Recent Organic Food News in the USA & Canada

Articles included:

IFOAM: Genetic Pollution is Threatening Consumers' Right to Choose
USA: Split Decision - Task Force is Divided on Organic Certification for Seafood
Canada/USA: Stakes Raised for Health Food Marketers

IFOAM: Genetic Pollution is Threatening Consumers' Right to Choose

9 March, International Federation of Organic Agriculture Movements Press
Release (Anaheim, CA and Tholey-Theley/Germany)

Despite the organic movement's stringent efforts to keep GMOs (genetically
engineered /modified organisms) out of organic production, some US organic
farmers have found their corn (maize) crops, including seeds, to contain
detectable levels of genetically engineered DNA.

"Those who claim ownership rights to these genes should be held liable for
their uncontrolled spread in the environment and into our food," says Gunnar
Rundgren, President of the International Federation of Organic Agriculture
Movements (IFOAM), which unites 730 member organisations in 103 countries.
The organic movement is firm in its opposition to any use of GMOs in
agriculture, and organic standards explicitly prohibit their use. The
farmers, whose seed is contaminated, have been under rigid organic
certification, which assures that they did not use any kind of genetically
modified materials on their farms. Any trace of GMOs must have come from
outside their production areas. While the exact origin is unclear at this
time, it is most likely that the pollution has been caused by pollen drift
from GMO-fields in surrounding areas. However, the contamination may have
also come from the seed supply. Seed producers, who intended to supply
GMO-free seed, have also been confronted with genetic pollution and cannot
guarantee that their seed is 100% GMO-free.

"This is more evidence that GMOs are polluting the environment in a way that
is outside the control of society or the companies that have released these
GMOs, and we are outraged. It means that consumers could soon be deprived
of their right to choose GMO-free food, if this unwanted spread of
genetically altered genes is not stopped," Gunnar Rundgren continues.
Organic products remain the best option for consumers who wish to avoid
GMO-food and resist their use in agriculture. Organic farmers and
independent certification agencies will take all reasonable measures to
prevent contamination. However, IFOAM, organic farmers and certifiers can
not do this job alone. Unless action is taken immediately, it may soon be
impossible to produce uncontaminated organic corn crops in the US. This is
equally true for conventional farmers who want to produce corn without GMOs.
The problem of pollution not only has direct consequences for organic
farmers; it also means a dramatic loss of the cultural heritage of
agricultural varieties, which has huge implications for populations around
the world. For thousands of years, humans have selected and bred natural
varieties adapted to unique climatic zones and regional properties, in order
to provide us with quality food. It is the aim of organic agriculture to
preserve this natural way, based on sound scientific and ecological
principles.

IFOAM calls on governments and regulatory agencies throughout the world to
immediately ban the use of genetic engineering in agriculture and food
production, while there is still a chance to stop this unwanted pollution.
IFOAM further holds genetic engineering industries responsible for the
damage they have inflicted on organic farmers. Governments are therefore
urged to pass legislation that makes GMO companies liable for all genetic
pollution caused by the products they own.
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USA: Split Decision - Task Force is Divided on Organic Certification for Seafood

March 09, <www.Gofish.com> News

A special task force says organic standards for fish farming are clearly
possible. But it remains sharply divided about whether wild fish ­
particularly salmon ­ should be labeled as organic. The task force, which
consists of organic food and seafood industry representatives, made its
recommendations in two long-awaited reports that it delivered to the
National Organic Standards Board at a meeting held in California last week.
The chairman of the National Organic Standards Board (NOSB) said the panel
would make a final decision in September on whether or not to recommend to
the U.S. Department of Agriculture that seafood be eligible for organic
certification. While the task force said a case could be made to allow
aquaculture systems to be designated as organic, it was split over whether
fishmeal used to feed the farmed fish could meet current organic
regulations.

"The minority position believe that feed for certified organic aquaculture
should be organic since a basic principle of organic livestock production is
organic feed," one of the reports reads. "As such, they do not agree that
the wild harvested oil should be allowed in organic feed, stating that while
harvesting fishmeal sustainably is important, it does not make the fishmeal
or fish oil organic."

The task force recommended that final organic livestock rules could be
amended to say: "Recirculating systems for aquaculture are permitted if the
system being used supports the health, growth and well-being of the
species." At the same time, the group said it would make no recommendation
on shellfish, such as mollusks and geoducks, but urged the Organic Standards
Board to "keep the option open" as new innovations support the use of
organic production practices.

"The public health regulations governing shellfish farming and harvesting
are among the strictest imposed upon any food producer in the U.S. and pose
an excellent foundation that aligns well with organic standards," said Robin
Downey, executive director of the Pacific Coast Shellfish Growers
Association.

The organic seafood issue is an important one in the industry. Many would
like to be able to classify their products as organic because it could bring
higher prices. Opponents, however, say seafood doesn't meet the standards to
be labeled as organic. Complicating the debate over allowing wild fish to
be certified organic is whether the federal Organic Foods Production Act
even allows it. Some task force members said the law would have to be
amended to permit it.

Jan Konigsberg, representing the Alaska Salmonid Biodiversity Program at
Trout Unlimited in Anchorage, summed up the two divergent views. Proponents
of allowing organic certification for wild fisheries say the decision is a
"no-brainer" because most fisheries are sustainably managed by government
agencies, and produced and caught in relatively pristine ecosystems,
Konigsberg said.

Opponents ­ including the influential Organic Trade Association and Organic
Certifiers Council ­ contend there is no way to control the environment of
migrating ocean fish, he explained. "One position would make organic
certification of most marine fish a shoo-in," Konigsberg said, "while the
other would make it virtually impossible."

The National Organic Standards Board last year was asked for its
recommendations following three public hearings by the USDA, which left the
issue unresolved. The USDA is under a congressional mandate to draft organic
seafood standards. The final rule that implements the Organic Foods
Production Act goes into effect April 20, and the task force said that some
sort of rules for organic production, handling and harvesting of wild fish
could be included in those regulations. If that happens, the task force said
the rules should include a monitoring plan, pesticide residue testing and a
system that verifies food sources for the fish in question.
Carolyn Brickey, chairman of the Organic Standards Board, said wild ocean
species should not be excluded from organic standards simply because the
OFPA contains ambiguous language on those species. The issue boils down to
who is managing these systems, she said. However, an organic certification
system would work only for land-based fish farms said Willie Lockeretz, a
member of the Organic Standards Board.

Paul Peyton, an official with Capilano Pacific, which two years ago became
the first seafood company to receive organic certification for its processed
salmon, said his company invested thousands of dollars in market
development. However, opposition from the Organic Trade Association and
other groups has hurt sales, he said.
"Many retailers are sitting on the fence now," he said. "They like our
product, but don't want to take a chance buying amid a controversy."
___________________________________________________________________________

USA: LAND GRANT COLLEGES FAILING ORGANIC FARMERS
1 March, Organic Farming Research Foundation <www.ofrf.org>

The land grant agricultural research institutions of the USA are largely
failing organic farmers, according to a report published by the Organic
Farming Research Foundation (OFRF). The report, State of the States: Organic
Farming Systems Research at Land Grant Institutions 2000-2001, was compiled
by OFRF's Technical Program Coordinator, Jane Sooby. State of the States
spotlights pioneering organic research programmes in North Carolina, Ohio,
Iowa, West Virginia and Minnesota but also reveals an overwhelming lack of
investment in organic systems research by public agricultural institutions.
State of the States is primarily meant to help farmers and scientists find
and connect with organic systems researchers working in their state or area
of interest. It represents the first comprehensive listing of organic
research projects underway at the nation's 67 land grant schools, which are
charged with supporting agriculture through research, education and
extension. Contact information is provided with each project listing so
readers can immediately connect with people doing work of interest to them.
The report identifies only five states with certified organic research
acreage and seven others with research land in transition to organic
certification. OFRF plans to publish annual updates of State of the States
as a barometer of public investment in the future of organic agriculture.
In summarizing her findings, Sooby discovered that of the 885,863 available
research acres in the land grant system, only 0.02%, or 151 acres, is
devoted to certified organic research. "This is a shocking statistic.
Organic farmers deserve a fair share of the nation's agricultural research
dollar, and they clearly are not getting it", stated OFRF president and
full-time organic farmer Woody Deryckx. "Organic farming is the fastest
growing sector of the agricultural economy. The USDA and the land grants
should be investing strategically in research to support its continued
development."

"The land grant system's institutionalized focus on chemical inputs and
genetically modified organisms has marginalized, if not outright excluded,
many other areas of inquiry, most specifically organic production", said
OFRF's Executive Director Bob Scowcroft. "It's past time for every land
grant institution to include the needs of organic farmers in their research
priorities. We expect them to devote more funding and acreage to organic
research, and OFRF will continue to monitor and report on their progress
with future editions of State of the States."

The 68-page report is available free of charge from the Organic Farming
Research Foundation, PO Box 440, Santa Cruz, CA 95061, USA. A $5 donation is
requested to cover the expense of postage and handling. The full report is
also available on OFRF's web site <www.ofrf.org>
___________________________________________________________________________

Canada/USA: Stakes Raised for Health Food Marketers
February 26

Yves Veggie Cuisine is about to do something few health food manufacturers
have the resources to consider. The Vancouver-based manufacturer of meatless
hot dogs, veggie bacon and cheeseless cheddar-style slices, is about to
launch its first mass media advertising campaign that will include radio
spots and out-of-home advertising says Roy Kingsmith, the company's director
of marketing. While it may not have the "stop-the-presses" value of yet
another multi-million-dollar media merger, the announcement is significant
because, in the Canadian health and natural foods market, the magnitude of
Yves' effort is virtually unprecedented.

While it is not a typical strategy for a company plying its trade in
Canada's natural and organic food sector, a development of this sort is not
entirely unexpected, either. Interest in health foods has never been higher
and many manufacturers have been contemplating the pursuit of more
sophisticated marketing efforts to help move their products off the shelves
in what has become an increasingly dynamic sector. According to the
U.S.-based Nutritional Business Journal, Canadians spent $3.67 billion in
1999 on natural and organic foods, supplements, and personal care products.
The North American market is valued at over $47 billion. In other words, the
stakes are growing for companies like Yves, which markets its lines in both
Canada and the U.S.

"Five years ago, our consumer base was driven primarily by vegans and
vegetarians," says Kingsmith. "But the whole health market has just taken
off. Our opportunity is to take our whole product line to mainstream
consumers within the grocery channel." One of the major developments
contributing to the growth of the sector, Kingsmith says, is the baby boom
generation, many of whom are becoming more interested in eating right as
they grow old and near their own ultimate conclusion. As such, the target
market for natural and organic products has moved well beyond the
traditional 25- to 39-year-old health-conscious female. While Yves is
taking its embrace of mainstream marketing techniques further than most, the
company is not alone. Across the board, manufacturers of products from
breakfast cereals to non-dairy frozen desserts have begun to look at ways to
increase their share in the market, whether through new in-store
advertising, promotions or product development.

Part of the reason for this increased activity, says Arran Stephens,
president and founder of Delta, B.C.-based Nature's Path, a leading organic
cereal maker, can be attributed to the fact that mainstream manufacturers
have been encroaching on the turf of natural and organic food marketers.
The entry of these mainstream players, he says, has had a dual effect. On
the down side, there is the very real threat of lost market share when, for
example, Kellogg starts running radio and print ads in the U.S. for its
Kashi cereal - a brand the cereal manufacturer purchased last year.
On the up side, there is surging consumer interest in the category as a
whole as big players introduce the idea of organic cereals to consumers who
might otherwise simply go on buying Cocoa Puffs. So while it would be easy
to say natural food manufacturers are increasing their marketing efforts out
of a pure instinct for survival, it is equally true that with interest this
high, it only makes sense to invest in communications.
"This huge growth in the natural and organic food sector has attracted Wall
Street," says Stephens. "There has been a tremendous number of mergers and
acquisitions. In this process, the whole market has become much more
sophisticated."

As mainstream marketers have borrowed concepts from the natural food sector,
he says, those in the natural sector have borrowed from the successes in the
traditional grocery trade.

Not one to be left behind, Nature's Path, too, has substantially increased
its advertising budget. The company is launching a branding campaign in
several health-related publications including Better Health, Better
Nutrition and Taste Of Life. In addition, the company is about to announce
a new cereal it has developed to compete head-to-head with Kellogg's
ground-breaking Vector meal replacement. Optimum Power Breakfast, made with
flax, soy and blueberries will be featured in about 15 lifestyle health
magazines including Alive and Vegetarian Times, Stephens says.
The company is also set to launch a new cereal targeting youngsters called
Organic Peanutbutter Panda Puffs, as part of the company's Envirokidz line.
Launched last year, today the line represents 15% of the company's sales.
The relatively new organic-cereals-for-kids sector saw the launch in July of
yet another noteworthy brand when Braintree, Mass.-based New Organics
released the Richard Scarry line of Organic Honey O's, Organic Cocoa Crisps
and Organic Fruity O's, the packaging for which features characters created
by the late American kids' author. Part of the reason behind the licensing
deal, the company says, was to broaden distribution beyond health food
stores. And it appears that's a good possibility. Today, virtually every
large grocery chain including A&P/Dominion and Loblaws have natural food
sections, which offer a range of natural and organic products.
"The whole health business continues to evolve and grow. There are a
significant number of consumers looking for health-related products," says
Bill Sheine, spokesperson for A&P/Dominion. "What's interesting is that it's
not a particular segment. It's young, old and in-between."