Creating a Higher-Integrity Organic Label by Carefully Choosing Certifiers
Egg production operation certified by Oregon Tilth. Some certifiers call this “organic.” Let’s tell the USDA they’re wrong!
OrganicEye has recently completed research differentiating between certifiers who enforce the traditional high standards that organic farming was founded upon and others that have partnered with lobbyists at the Organic Trade Association to certify immense hydroponic (soilless) controlled environment greenhouses and/or giant “organic” livestock factories.
OrganicEye members have underwritten the cost of a mailing to every farmer in the country, sharing the research and encouraging them to switch to certifiers who “share our values.” The letter is excerpted below.
We invite you and other allies to stand with hard-working organic farm families by filling out the proxy and adding your voice to this campaign.
Dear Organic Farmer or Rancher,
Is the certifier you are paying every year betraying you, other farmers, and all the critically important consumers and eaters who trust the organic label?
The enclosed infographic offers a list of what we consider “ethically-challenged certifiers,” including CCOF, Oregon Tilth, QCS, and PCO, that have partnered with powerful industry lobbyists to sell out the true definition of organic farming and food.
Although almost $70 billion is changing hands in organic commerce in the US, family-scale farmers are struggling — and many farm families have been forced to exit organics or have even lost their farms.
Organic Food without Organic Farmers
For many commodities and food ingredients, the majority of what we consume here in the US is being imported. Despite the meteoric growth in the organic industry, the number of acres farmed organically remains stagnant at less than 1% of all US farmland.
So much for the promise of organics saving family farmers and the environment.
Fill out the enclosed proxy to make your voice heard & take action by switching your certifier!
The bad-actor certifiers are:
- Certifying large “organic” CAFOs that violate the spirit and letter of the law. Dairies with 1,500-22,000-head. Effective stocking levels of 10-20 cows per acre — and in the desert! Milking 3-4 times a day. Beef cattle confined in feedlots. As many as 1-2 million laying hens in 100% confinement in a single operation.
- Certifying giant, industrial-scale hydroponic greenhouses. No soil. All plant nutrients from conventional liquid fertilizer. Imports from countries like Holland where it’s illegal to label hydroponic products “organic” but when they reach the US that’s perfectly acceptable to your certifier and the USDA. Honest organic farms can’t compete with the scale, multiple crops per year, or automation.
- Certifying massive quantities of imports. Organic meat, grains, fruits, vegetables, nuts, and other specialty crops are coming in at prices that US farmers can’t compete against, and from countries with endemic levels of fraud (India, China, Turkey, Africa, and Central America).
- Tolerating massive import and domestic fraud. Even recertifying fraudulent importers after being busted! Honest farmers can’t compete with phony organics.
- Engaged in serious conflicts of interest. Taking payola over and above large certification fees from corporate giants like Driscoll’s, Taylor Farms, Grimmway Farms (Bunny Lov, Cal-Organic Farms), and other agribusiness giants. Whose side is your current certifier on?
The USDA has failed to act. They are best friends with certifiers, the Accredited Certifiers Association (ACA) trade group representing certifiers (the USDA is even funding the certifiers group), and the lobbyists at the Organic Trade Association (OTA), which also receives USDA taxpayer funding (your tax dollars at work).
The big shots in Washington and corporate board rooms are laughing all the way to the bank while farmers get economically battered.
As an industry watchdog for more than 20 years, I have repeatedly documented numerous examples of certifiers ignoring the law. But the USDA has refused to act, failing you and other ethical farmers, ethical businesses, and ethical certifiers who can’t compete.
This campaign is an end-run around the USDA and corporate control of organics — let’s put a stop to organic farmers being exploited the same way conventional farmers have been for decades.
You have power:
- Fill out the enclosed proxy. If you are afraid of retribution by your certifier or the USDA, you can remain anonymous. We will forward your message to the National Organic Program and the new administration’s USDA secretary after the election.
- Switch certifiers. Don’t let your money pay for the knife they use to stab you in the back. Use the enclosed list to find an ethical certifier that supports family farmers and respects consumer expectations. Just like you, good certifiers are at a competitive disadvantage because they are being honest and forthright.
- If you are not already a member of OrganicEye, we hope you will consider joining us and enclosing a donation with your proxy (or contribute online). Doing so is voluntary. We will deliver your proxy either way. We’re investing over $20,000 in this mailing alone. Please help us fight greed in the industry by protecting existing family farmers and making room for new ones to replace the fraudulent imports and bogus livestock factories that are cheating the people who buy organic food.
Is Your Certifier a Member of the Organic Mafia?
Notice that none of the top-rated certifiers are members of the Organic Trade Association, the powerful lobby group that now controls the National Organic Standards Board and has been behind numerous changes that have weakened the organic standards and security for working farmers.
Of the ethically challenged certifiers on the list, possibly including yours, 75% of the non-governmental organizations are in bed with the OTA. In general, almost all the “farms” that are OTA members are what your customers, organic eaters, call “factory farms.” These certifiers aren’t partnering with real organic farmers. They are partnering with corporations that buy from farmers.
Recruiting More Farmers to Fail?
Despite the record-low prices farmers are receiving for their crops, the USDA is pumping over $100 million into the OTA, certifiers, and nonprofits to recruit more organic farmers. Meanwhile, existing farmers are struggling to compete with imports and industrial-scale agriculture.
If that money was invested in enforcement, the marketplace incentives would reward farmers and we wouldn’t have problems with domestic shortages.
Instead, the USDA, your friendly certifier, and many nonprofits are happy to add more domestic production. But without commensurate growth in the market, this will do nothing but drive prices down further.
Please Financially Support OrganicEye’s Work Protecting You and Other Farmers
Last year, when we let farmers certified by CCOF — the nation’s largest certifier — know that their certifier was betraying their interests by allowing giant CAFOs, hydroponics, imports, and other unfair competition, the CEO-lawyer that runs the organization attacked OrganicEye and claimed we were doing this work for nothing but fundraising purposes.
That’s an old, hateful trope used by corporate agribusiness to attack their adversaries.
OrganicEye is a farm policy research group acting as an organic industry watchdog. We take no corporate agribusiness money. We take no USDA money. We are driven and funded by the loving coalition of family farmers and consumers who demand better food and built the organic movement. We are recognized by the IRS as a tax-exempt charity working in the public’s interest.
And, I should add, due to the controversial nature of our work, we never publicly identify our membership, nor will we ever sell or share your personal information.
You are competing with “organic” farms that are not certified or inspected.
Although it doesn’t currently factor into our certifier ratings, another issue OrganicEye is focusing on as part of our defense of US farmers and consumers, is the USDA’s practice of allowing imports from “groups” of farmers that are inspected and controlled by the corporate agribusinesses that buy their crops.
This is a gross conflict of interest and unfair to farmers who go through all the rigmarole of meticulously maintaining records and paying for annual certification. It’s also illegal under the Organic Foods Production Act (OFPA) and we are in court right now trying to shut it down.
These certifiers talk a good game. Many even do nice things for the organic community. But they are running on blood money that’s squeezed out of the organic industry — at the expense of farmers.
The last time we reviewed their financials, CCOF was enjoying annual revenues of $25 million — including money from the USDA and corporate agribusiness — as well as sitting on a boatload of assets ($19 million). Some of their wealth then benefits the OTA. And CCOF has the gall to be fundraising the farmers they certify for even more money!
OrganicEye doesn’t take tainted money from the people who are working against us. I hope you will consider contributing to our efforts to protect the true value of the organic label: fairness to farmers and honesty for eaters looking for a safer, more nutrient-dense food supply.
Need help switching certifiers? Contact us for free consulting and legal advice.
Sincerely yours,
Mark A. Kastel
Executive Director
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