June, 08 2010, 01:18pm EDT
Watchdog Calls on USDA to Boost Transparency in Organic Governance
Secretary Vilsack Asked to Balance Public's Interest with Corporate Involvement
WASHINGTON
In a move to protect the growing organic industry
from undue corporate
influence, a leading organic watchdog group released a letter,
dated June 7, calling on the USDA to collaborate with the organic
community on
pending appointments to the National
Organic Standards Board (NOSB).
The
Cornucopia Institute, and other organic advocates,
have long
been concerned that representatives from corporate agribusiness have
obtained a
disproportionate influence on rulemaking at the USDA.
"During the Bush administration we saw crass
politics, at its
worst, in play during the NOSB appointment process," said Will Fantle,
Codirector of The Cornucopia Institute.
In one instance, an employee of General Mills
was nominated to fill a slot on the board that Congress had earmarked
for a
consumer representative. "Abuses of this nature are repugnant to the
organic community and certainly betray the letter and spirit of the
Organic
Foods Production Act, the law passed by Congress giving the USDA
authority to
oversee the industry," added Fantle.
Although Cornucopia and other independent
industry observers have been
overwhelmingly satisfied with the new direction the Obama administration
has
taken in staffing the National Organic Program, and responding to
criticism
over past ethical lapses in management, including a recent audit by the
Inspector General's office, not all stakeholders have been pleased with
the
NOSB nominating/appointment process.
In 2009, the first time the Obama/Vilsack
administration at the USDA
named new NOSB members, they continued the Bush administration policy of
keeping secret the nominees and the related corporations or
organizations they
work for or represent.
Some in the organic community feel that the
lack of openness in the
appointment process has resulted in some important missteps that have
hurt the
credibility of the board and its work. "Keeping nominees and their
affiliations secret raises questions of the process that is a slap in
the face
to organic principles," said Rebecca Goodman, a certified organic dairy
farmer from Wonewoc, Wisconsin.
Goodman had been nominated to the farmer-slot
on the board. But
instead of choosing one of the legitimate certified organic farmers,
widely
respected and viewed as qualified and who were under consideration at
the time,
USDA Secretary Tom Vilsack chose an animal husbandry specialist employed
by one
of the largest organic livestock product marketers in the country.
While this appointee had grown up on a
conventional farm, her immediate
occupation is not that of an active organic farmer.
"The PhD scientist chosen for that NOSB
producer-slot certainly
can add an important perspective, but her appointment reduces the voice
of
actual organic farmers on the board who are, arguably, the most
important
stakeholders in the industry," lamented Fantle.
There is widespread concern that these
appointments marginalize the
voices of consumers and farmers who have built this industry, and places
a
disproportionate control of national organic policy in the hands of
board
members working for multinational for-profit enterprises like Whole
Foods,
Earthbound Farms, Quality Assurance International, Organic Valley,
Philips Mushrooms and Campbell Soup.
"Those serving on the NOSB would most ideally
be producers and
consumers who are on the front line of implementing and reviewing the
rules,
not those who would appear to have a financial interest in the outcome
of the
rules implemented," said Goodman.
"Many of the corporate organizations that are
represented on the
board sell just a few percentage points of their product lines as
organic," said Fantle. "Other marketers and farmers, whose
livelihoods are dependent upon the effort to maintain the integrity of
the
organic label, might view this as a conflict of interest."
The Cornucopia Institute's
letter to Secretary Vilsack said the reason they are calling on the USDA
to
make these nominations public is because they, and many other
stakeholders in
the industry, know that many eminently qualified candidates have in the
past
been passed over because they did not have the political clout to be
appointed.
"We simply want the organic community to be
able to help Secretary
Vilsack choose the very best candidates available for the NOSB," added
Fantle.
Cornucopia's letter went on to say that
although they are an aggressive
governmental and corporate watchdog they are in no way
"anticorporate." They state there are many examples of larger
corporations that subscribe to the ethical foundation of the organic
movement. But both the Bush and Obama administrations have given
disproportionate prominence on the NOSB to major corporate players.
"Without denigrating Whole Foods, and their commitment to organics, you
have to question why this giant corporation again has a seat on the
board,
whereas the approximately 275 consumer-owned cooperatives, with hundreds
of
thousands of members and shoppers, have again been shut out," Goodman
said.
The Cornucopia Institute, a Wisconsin-based nonprofit 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 assuring that no compromises to the credibility of organic farming methods and the food it produces are made in the pursuit of profit.
LATEST NEWS
'The Last Thing We Need': Critics Decry US Government's OK of $31 Billion Railroad Merger
"The East Palestine disaster raised significant questions about rail safety," Sen. Elizabeth Warren said in response to the approval of Canadian Pacific's acquisition of Kansas City Southern. "Allowing this merger is a mistake."
Mar 15, 2023
U.S. federal regulators on Wednesday approved the first major railroad merger in more than two decades, a move that follows the East Palestine rail disaster and that critics warned would reduce competition, raise prices, cost jobs, and threaten safety.
The Surface Transportation Board (STB) approved Canadian Pacific Railway Limited's proposed $31 billion acquisition of Kansas City Southern Railway Company, a merger that will create a single railroad linking Canada, the United States, and Mexico. The agency said the merger will take roughly 64,000 truckloads off the road and add more than 800 union jobs.
"The decision includes an unprecedented seven-year oversight period and contains many conditions designed to mitigate environmental impacts, preserve competition, protect railroad workers, and promote efficient passenger rail," STB said, adding that it "also anticipates the merger will result in improvements in safety and the reduction of carbon emissions."
"Shame on STB for disregarding both the administration and the rail workers who know all too well that corporate consolidation leads to a more dangerous rail industry."
However, opponents of the deal pointed to the East Palestine, Ohio disaster and other recent railroad accidents, which they said underscored the need for a more cautious approach to consolidation.
"The merger brings the total number of Class 1 railroads to six, down from over 100 just a few decades ago," the progressive news site More Perfect Unionnoted on Twitter. "Corporate consolidation in the railroad industry compromises safety and risks lives by prioritizing profits and cutting corners to reduce costs."
"Despite concerns from small towns and suburban Chicago cities, the STB ruled, based on data provided by industry, that the only community and environmental impacts of the merger would be an increase in noise," More Perfect Union continued.
"The Biden administration has taken a strong antitrust stance by blocking the $3.8 billion JetBlue-Spirit merger and urging the STB to do the same for Canadian Pacific-Kansas City Southern (CP-KCS), citing the need to promote competition in the railroad industry," the outlet said.
"Shame on STB for disregarding both the administration and the rail workers who know all too well that corporate consolidation leads to a more dangerous rail industry," More Perfect Union added. "The last thing we need is another merger right now."
U.S. Sen. Elizabeth Warren (D-Mass.)—who earlier this month wrote to STB Chair Martin Oberman asking the agency to reject the merger—similarly tweeted that "we don't need another rail merger that'll crush competition, reduce safety, increase prices, and destroy jobs."
U.S. Rep. Raja Krishnamoorthi (D-Ill.), who represents some Chicago suburbs through which the new international railway will run, wrote on Twitter Tuesday that "even before the disaster in Ohio, I had been warning about the threats to communities in my district that would come from a potential CP-KCS merger."
Itasca, Illinois Administrator Carie Anne Ergo—who chairs the Stop CPKCS Coalition—toldThe Washington Post that "the tragedy in Ohio is an illustration of what we've been talking about can happen."
"If what happened in East Palestine happened here in Itasca, the entire community would need to evacuate," she added. "It's terrifying."
Keep ReadingShow Less
Reparations Demanded 20 Years After US Launched 'War-for-Profit' in Iraq
"We should not let the difficulty of securing justice deter us from seeking it—for Iraqis and for all others harmed by U.S. imperialism, exploitation, and genocide," said the Center for Constitutional Rights.
Mar 15, 2023
Ahead of the 20th anniversary of the George W. Bush administration's illegal invasion of Iraq this weekend, the New York-based Center for Constitutional Rights on Wednesday renewed its call for reparations "for those harmed as a result of the U.S.'s unlawful act of aggression in its cruel, senseless, and baseless war-for-profit."
"Ten years ago, we teamed up with Iraqi civil society groups and U.S. service members to demand redress," the nonprofit explained, "and this need only becomes more urgent as the incalculable human toll of the war continues to grow: hundreds of thousands dead, some two million disabled, some nine million displaced, environmental devastation, countless people tortured, traumatized, or otherwise harmed in ways unseen, occupation and embrace of torture as policy in the so-called 'War on Terror,' and an entire generation that was born and raised in only war."
As Common Dreams reported earlier Wednesday, the Costs of War Project at Brown University's Watson Institute for International and Public Affairs estimates that already, "the total costs of the war in Iraq and Syria are expected to exceed half a million human lives and $2.89 trillion" by 2050.
The project also said that "an estimated 300,000 people have died from direct war violence in Iraq, while the reverberating effects of war continue to kill and sicken hundreds of thousands more."
"Justice also entails accountability for the perpetrators of these horrific crimes, including those responsible for the torture."
Such figures have fueled calls from groups like the Center for Constitutional Rights (CCR), which asserted that "reparations are rooted in precedent and international law, as well as a strong tradition of justice-based organizing by civil rights movements, and we should not let the difficulty of securing justice deter us from seeking it—for Iraqis and for all others harmed by U.S. imperialism, exploitation, and genocide."
"Justice also entails accountability for the perpetrators of these horrific crimes, including those responsible for the torture" in Iraq and beyond, argued the center—which since 2004 has filed three lawsuits against U.S-based military contractors on behalf of Iraqis tortured at the Abu Ghraib prison and also sued Erik Prince and his company Blackwater over the Nisour Square massacre
"Legal efforts against high-level political and military leaders for the invasion itself and the many crimes committed in the 'War on Terror' pose a different set of challenges, as demonstrated by our efforts to hold high-level Bush-administration officials accountable at the International Criminal Court for crimes in or arising out of the war in Afghanistan or under universal jurisdiction," CCR noted. "Those of us pursuing accountability can draw inspiration from activists in other countries like Argentina and Guatemala who waged successful campaigns over several decades."
Highlighting that "Congress continues its overbroad authorizations for use of military force," the center argued that "such authorizations must be repealed, and the unlawful policies of endless war and militarization must be replaced with international-law-based, rights-respecting policies and practices."
The U.S. Senate is expected to vote Thursday to repeal both the 1991 and 2002 authorizations for use of military force against Iraq. While the measure's sponsor, Sen. Tim Kaine (D-Va.), has been publicly optimistic about passage, it would then need approval from the GOP-controlled House of Representatives before being sent to President Joe Biden's desk for signature.
In a move decried by progressives as "madness," the president last week proposed a budget for fiscal year 2024 featuring a historic $886.4 billion in military spending, including $397.5 million to fight what is left of the Islamic State in Iraq and Syria.
Meanwhile, as CCR pointed out Wednesday, "just this month, the House voted 414-2 to maintain unilateral sanctions on Syria even though—or because—they have caused widespread suffering and hindered earthquake relief efforts. The U.S. has imposed similar deadly sanctions on Cuba for decades. Such manifestations of imperialism differ from the war on Iraq only in degree. Indeed, deadly sanctions on Iraq were a precursor to the U.S. invasion."
In its lengthy statement, the center also said that "as we call for justice for Iraqis, we stand in solidarity with all people who live in countries targeted by U.S. imperialism, and in particular, in Afghanistan, whose civilians have been subjected to endless war and destruction, politicization, and then abandonment of human rights protections, and state-facilitated humanitarian suffering."
"They include not only those killed and maimed by the U.S. military and its proxies but also those harmed by U.S. sanctions and coups, corporate plunder and extraction, and austerity regimes imposed by U.S.-dominated colonial institutions," the center added, pointing to the International Monetary Fund. "It also includes Palestinians, who are subjugated by Israel, a U.S. imperial outpost."
"U.S. warmaking has long fed fascism at home," the group continued, calling out police violence, immigration restrictions, racial and religious profiling, and mass surveillance. "The trillions of dollars spent on militarism and criminalization abroad and in the U.S. must be reallocated to address the material needs and fulfill the human rights of our most marginalized communities."
"On this ignominious anniversary," CCR concluded, "we recommit to our vision of a world in which revolutionary movements across countries and continents struggle together for liberation from U.S. imperialism and all other oppressive systems of power."
Keep ReadingShow Less
Iraq War Costs Could Hit Nearly $3 Trillion by 2050: Report
The Costs of War Project said the U.S.-led invasion and occupation "caused massive death, destruction, and political instability," killing hundreds of thousands of people while displacing millions more.
Mar 15, 2023
As the 20th anniversary of the U.S.-led invasion and occupation of Iraq approaches, a leading research institute on Wednesday said that "the total costs of the war in Iraq and Syria are expected to exceed half a million human lives and $2.89 trillion" by 2050.
The Costs of War Project at Brown University's Watson Institute for International and Public Affairs said that "this budgetary figure includes costs to date, estimated at about $1.79 trillion, and the costs of veterans' care through 2050."
According to the project:
March 19-20, 2023 marks 20 years since United States forces invaded Iraq to oust dictator Saddam Hussein, under the false claim that his regime was manufacturing weapons of mass destruction. The ensuing war, in which U.S. ground presence peaked in 2007 with over 170,000 soldiers, caused massive death, destruction, and political instability in Iraq. Among the consequences was the increase of sectarian politics, widespread violence, and the rise of the Islamic State militant group with its terror attacks throughout the Middle East.
Though the U.S. government officially ended its Iraq War in 2011, the repercussions of the invasion and occupation as well as subsequent and ongoing military interventions have had an enormous human, social, economic, and environmental toll. An estimated 300,000 people have died from direct war violence in Iraq, while the reverberating effects of war continue to kill and sicken hundreds of thousands more.
The new report includes estimates for Syria, which the United States began bombing during the Obama administration after Islamic State militants rose to power amid the destabilization and power vacuum caused by the Iraq invasion and Syrian civil war. Including Syria, the Costs of War Project says between 550,000-580,000 people have been killed since March 2003, and "several times as many may have died due to indirect causes such as preventable diseases."
"More than 7 million people from Iraq and Syria are currently refugees, and nearly 8 million people are internally displaced in the two countries," the publication notes.
University of Oxford professor and Costs of War Project co-director Neta C. Crawford, who authored the report, said in a statement that "the Bush administration was convinced and assured the American people and the world that the war would have few casualties of all kinds—civilian and military—and would lead to quick victory."
"As the Costs of War Project has documented consistently, these optimistic assumptions are confronted by a record of death, high and ongoing costs, and regional devastation," she added.
Those ongoing costs include a recent $397.5 million budget request from the Biden administration to fight what's left of Islamic State.
Keep ReadingShow Less
Most Popular
SUPPORT OUR WORK.
We are independent, non-profit, advertising-free and 100%
reader supported.
reader supported.