Organic Standards Under Sneak Attack Today!

Call Congress Tell Them Not to Weaken the Organic Food Law! Tell the offices below to say No to dangerous organic amendment backed by the Organic Trade Association!

At 4 p.m today Congress will consider an amendment to the Agricultural Appropriations Bill sponsored by the Organic Trade Association (OTA) that would weaken the organic food law. The amendment would allow:

numerous synthetic processing aids to be used in organic food without any public review;
could allow young dairy cows to be treated with antibiotics and fed genetically engineered feed prior to being converted to organic production;
create a loophole in which organic ingredients could be substituted with non-organic ingredients without any consumer notice based upon “emergency decrees.”

The amendment was stopped in the Senate by consumer pressure two weeks ago but industry pressure has brought in back! We need your help again!!!

Call the following offices now and tell to reject the OTA Organic Amendment from Agricultural Appropriation Bill.

U.S. House Appropriations Subcommittee on Agriculture, Rural Development, FDA, and Related Agencies (All area codes 202)

Republicans
Henry Bonilla (Chair) TX 23d 225-4511
Ray LaHood (Vice chair) IL 18th 225-6201
Jack Kingston GA 1st 225-5831
Tom Latham IA 5th 225-5476
Jo Ann Emerson MO 8th 225-4404
Virgil Goode VA 5th 225-4711
John Doolittle CA 4th 225-2511
Rodney Alexander LA 5th 225-8490
*Jerry Lewis CA 41st 225-5861

Democrats
Rosa DeLauro CT 3d 225-3661
Marcy Kaptur OH 9th 225-4146
Maurice Hinchey NY 26th 225-6335
Sam Farr CA 17th 225-2861
Allen Boyd FL 2nd 225-5235
*David Obey WI 7th 225-3365

U.S. Senate Appropriations Subcommittee on Agriculture, Rural Development and Related Agencies (All area codes 202)

Republicans
Bob Bennett (Chair) UT 224-5444
Thad Cochran MS 224-5054
Arlen Specter PA 224-4254
Kit Bond MO 224-5721
Mitch McConnell KY 224-2541
Conrad Burns MT 224-2644
Larry Craig ID 224-2752
Sam Brownback KS 224-6521

Democrats
Herb Kohl (Ranking) WI 224-5653
Tom Harkin IA 224-3254
Richard Durbin IL 224-2152
Byron Dorgan ND 224-2551
Dianne Feinstein CA 224-3841
Tim Johnson SD 224-5842
Mary Landrieu LA 224-5824
Robert Byrd WV 224-3954

Stay tuned for more information. For more background on this issue, please see Beyond Pesticides' October 18, 2005 letter to Congress. See also our September 2005 action alert.