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bernie-woman

why organic campaign

I have just received this in a monthly newsletter from whyorganic

www.whyorganic.org is a Soil Association website designed to increase awareness of the widespread benefits of organic food and farming, and to stimulate demand for organic produce.

Their most recent campaign they are asking for help with is:

We have an urgent request for your help to protect the integrity of organic food. The European Commission has just come out with a proposal to amend the Regulation that governs organic farming and food in the EU. We are totally opposed to this proposal and our key concern is that it would allow GM contamination of organic food. See our newsflash section for ways you can help.

The campaign is a bit lacking in detail for my liking but this may be of some interest to other members



The link is www.whyorganic.org
gil

I'll look into this later, as the 'no GM' aspect is a key factor in organics. Even if the UK certification bodies did not harmonise with the EU regs, it would have implications for organic products
a) imports (obviously)
b) processed / mixed products, which used ingredients from elsewhere in the EU that might not then be GM-free.

Given the current interest among some organic producers in creating higher value-added, processed (and as in mixed together) foods with ingredients not all grown in the UK [e.g. anything with lemon in, perhaps], this would be a significant change.
cab

You have to log in to read the bit about GM.

Whats the gist of it?
bernie-woman

cab wrote:
You have to log in to read the bit about GM.

Whats the gist of it?


This is what it says on the website after you have registered - for me personally I would like to know the detail of the EU proposal but can't seem to find that?

GM – Urgent!
This is an urgent request for action to protect the integrity of organic food. The European Commission has just come out with a proposal to amend the Regulation that governs organic farming and food in the EU. We are totally opposed to this proposal, which is a major threat to the integrity of organic food in the UK.

Our key concern is that the proposal would allow GM contamination of organic food that would risk nearly one in a hundred mouthfuls being GM. The EU would allow routine contamination of organic products with up to 0.9% GM, with no need to label the product as containing GM or giving any information to consumers. This is in line with the desire of the US Government and GM companies to see all our food contaminated with GM.

The EU proposals would also obscure the local origins of organic food by imposing a generic EU organic logo or the words "EU organic" on all organic food, and would concentrate more power over organic food and farming in the hands of the EU Commission. The revised regulation seems designed to force organic farming and food into a vision of globally competitive commodity production based on the lowest possible standards. The Soil Association's own standards will not be compromised or weakened, but we will fight to protect all organic food. Working alongside organic organisations in other EU countries, and environmental and consumer groups, the Soil Association is determined to stop these damaging changes.

What you can do if you agree this is wrong:

Please email your MP and ask them sign the all-party Early Day Motion (EDM) number 1599 to show their support for keeping organic food GM-free. Please explain why you want them to do that briefly and in your own words. The EDM has been put forward by Labour MP Alan Simpson, Conservative Shadow Environment Minister Peter Ainsworth and LibDem spokesman Norman Baker. 35 MPs have already signed it to express their support – you can find their names and the full text of the EDM below. If your MP has signed the EDM, please email them to thank them, and urge them to get more MPs to sign. You can email your MP by visiting www.locata.co.uk/commons.
If you have time, could you also email your MEP to tell them that you have concerns about the proposed revision of the EU Regulation governing organic food and farming. Please ask them to pass on your concerns to the EU Agriculture Commissioner, Mariann Fischer Boel, and to let you know what she says. That way we hope the person responsible for this in the EU will hear your views. You can find your MEP’s email address at www.europarl.org.uk/uk_meps/MembersMain.htm.
Lastly, a huge thank you is due to the hundreds of people who contacted their supermarkets to demand that they stop feeding farm animals GM feed. Some retailers are already making efforts to phase out GM feed and, with consumer pressure, hopefully the others will follow suit.
Thanks for your support.
cab

bernie wrote:

This is what it says on the website after you have registered - for me personally I would like to know the detail of the EU proposal but can't seem to find that?


Thanks Bernie!

Quote:

GM – Urgent!
This is an urgent request for action to protect the integrity of organic food. The European Commission has just come out with a proposal to amend the Regulation that governs organic farming and food in the EU. We are totally opposed to this proposal, which is a major threat to the integrity of organic food in the UK.

Our key concern is that the proposal would allow GM contamination of organic food that would risk nearly one in a hundred mouthfuls being GM. The EU would allow routine contamination of organic products with up to 0.9% GM, with no need to label the product as containing GM or giving any information to consumers. This is in line with the desire of the US Government and GM companies to see all our food contaminated with GM.


Excellent. I shall look up whichever EU bod. is responsible, and send him/her my congratulations. A move in the right direction, I think.

Quote:
The EU proposals would also obscure the local origins of organic food by imposing a generic EU organic logo or the words "EU organic" on all organic food, and would concentrate more power over organic food and farming in the hands of the EU Commission.


And for this, I'll tell the same person that he/she is being an environmental vandal.

Quote:
The revised regulation seems designed to force organic farming and food into a vision of globally competitive commodity production based on the lowest possible standards. The Soil Association's own standards will not be compromised or weakened, but we will fight to protect all organic food. Working alongside organic organisations in other EU countries, and environmental and consumer groups, the Soil Association is determined to stop these damaging changes.


I don't really 'get' the Soil Association. I don't support the organisation, and I don't understand why they should be the 'organic police'.

I do wish that they weren't confusing the two issues; I support separating out 'organic' and 'non-GM' labels, I think that the insistence on organig being non-GM is missing the point. But I also think that transporting organic food huge distances is missing the point.
sean

The soil association has laways had a strong 'ideological' basis to it's views. I don't think I can add anything without being libellous.
bernie-woman

Cab - if you find any links to teh actual proposal can you post them here - just done a quick search and cannot find anything

I am surprised that the Soil Association has not included a little more detail or at least a link to where you could find out more info Confused
cab

bernie wrote:
Cab - if you find any links to teh actual proposal can you post them here - just done a quick search and cannot find anything

I am surprised that the Soil Association has not included a little more detail or at least a link to where you could find out more info Confused


Finding these EU thingies can be at times.

As far as I can make out, this PDF is the full report on coexistence of GM and non-GM crops is:
http://www.jrc.es/home/pages/eur22102enfinal.pdf

You'll excuse me for not having digested all 116 pages any time this week Laughing

I don't know if that one also details EU wide organic labelling.
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