VS.
David vs. Goliath?

The U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) is ready to approve a list of 38 ingredients that can be used in food stamped with its organic seal, even though those ingredients are sprayed with pesticides, grown with chemical fertilizers, or come from animals fed antibiotics and bovine growth hormones. Consumers are being given just 7 days to comment.

According to an article in the Los Angeles Times, “…many beer drinkers may not know that Anheuser-Busch has the organic blessing from federal regulators even though Wild Hop Lager uses hops grown with chemical fertilizers and sprayed with pesticides.” That’s in light of the Anheuser-Busch web site proclaiming, “…we have decided to go back to basics and do things the way they were meant to be … naturally."

Anheuser-Busch is just one example. With the organic food market in the U.S. expected to reach $17 billion in 2007, plenty of large corporations are vying for a share. Consumers have shown a willingness to pay premium prices for organic products. Weakening the standards for the USDA's organic seal lowers the production costs of businesses, but cconsumers are likely to find themselves paying premium prices for products containing the very ingredients they want to avoid.

If the USDA allows beer from hops grown with chemical fertilizers and sprayed with pesticides to be labeled organic, can that label stil be taken seriously?

To read the full article in the Los Angeles Times cited above, go to: USDA may relax standards for organic foods

To learn about efforts to save the integrity of organics & how you might help go to: Organic Consumers Association

To go to the feedback page on the web site of the U.S. Department of Agriculture click on: USDA Feedback Form