Contact the White House Tell Obama to Stop Factory Farms from Degrading Organic Dairy Standards

Contact the White House
Tell Obama to Stop Factory Farms from Degrading Organic Dairy Standards

(I got this alert through the Organic Consumer's Association newsletter)

With so many people calling the White House on this issue and others right now, it's very hard to get through. Please call and leave a message, but if waiting on the phone is too frustrating, you can SEND AN E-MAIL instead. Thanks! CLICK HERE TO FIND THE PHONE NUMBER TO CALL.

Organic dairies that graze their cows on pasture produce food that is healthier, safer, and more nutritious than chemical or GMO food, while protecting the environment and removing dangerous greenhouse gases from the atmosphere.

The USDA is finally coming out with new rules to better enforce the longstanding requirement that organic cows must graze on pasture, rather than be confined in feedlots. Only one last hurdle remains: the President's Office of Management and Budget (OMB) review.

Straus Dairy (based in California) and Aurora Dairy (based in Colorado) are making a last-ditch effort to prevent the USDA from cracking down on their feedlot operations. They're making a determined effort to sway the Obama administration, utilizing "insider influence" gained through campaign contributions to Obama and politicians like Tom Vilsack, who now heads the USDA.

In order to prevent factory dairy farms from driving ethical organic farmers out of business, and stop special interest manipulation of organic standards, thousands of us need to pick up the phone today. Call the Obama administration and tell them you're furious that the USDA has never adequately enforced the pasture requirement for organic dairy farms. Tell them that you'll never forgive the President if he lets ties to political contributors destroy the strict standards that safeguard organic integrity.

Tell the President that you won't settle for less! If a farm's dairy cows are kept in confinement or aren't on pasture, then its milk and dairy products are not organic!

For a better understanding of the issue you can read the detailed backgrounder, prepared by the Cornucopia Institute, that was submitted during Cornucopia's meeting with the OMB Friday, January 22, 2010:

http://www.cornucopia.org/USDA/PastureLivestockRuleBackground.pdf