"Killer diet" . . . BushCo dilutes the meaning of "organic" . . .

[OneBlueSky]

As Americans struggle to cut down on the carbs, the Bush administration is helping pump up organic foods with preservatives, mercury and PCBs.

By Amanda Griscom
salon.com
May 21, 2004

http://www.salon.com/opinion/feature/2004/05/21/anti_organic/index.html

Over the course of 10 days in mid-April, the USDA issued three "guidances" and one directive -- all legally binding interpretations of law -- that threaten to seriously dilute the meaning of the word "organic" and discredit the department's National Organic Program. And the changes -- which would allow the use of antibiotics on organic dairy cows, synthetic pesticides on organic farms, and more -- were made with zero input from the public or the National Organic Standards Board, the advisory group that worked for more than a decade to help craft the first federal organic standards, put in place in October 2002.

(snip)

One practice favored by large agribusiness is the use of antibiotics on cows, and a guidance issued on April 14 will allow just that on organic dairy farms, a dramatic reversal of 2002 rules. Under the new guidelines, sickly dairy cows can be treated not just with antibiotics but with numerous other drugs and still have their milk qualify as organic, so long as 12 months pass between the time the treatments are administered and the time the milk is sold.

"This new directive makes a mockery of organic standards," said Richard Wood, a recent member of the FDA's Veterinary Medicine Advisory Committee and executive director of Food Animal Concerns Trust. "Organic farmers that we have talked to are furious because they have been very careful to follow the antibiotics rule. undercuts their ability to make a living doing things right."

- more . . .

http://www.salon.com/opinion/feature/2004/05/21/anti_organic/index.html

[kimchi]

1. Thanks for the link.

This world is getting scarier and scarier.

[Bandit]

2. This new directive makes a mockery of organic standards,"

Is there anything truly American that this Administration does not make a mockery of?

[denverbill]

3. I'm shocked. Shocked I tell you!

Bush subverting the wishes of 90% of the American populace to protect the financial interests of Monsanto and other industrial corporate giants? Say it ain't so!