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Kastel’s Kitchen: Organic Hacks—Secrets for Decoding the Two Different Organic Labels
[Including brief updates on GMO vaccines, phony-baloney coatings on produce, and payola in organics] If you missed the live broadcast, watch the recording here! The Hierarchy of Your Food OptionsIf you prioritize eating fresh, whole, organic food, it isn’t enough to...
USDA Challenged on Illegal GMO Use in Organics
Industry Watchdog Calls for Public Meetings on the Use of Genetically Engineered Vaccines The Story: A Quick Overview One of the most prominent differentials between conventional and organic food is the latter’s strict prohibition on genetically modified farm inputs...
Corporate Foxes Guarding the Organic Chicken Coop
Mandated Safety Review of Materials/Ingredients Used in Organics Being Conducted by USDA Corporate Appointees and Agribusiness-Funded “Nonprofit” The Story: A Quick Overview Misinformation on social media concerning Apeel™, a coating used on organic fruits and...
Organic Legitimacy Betrayed by an Unholy Agribusiness/USDA Alliance
Fagundes Brothers Dairy: Allowed to continue to operate by the USDA and the nation's largest organic certifier, CCOF, after formal legal complaint filed by author. Hard-working Dairy Farmers Circling the Drain If you are a stockholder in Tyson, Perdue, Campbell’s,...
Issues, Observations, and Comments: The Subtle, and Often Not-So-Subtle, Influence of the Corporate Lobby on Organic Rulemaking
USDA National Organic Standards Board meeting, Atlanta, Georgia — April 2023 Public Comments (virtual via Zoom) OrganicEye’s critique of the appointments of NOSB members is focused on the USDA’s betrayal of the intent of Congress to create a highly-diversified body of...
Ronnie Cummins 1947-2023
Founder of the Organic Consumers Association Ronnie has been a friend, colleague, and ally for over 30 years. I met him in the early 1990s when we collaborated along with others in fighting Monsanto’s genetically engineered bovine growth hormone (BGH). He represented...
Have You Ever Spent “A Day in the Country”?
A catchy little ditty by Kevin Mattson… LA FARGE, Wis. — I’m really lucky to live in a unique agrarian community. It’s thought there are more organic farmers in this county than any other county in the country. The area has attracted an eclectic assortment of folks,...
Corporate Dominance in Organic Governance and Rulemaking at the USDA – A Stick in the Eye to Organic Farmers and Consumers
Updated White Paper Profiles Lobbyist-Affiliated Appointees to National Organic Standards Board THE STORY: A QUICK OVERVIEW• As giant agribusinesses consolidated their marketplace power in organics, corporate lobbyists have achieved dominance in rulemaking,...
Prioritizing an All-Organic Diet—Paybacks from Safer, Nutrient-Dense Food
Source: Austin Valley (used under Creative Commons licensing) Fundamentally Flawed: Environmental Working Group’s Dirty Dozen and Clean 15 The quick take:• The new OrganicEye white paper challenges the legitimacy of encouraging shoppers to purchase...
COMMENTARY: The Organic Stockholm Syndrome
The Unqualified Applause for Updated Organic Regulations Stock-holm syn-drome noun: feelings of trust or affection felt in many cases of kidnapping or hostage taking by a victim towards a captor. The big news in the organic industry in mid-January was the publication...
USDA Accused of Endangering Organic Consumers
The Applegate Farms brand, now owned by agribusiness giant Hormel, asserts there are "no nitrates or nitrites added*" on their conventional and organic labels although their ingredient lists contain "cultured celery juice powder." If you follow the minute asterisk...
NO! USDA Legalizing “Organic” Livestock Factories
A henhouse currently certified under USDA “organic” standards Dear Organic Community Stakeholder: If you haven’t signed the proxy letter and mailed it back, please do! If you have signed the proxy letter, please forward this email to your contacts. They respect your...
NOSB Recap: Day Three (Business as usual)
The meeting kicked off today with deliberations by the Handling Subcommittee. After rejecting one new petition for a synthetic material, apparently based on essentiality, they cruised through the balance of Sunset materials mostly on autopilot. One exception was ion...
NOSB Recap: Day Two (Shame!)
OrganicEye Board President, and pioneering Maine organic farmer, Jim Gerritsen making one of his numerous appearances testifying at a previous NOSB meeting. [Spoiler alert: read to the bottom of this report for the continuing organic regulatory theater.] After...
NOSB Recap: Day One
After listening to public testimony for two days last week, the National Organic Standards Board commenced their fall meeting in Sacramento bright and early this morning (Tuesday, October 25). NOSB Director Dr. Jennifer Tucker presented the usual program update and...
OrganicEye’s Kastel Testifies Before the USDA’s National Organic Standards Board
Mark Kastel testifying at the Fall 2022 NOSB meeting in Washington via Zoom from his La Farge, Wisconsin office. Who’s drinking the organic Kool-Aid served up by corporate lobbyists? Thank you, Mr. Chairman, My name is Mark Kastel. I am the Executive Director of...
Video Press Conference (Archived): The USDA-Sanctioned Factory Farm Takeover of Organics
Access on Facebook:https://www.facebook.com/organiceye.org(Please share with your friends, family, and colleagues who care about organics.) Access on YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-q7DFqdFbac ActionAlert:...
Organic Industry Watchdog Objects to “Phoney-Baloney” Animal Welfare Rule
USDA Will Permanently Institutionalize Factory Conditions for Organic Poultry La Farge, Wis. – For most of the last decade and a half, stakeholders in the organic industry have alleged that the largest egg companies in the United States have been operating mammoth...
ActionAlert: Object to the USDA’s Phony-Baloney “Animal Welfare” Rule
In the midst of recalls of romaine lettuce contaminated with a pathogenic strain of E. coli, states and counties across the country are calling for a moratorium on large confined animal feeding operations (CAFOs).
Op-Ed: The Healthful Mirage
Milk Versus Milk Analogues Mark Kastel's latest editorial was published on the homepage of Food Tank, an interesting site that provides diverse perspectives across many food systems...
Commentary: Major Fraud Rocks the Organic Industry
Demanding Reform of the USDA Organic Program For many of us involved in lobbying Congress to pass the Organic Food Production Act in 1990, our motivation was to create a level playing field with strictly enforced regulations that would assure shoppers they were...
A ONE-MAN WRECKING CREW IN THE ORGANIC DAIRY: A Lifetime of Service to the Planet and Its People — Mark Retzloff
Featured by Public Relations Firm Compass Natural in Their Podcast, Coffee Talk Part of our job at OrganicEye is acting, as our board Secretary-Treasurer, Will Fantle, likes to say, as an “organic truth squad.” We report to industry stakeholders, farmers, ethical...
Kastel’s Kitchen: Special Edition
Good Milk, Bad Milk, and Milk Money
Real Organic Project interviews OrganicEye’s Mark Kastel Choosing the best, authentic, nutrient-dense, and pasture-raised organic dairy products for your family has, unfortunately, never been more complicated. Unlike locally available produce that you can be assured...
NGO Appeals to Biden/Vilsack to Reverse Corporate Dominance in Organic Governance at the USDA
Updated White Paper Profiles Lobbyist-Affiliated Appointees to National Organic Standards Board La Farge, Wis. — Continuing a trend well established by prior Republican and Democratic administrations, two of the four newest appointees to the National Organic Standards...
Veteran Policy Experts Move Organic Industry Watchdog Agency
USDA Failures Necessitate Reinventing the Federal Certification Program LA FARGE, Wis. — OrganicEye, a public interest group best known as one of the country’s preeminent organic industry watchdogs, has announced its move from the “sausage making capital of the...
OrganicEye Founder to Speak at 2022 Real Organic Symposium
Join OrganicEye Founder Mark Kastel at the 2022 Real Organic Project Symposium, a virtual series of interviews with well-respected organic farmers, scientists, activists, and more. Tickets are sliding scale; register here: bit.ly/3faQFTa
Kastel’s Kitchen (a special 2-part episode): Two Carcinogens to Avoid in Organic Foods and Plant-based Food (not vegetables/not healthy)
WARNING: Watch out for these two ingredients Unless you are eating local, fresh, unprocessed, whole organic food, it isn’t enough to just look for the USDA Organic logo—you must become a label reader! Federal law requires all certified organic products to be made from...
USDA Secretary Hires OTA/Hydroponic Lawyer/Lobbyist as a Key Advisor
In the midst of recalls of romaine lettuce contaminated with a pathogenic strain of E. coli, states and counties across the country are calling for a moratorium on large confined animal feeding operations (CAFOs).
ActionAlert! Antibiotics and Carcinogens in Organics — Tell the USDA No!
In the midst of recalls of romaine lettuce contaminated with a pathogenic strain of E. coli, states and counties across the country are calling for a moratorium on large confined animal feeding operations (CAFOs).
Kastel’s Kitchen: The Secret Code of Authenticity on Organic Labels
Unless you are eating local, fresh, unprocessed, whole organic food, it isn’t enough to just look for the USDA Organic logo—you must become a label reader! Federal law requires all certified organic products to state which USDA accredited certifier has inspected and...
Organic Advocates Once Again Turn to the Courts to Fight False Labeling
Beyond Pesticides/OrganicEye Steps in as USDA Fails to Take Action Washington, DC -- Beyond Pesticides filed another lawsuit in the Superior Court of the District of Columbia against a company that markets CBD (cannabidiol) products identified with false or misleading...
NGO Appeals to Biden Administration and Congress to Reverse Corporate Dominance and Consolidation in Organics
New White Paper Profiles Lobbyist-Affiliated Appointees to National Organic Standards Board Washington, DC — Continuing a trend well established by prior Republican and Democratic administrations, four of the five newest appointees to the National Organic...
ActionAlert! USDA: Stop “Organic” Factories from Milking Conventional Dairy Cows
Kastel’s Kitchen: Are There Dangerous/Carcinogenic Chemicals in Organic Food?
Food Additives and Chemicals in Organics??? Unless you are eating fresh, whole organic food, it isn’t enough to just look for the USDA Organic logo—you must become a label reader! Now that corporate agribusinesses own most of the popular organic name brands, many of...
National Organic Standards Board Report—Public Comments at the Spring 2021 Meeting
UPDATE: Day 2 The operative term for testimony on Day Two, as usual, is “conflict of interest” (COI). As the saying goes, follow the money. First, we have certifiers, paid for by their “clients,” lobbying for the use of certain materials, many of them controversial. I...
Lawsuit Filed: The ‘Wild West’ of Organic CBD Marketing Targeted
Beyond Pesticides/OrganicEye Steps in as USDA Fails to Take Action Washington, DC — Beyond Pesticides and its investigative arm, OrganicEye, filed suit in the Superior Court of the District of Columbia against two companies that market CBD (cannabidiol) products...
Kastel’s Kitchen: How to Identify the Safest and Most Nutritious Vegetables (Year-Round)
Q: How can you identify the safest and most nutritious vegetables (year-round)?A: Tune into Kastel’s Kitchen Episode 3 to find out! Conventional versus organic, industrial-organic versus homegrown quality. What’s the hierarchy of selection during the summer growing...
Kastel’s Kitchen: What are the Best Brands in Organics and Who are the Fraudsters?
Naming Names: Learn the Very Best Organic Brands and Some Tricks to Identify the Fraudsters in Organics Please watch Mark Kastel, live from the farm, explore the grocery brands he has high confidence in that are found in his own kitchen. He bases his critique on...
Kastel’s Kitchen: Health food or Junk Food? What are the Best Organic Yogurt Brands?
Decoding Choices in the Grocery Aisles: Separating Food Rich in Corporate Propaganda from Safe, Nutrient-Dense Options Yogurt: Separating Junk Food, and “Organic Light,” from Brands that Offer Superior Taste, Nutrition, and Justice in Every Bite The first episode of...
Unintended Consequences: Don’t Let Lobbyists Write Organic Law
In the midst of recalls of romaine lettuce contaminated with a pathogenic strain of E. coli, states and counties across the country are calling for a moratorium on large confined animal feeding operations (CAFOs).
Case Study: CBD Products And The “Wild West” Of Fraudulent Labels
August 31 2020FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASEContact:Mark A. Kastel, 608-625-2042 / mkastel@organiceye.org USDA Asked to Crackdown on Misrepresentation in Organic Marketing Case Study: CBD products and the “Wild West” of fraudulent labelsTHE STORY: A QUICK OVERVIEW Fraudulent...
Corporate Agribusiness/USDA Collude on Shift to Industrial-Scale Organics
Legal Complaints Filed against Natural Prairie, Massive Livestock FactoriesTHE STORY: A QUICK OVERVIEW Natural Prairie, one of the nation’s largest “organic” factory dairies, managing over 25,000 head, accused of gross “mistreatment and neglect” of their animals. The...
ActionAlert: Tell USDA to Crack Down on ”Organic” Livestock Factories
In the midst of recalls of romaine lettuce contaminated with a pathogenic strain of E. coli, states and counties across the country are calling for a moratorium on large confined animal feeding operations (CAFOs).
An Open Letter Calling for Swift Action Towards Workers’ and Communities’ Health and Safety
Ninety-five food, labor, and environmental organizations, including OrganicEye, are calling for swift action to ensure workers’ and communities’ health and safety. HEAL Food Alliance and Food Chain Workers Alliance are proud to unite with our allies in...
The COVID-19 (Coronavirus) Pandemic and the Organic Community
In the midst of recalls of romaine lettuce contaminated with a pathogenic strain of E. coli, states and counties across the country are calling for a moratorium on large confined animal feeding operations (CAFOs).
Regulatory Capture: USDA’s Organic Governance Board Dominated by Affiliates of Corporate Lobby
In the midst of recalls of romaine lettuce contaminated with a pathogenic strain of E. coli, states and counties across the country are calling for a moratorium on large confined animal feeding operations (CAFOs).
ActionAlert! End Factory Farms: Support the Farm System Reform Act
In the midst of recalls of romaine lettuce contaminated with a pathogenic strain of E. coli, states and counties across the country are calling for a moratorium on large confined animal feeding operations (CAFOs).
Reminder: Just One Minute of Your Time by December 2
Comment Period Closes December 2 Tell the USDA – No Factory Farms / No Conventional Cattle Producing Organic Milk Tell the USDA to follow the will of Congress and close its own loophole. The National Organic Program should enforce both the spirit and letter...
ActionAlert! USDA: Stop “Organic” Factories from Milking Conventional Dairy Cows
LIVE: OrganicEye Report from NOSB Pittsburgh Oct 23-25
Stay tuned to https://www.facebook.com/https://organiceye.org/ for live updates from NOSB Pittsburgh October 23-25. Day 1 Posted by OrganicEye on Wednesday, October 23, 2019 Day 2 Posted by OrganicEye on Thursday, October 24, 2019
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