Organics in Guelph, Canada
Posted - December 14, 2007
Guelph Conference Results
One of North America’s longest-running organics fairs is aiming to convince more Canadian farmers to follow organic methods.
The 2008 editions of the Guelph Organic Conference, Jan. 24-27, and its related trade show, Jan. 26-27, will include organics workshops and more than 100 exhibitors. Both take place at the University of Guelph in Guelph, Ontario (Canada).
With the Canadian market for organics having reached about $1 billion in 2006, the 2008 conference will feature workshops designed to help more farmers transition to organics. Under the theme “Building Sustainable Organic Business,” the workshops are schedule to include sessions on how to begin a profitable organic farm; weed management strategies; and crop and organic livestock production, among other topics.
A workshop schedule for the 4 days is available through www.guelphorganicconf.ca. On-line registration is available through the above website.
Meanwhile, the trade show will host about 160 exhibitors, some of whom will be offering free food samples. Admission is free. Exhibitors include processors, certifiers, distributors and other groups that support organic production. For a full list of exhibitors, please visit www.guelphorganicconf.ca/exhibitors08.html.
The Guelph Organic Conference was started back in 1982 by two agriculture students who were then studying at the University of Guelph.
Aurora Organic Dairy Sued by Cornucopia Institute
Posted - December 13, 2007
USA Cornucopia Continues Defense of Integrity of the Organic Label
A major organic milk producer in the United States is facing lawsuits over concerns that it broke organic regulations while selling “organic” milk to such major retailers as Wal-Mart, Costco, Safeway and Wild Oats (a retail chain now owned by Whole Foods). Much of the milk was sold under the stores’ own brand names.
According to The Cornucopia Institute, federal court filings and class action suits have been made against Aurora Organic Dairy, based in Boulder, Colorado.
“This is the largest scandal in the history of the organic industry,” said Mark Kastel, with the Wisconsin-based farm policy research and advocacy group. The institute’s investigation and formal legal complaint alerted United States Department of Agriculture (USDA) investigators to potential problems at the dairy firm.
USDA investigations found that Aurora, which has about $100 million in annual sales, had 14 wilful violations of federal organic rules, according to the institute. The institute reports that Aurora confined animals to feedlot pens and sheds instead of grazing the animals, contrary to federal organic rules.
Packaging for many of the store-brand products featured pasture scenes. “That’s not even close to the reality of where this milk was coming from,” said Steve Berman, a Seattle lawyer whose firm is among those suing.
The USDA has since dismissed these complaints, Aurora says in a release. The release reads that the USDA has “affirmed the validity of each of Aurora Organic Dairy’s current certifications under the National Organic Program.”
“I am personally committed to the principles and success of organic agriculture and to the conversion of land to organic practices,” said Aurora’s president and chief organic officer Mark Retzloff.
Consumers have been harmed, the Institute contends. “Aurora was taking advantage of the consumer’s good will in the marketplace toward organics, and the USDA has allowed this scofflaw-corporation to continue to operate,” Kastel said. Ultimately, such acts may backfire, as consumers begin to question firms’ claims of organic, healthy production methods.
The firm, though, says there is no question. “There is absolutely no basis for claims we defrauded consumers by selling milk that isn’t organic - none whatsoever,” said Marc Peperzak, Aurora Organic chairman and CEO.
“We’re confident in the outcome,” Peperzak said of the legal challenges, “and will defend our company, our products and our reputation against any and all false claims.”
Cornucopia emphasizes that, if Aurora did violate organic standards, the firm remains an exception to the rule. A scorecard available on its website rates the large majority of dairy producers favourably.
Photos of what Cornucopia says is Aurora’s factory-farm operation can be viewed through the group’s website.
The Cornucopia Institute, a non-profit farm policy research group, is dedicated to the fight for economic justice for the family-scale farming community. Their Organic Integrity Project acts as a corporate and governmental watchdog on the credibility of organic farming methods.
Based on information from the Cornucopia Institute, www.cornucopia.org.
Major US Retailers Under Fire for Dairy
Posted - December 12, 2007
Nation´s Largest Retailers Accused of Organic Fraud:
Class Action Suits Seek Damages from Wal-Mart, Target
In a scandal now ensharing some of the nations leading retailers, a series of lawsuits have been filed accusing Wal-Mart, Costco, Target, Safeway, and Wild Oats of consumer fraud for marketing suspect organic milk.
The legal filings in federal courts in Seattle, Denver, and in Minneapolis, against the retailers, come on the heels of class action lawsuits against Aurora Organic Dairy, based in Boulder, Colorado. The suits against Aurora and the grocery chains allege consumer fraud, negligence, and unjust enrichment concerning the sale of organic milk. This past April, Aurora officials received a notice from the USDA detailing multiple and willful violations of federal organic law that were found by federal investigators.
This is the largest scandal in the history of the organic industry, said Mark Kastel of The Cornucopia Institute, a Wisconsin-based farm policy research group. Cornucopia´s own investigation and formal legal complaint, in 2005, first alerted USDA investigators to the improprieties occurring at Aurora. Aurora was taking advantage of the consumer´s good will in the marketplace toward organics, and the USDA has allowed this scofflaw-corporation to continue to operate, Kastel added.
Law firms based in Seattle, St. Louis, and New York, in addition to other cities, have filed at least eight lawsuits against Aurora, representing plaintiffs in over 30 states. Five lawsuits against the retailers have been filed so far.
Attorneys are seeking damages to reimburse consumers harmed by the company´s actions. Some of the lawsuits request that the U.S. District Courts put an injunction in place to halt the ongoing sale of Aurora´s organic milk in the nation´s grocery stores until it can be demonstrated that the company is complying with federal organic regulations.
Aurora, with $100 million in annual sales, provides milk that is sold as organic and packaged as private label, store-brand products for many of the nation´s biggest chains. In addition to Wal-Mart, Target, Costco, Safeway, and Wild Oats, Aurora serves as supplier to 15 other national and regional chains.
Independent investigators at the USDA concluded earlier this year that Aurora with five dairy facilities in Colorado and Texas, each milking thousands of cows had 14 “willful” violations of federal organic regulations. One of the most egregious of the findings was that from December 5, 2003, to April 16, 2007, the Aurora Dairy labeled and represented milk as organically produced, when such milk was not produced and handled in accordance with the National Organic Program regulations.
Cornucopia’s own research, since confirmed by the two-year investigation by federal law enforcement agents, found that Aurora was confining their cows to pens and sheds in feedlots rather than grazing the animals as the federal law requires. Furthermore, Aurora brought conventional animals into their organic milking operation in a manner prohibited by the Organic Food Production Act, a law passed by Congress in 1990 and implemented in 2002 by the USDA.
The stores sell Aurora’s milk under their own in-house brand names, such as Costco’s Kirkland and Target’s Archer Farms, in cartons marked “USDA organic,” typically with pictures of pastures or other bucolic scenes.
“That’s not even close to the reality of where this milk was coming from,” said Steve Berman, a Seattle lawyer whose firm is among those suing. “These cows are all penned in factory-confinement conditions.”
This is the perfect example of modern-day Agri-business bullies literally stealing the milk money from an unsuspecting public, said Washington state consumer Rachael Doyle. “We have been willfully deceived by corporations motivated solely by greed.
Cornucopia points out that Aurora is a “horrible aberration,” and that the vast majority of all organic dairy products are produced with high integrity. In a scorecard published last year, and available on their web site, Cornucopia rates over 90% of organic name-brand dairy products as truly subscribing to the letter and spirit of the law (available at www.cornucopia.org).
Aurora´s actions have injured the reputation of the more than 1500 legitimate organic dairy farmers who are faithfully following federal organic rules and regulations, noted Kastel. We cannot allow these families to be placed at a competitive disadvantage.
Mark Pepperzak, Aurora CEO, said, “The allegations in this smear campaign against AOD are based on false information and, therefore, completely unfounded.” The company has said that their business has yet to be affected by the high-profile controversy. However, some of Aurora’s largest customers have now switched to alternative suppliers. “We have learned that Wild Oats and the Publix supermarket chain in Florida are no longer buying milk from Aurora,” stated Kastel. “In addition, the nation’s largest distributor of natural and organic products, United Natural Foods, Inc. (UNFI) has also secured an alternative source for their Woodstock Farms brand.” Kastel also said that although he was unable to publicly disclose the names of retailers at this point in time, a number of others have contacted Cornucopia for their listing of six other private-label organic milk processors.
Many industry observers feel that the USDAs enforcement mechanism broke down in the Aurora case. After career USDA staff drafted a Letter of Proposed Revocation, seeking to prevent Aurora from engaging in organic commerce, political appointees at the agency intervened, crafting an agreement allowing the politically connected company to remain in business.
“It is unconscionable that the USDA allowed Aurora to continue, after making millions of dollars, in this “ethics-based” industry, when they had concluded that Aurora willfully violated the law,” Kastel added. “However, there is a higher authority in terms of organic integrity than the USDA - that’s the organic consumer. And they are about to make their voices heard through the courts.”
Copies of the lawsuits are available upon request. A photo gallery of the Aurora factory-farm operation can be viewed at the Cornucopia web page at www.cornucopia.org
For more information, please visit the Cornucopia Institute at www.cornucopia.org
EU Congress Unites Organic Movement
Posted - December 12, 2007
European Organics Congress Produces Ideas
Last week’s European Organics Congress, held in Brussels, resulted in several recommendations aimed at strengthening organics on that continent. Organized by the International Federation of Organic Agriculture Movements (IFOAM), the Dec. 4-5 congress drew more than 300 participants from across Europe.
One major result was a list of political recommendations. Perhaps the most important is a desire to “maintain the integrity of organic food with reference to core values to protect against devaluing the concept as the market expands,” as an IFOAM release phrased the recommendation. Organic firms must remain true to the spirit, as well as the technical regulations, of the organic movement, or all participants will be harmed.
Other recommendations included:
- Continuing to fight to ensure organic foods remain free of genetically modified organisms;
- Targeting new rural development funding at organic farms, especially in regions where such funding has been lacking in the past;
- Including organic farming under environmental portions of the EU’s Common Agricultural Policy, which is currently in development;
- And improving stakeholder involvement in EU regulatory reform surrounding organics definitions.
More information, including speeches and presentations, is available at www.organic-congress-ifoameu.org.
To comment on the congress, visit www.organic-congress-ifoameu.org/Congress_guestbook.aspx.
African Pavilion Joins BioFach Germany
Posted - December 12, 2007
Join Organic Africa in BioFach Germany 2008
BioFach (www.biofach.de) is the largest organic trade fair in the world. Exhibitors and buyers come from Africa, Asia, Australia, Europe, Latin America and North America to take advantage of this major business boosting opportunity. Over the years, BioFach has established itself as a meeting place for those involved in organics including traders, exporters, researchers, national movements, consultants, NGOs, policymakers, and development partners. At BioFach 2008, many organizations will join forces to give Africa a prominent role.
There will be an African Pavilion where visitors will enjoy African designs, colours, sounds and flavours. A piazza in the middle will make the pavilion an oasis that attracts the visitors and offers them African coffee, tea, wine, snacks and new innovative beverages. In the country or sub-regional stands, exporters, national organic movements and export promotion agencies will showcase the specialities from the Sub-Saharan countries. The Pavilion will also serve as a hub of information on activities and services of different importers, trade promotion agencies, consultancies, NGO’s and certifiers. It will also offer an opportunity for exhibitors to exchange information and contacts with relevant businesses from all over the world.
In addition to the African Pavilion, there will be a day-long symposium on 23rd February to highlight the status of organics in Africa. Participants will hear about opportunities (and some challenges) for trade and development including the impact of organic agriculture on smallholder farmers; what is being done to further promote organic by governments, private sector and development partners. A high-level panel with policy makers and opinion-makers will discuss the potential of organic agriculture to help achieve the Millennium Development Goals.
The event will be widely covered by African and international media and many journalists have expressed interest in participation. Access to partner organizations’ global networks will also help spread the word about the event. The event is likely to be a great success and more than 50 exporters from Africa are expected to participate.
If you are an exporter in Africa - sign up now and take advantage of this opportunity to expand your business and boost your image, contact us or the national organic movement in your country!
If you are engaged in supporting trade or organic farming in Africa - offer your engagement in making this event a success!
If you are an investor in human development - supporting the event can be one of your best investments in the years to come!
For more: http://www.organicafrica2008.com/
Organic Agenda from IFOAM EU
Posted - December 4, 2007
Organic Looks into its Future to Develop a New Political Agenda
The European organic sector came together today at the European Organic Congress in Brussels to discuss future challenges and work out a new political agenda. Organised by the IFOAM EU Group, the congress is a major political event for the organic movement in the EU.
“Whilst the organic market continues to develop dynamically,” said IFOAM EU President Francis Blake, “policy makers are still reluctant to utilise fully the many advantages organic production delivers.”
(IFOAM EU member organisations include consumer groups, farmer and processor associations, research, education and advisory organisations, certification bodies and commercial organic companies.)
“The Commission’s organic action plan in 2004 was a good start, but major policy areas are insufficiently implemented or are left out,” he said. “In particular, the question of how to safeguard GM-free farming is not addressed, and EU policies on research and on rural development are barely supportive of organic farming.”
To succeed in the EU, organics require consistent policy from the various organizations involved, added Marco Schlüter, Director of the IFOAM EU Group.
“The problems we are facing in Europe are too serious not to profit from the benefits organic food and farming delivers,” he said. “Organic production offers tools to tackle major future challenges such as halting the loss of biodiversity, economic and social development of rural areas and climate change.”
It was hoped that the 2007 congress would help provide concrete recommendations for policy makers.
For more information about the congress: http://www.organic-congress-ifoameu.org
SunOpta Acquires Tradin Sourcing Firm
Posted - December 4, 2007
Canadian Firm SunOpta Acquires Tradin Organic Agriculture of Amsterdam
SunOpta Inc. (www.sunopta.com) announced on Thursday November 29th that it has reached an agreement to acquire the outstanding shares of The Organic Corporation B.V., operating as Tradin Organic Agriculture B.V. The transaction is not yet final, but the parties expect it to close within 60 days.
Tradin (www.tradinorganic.com), founded in 1985, is one of the world’s major providers of globally-sourced organic food ingredients. Its annual revenue is approximately USD $120 million. The firm is a key supplier for organic quality ingredients such as frozen and fresh fruits and vegetables, dried fruits, coffee, cocoa, cereals, rice, soya, beans, pulses, sweeteners and more. Tradin’s existing management will remain with the joined firms.
Headquartered in Amsterdam, the Netherlands, Tradin runs several companies based in that country, China, Serbia and Ethiopia. In addition, it has sales and sourcing operations in the United States, Germany, Austria, France and Thailand that procure ingredients from farming regions around the globe.
“The combination of SunOpta’s global organic sourcing and processing operations with Tradin’s extensive and complementary operations positions SunOpta as a global leader in the provision of organic ingredients in the world,” said Steve Bromley, President and Chief Executive Officer of SunOpta, “and is consistent with our strategy to become the leading global supplier of natural and organic food products.”
Tradin’s expertise complements SunOpta’s broad natural and organic foods platform, which sources and processes diverse foods and sells them to a global customer base.
“By joining SunOpta, we will be able to improve these systems even further and faster,” said Wim Rabbie and Gerard Versteegh, Tradin’s shareholders. “We will be able to add quality-driven turnover, increasing our current programs and adding new sourcing projects worldwide. We will continue to take a leading role in stimulating the integrity of the organic business worldwide. We are very optimistic about the international growth potential of organics and our continued leadership role in this growth.”
SunOpta Inc. has three business units: SunOpta Food Group, which specializes in sourcing, processing and distributing natural and organic food products from seed through packaged product; Opta Minerals Inc., a producer, distributor, and recycler of environmentally friendly industrial materials; and SunOpta BioProcess Inc. which engineers and markets proprietary technology systems for the pulp, bio-fuel and food processing industries.
Source: SunOpta Inc.
