmers to make nstitute a real living in organics, they were I also cheating consumers who thought ornucopia they were purchasing a healthy food C he T produced humanely with sustainable practices. Chino Valley’s poultry operation in Texas is estimated to confine hundreds of thou- Cornucopia’s spotlight focusing on sands of laying hens in barns that appear to offer little, if any, outdoor access, as the scofflaws and abuses led to the required by organic law. Cornucopia has captured hundreds of images of massive loss of organic certification for several “organic” livestock operations in 12 states (and counting). operations, as well as to the creation of a farmer and consumer drive that McEvoy, told me he had personally FACTORY FARMS continued on page 10 ultimately won the passage of new visited some of the huge complexes lo- regulatory benchmarks for pasturing cated in Texas that we photographed,” for dairy herds and other ruminants. says Mark Kastel, Cornucopia’s Yet confinement-style factory farms, Senior Farm Policy Analyst. “And,” INSIDE THIS ISSUE like a stubborn weed, persist in organ- continues Kastel, “he further told me Third Bee-Friendly City . 2 ic agriculture. These giant operations that, and I quote: ‘all the farms we The Power of the Farmer-Eater Coalition . 3 have become widespread and domi- visited in Texas were in compliance.’” Organic Seed Purity . 4 nant in egg production, and continue “Obviously, Mr. McEvoy and The Interview with Jean Richardson . 5 to produce a significant amount of the Cornucopia Institute have a starkly NOSB Voting Record . 6 organic milk. different interpretation of the organic Jim Gerritsen Elected Policy Advisor . 7 Regulators at the USDA have been regulations and enabling legislation asked how these operations can be passed by Congress,” Kastel adds. Nanoparticles in Organic Food . 8 considered to comply with federal “And the majority of the organic com- Position Open at Cornucopia . 9 organic law. “The head of the USDA’s munity shares Cornucopia’s interpre- Farmer Profile: Fizzle Flat Farm . 11 National Organic Program, Miles tation.” Another Bee-Friendly Burg Minnesota City Becomes Third in the U.S. to Ban Neonics BY ELIZABETH WOLF Conventional corn and soybeans kill 80,000 honey bees. Neonics are dominate agriculture in Minnesota, harmful not only to bees and other horewood has become the first as in much of the Mid- pollinators but also to birds, earth- city in Minnesota to pass a reso- west. The endless fields worms, aquatic insects and other hoto.com lution to become a “bee-safe” P don’t need bees for pol- beneficial insects. tock S S i municipality. The Minneapolis/St. lination, but that hasn’t “Research is voluminous linking Paul suburb follows in the footsteps of stopped the crops from hurting the neonicotinoids to bee memory loss Eugene, Oregon, and Spokane, Wash- state’s honey bee population. Like and learning, weakened immunity, ington, in banning certain pesticides California and other states, Minneso- developmental injury, impaired forag- and encouraging the planting of bee- ta is coping with massive annual bee ing, diminished navigation and hon- friendly plants. A neighborhood in die-offs and, in the past decade, the ing ability, and the loss of reproduc- Boulder, Colorado, also pledged this state’s honey production per hive has tive production of bumblebee queens,” year to become a bee-safe locality, as plummeted by one-third. explains Dr. Linley Dixon, Farm and has the campus of Emory University The main culprit, according to an Food Policy Analyst with Cornucopia. in Atlanta, Georgia. increasing number of scientists and The European Union passed a Springtime used to be the season beekeepers, is a class of pesticides continent-wide ban on certain neonic- when Minnesota bee colonies flour- used to coat over 95% of the corn and otinoids in 2013. Bayer CropScience, ished on wildflowers, dandelions, and soybean seeds planted. Called neo- the largest manufacturer of these the sweet clover and alfalfa farmers nicotinoids (“neonics” for short), these insecticides, continues to insist that once grew. It’s what made Minnesota pesticides are made from synthetic they are safe for bees. one of the top five honey-producing nicotine and were developed in the Honey bee pollination, responsible states in the country. But in the span mid-1990s. Today they are the most for one in three mouthfuls of food of a couple decades, GMO mono- widely used insecticides in the world. we eat, is estimated to be worth $215 cropping has transformed the state’s A single kernel of corn with a high billion annually. Some would call central landscape into a flowerless level of neonicotinoid seed treatment the work of these industrious insects one with few sweet spots for bees. contains enough active ingredient to priceless. BOARD OF DIRECTORS Goldie Caughlan Francis Thicke, PhD STAFF PCC Natural Markets (ret.) Organic Dairy Producer Mark Kastel, Codirector & Senior Farm Policy Analyst Helen Kees, President Cooperative Retail Educator NOSB Member Will Fantle, Codirector & Director of Research Organic Livestock Producer Former NOSB Member Fairfield, IA Pamela Coleman, PhD, Farm and Food Policy Analyst Durand, WI Seattle, WA Tom Willey Linley Dixon, PhD, Farm and Food Policy Analyst Kevin Engelbert, Rebecca Thistlethwaite, Farm and Food Policy Analyst Dave Minar Organic Vegetable Grower Vice President Madera, CA Gayle Nielsen, Membership Coordinator Organic Dairy Producer Organic Dairy Producer Therese Laurdan, Membership Assistant Former NOSB Member New Prague, MN Mitch Blumenthal Melody Morrell, Data Analyst and Research Specialist Nichols, NY Amanda Love Organic Distributor Jason Cole, Research Associate Sarasota, FL Roger Featherstone, Natural Foods Chef Tyler Derosier, Research Assistant Treasurer Nutrition Educator Jim Gerritsen Elizabeth Wolf, Communications & Development Director Environmental Organizer Austin, TX Organic Vegetable Grower Zuri Allen, Social Media Specialist Tucson, AZ President, OSGATA Celeste Gibson, Accountant, HR Manager Bridgewater, ME Jeremy Vossman, Webmaster Barry Flamm, PhD, POLICY ADVISORY PANEL Secretary Tony Azevedo CONTACT US THE CULTIVATOR Conservation Consultant Organic Dairy Producer (ret.) The Cornucopia Institute Elizabeth Wolf, Editor Former NOSB Member San Joaquin Valley, CA Polson, MT P.O. Box 126 Tim J. Hill, www.drafthorsestudio.com, Newsletter Design Michael James Cornucopia, WI 54827 Special thanks to Steven McFadden. William Heart Community Leader www.cornucopia.org Wildlife Conservationist Organic Restaurateur 608-625-2000 Ashland, WI Chicago, IL [email protected] 2 10 Years, 10,000 Members & 100,000 on Facebook Cornucopia in 2014: The Power of the Organic Farmer–Organic Eater Connection COMMENTARY BY MARK A. KASTEL are essential to organic production. However, this process has been corrupted by corporate money and lobbyists. But ome of our members have probably heard me say Cornucopia is making headway. this before: Farmers have no clout in Washington or Recently, WhiteWave Foods (formerly Dean Foods’ S the marketplace. With less than 2% of our population branded product division) announced they would pull the engaged in production agriculture, after the presidential dangerous food additive carrageenan from their Horizon candidates get done kissing the rear ends of the ethanol and Silk products over the next two years. Carrageenan is lobbyists in Iowa during the primary season, you will a derivative of red seaweed that independent research has never hear about food or farming again. shown causes intestinal inflammation and even cancer in But organics is different. Although farmers continue laboratory animals. WhiteWave now joins a list of other to make up the base of our constituency and membership, organic marketers who lobbied for carrageenan’s use but Cornucopia’s secret weapon is partnering with who have acquiesced after being pounded with millions of our urban-allies who passionately questions by their customers. care about the quality and authenticity of The Cornucopia Institute will peti- their food and are willing to stand with tion the NOSB to remove carrageenan farm families they respect. from all organic food. Most of you who receive this newsletter are financially support- USDA Enforcement ing our mission at Cornucopia. Unfortunately, the records of the You have our sincere thanks. The Bush and Obama administrations remaining recipients, generally have been uneven when it comes to staff or board members of other cracking down on organic scoff- nonprofits, have complimentary laws. As an example, six years after subscriptions because we appre- filing a complaint on the 16,000-cow ciate their service to the organic Shamrock Dairy in Arizona, and community. three years after the USDA informed It’s hard to believe it was 10 years us that they upheld our allegations and ago that Will Fantle and I co-founded banned Shamrock from organics, the com- The Cornucopia Institute, in response to the pany is still selling milk and appealing