Wisconsin Ag Connection - Group Wants USDA to Make Selection of Organic Advisors Public

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Group Wants USDA to Make Selection of Organic Advisors Public
Wisconsin Ag Connection - 07/31/2009

A Wisconsin-based farm group that promotes family-run organic farming as a way of life is calling on the U.S. Department of Agriculture to publicly release the names of applicants for its expert advisory panel on organic food and agriculture practices. The Cornucopia Institute says Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack is expected to announce the appointment for five open slots on the 15-member National Organic Standards Board sometime during the next few months, and feels those names should be made available for all to know.

"We believe a public and transparent selection process for members of this key advisory group is appropriate and will help assure the most qualified people are selected for this important work," said Cornucopia Institute Co-Director Will Fantle. "Applicants to the National Organic Standards Board have been publicly announced in the past, although not in recent years."

The NOSB advises the USDA on organic agriculture and food policy but was charged by Congress with ultimate authority over materials and substances that can be approved in the growing, handling and processing of organic food. Its fifteen members are required by statute to represent diverse segments of the industry, including farmers, organic certifiers, consumers, environmentalists, scientists, retailers, and handlers. Members serve five-year terms.

Fantle says for more than a decade, annual growth in the organic foods industry had been averaging double digits, with sales now totaling $24 billion. But he feels that the severe economic downturn has dramatically slowed this growth; and some family farmers, particularly in the organic dairy sector, are now struggling to hang on in the business and keep their land.

"In the last several years, appointments by the previous administration to the NOSB have been heavily tilted towards corporate agribusiness," said Fantle. "Given the struggles we are seeing in the farm community, we particularly want a balance restored."

Cornucopia claims that 47 individuals have applied for membership on the NOSB. Twenty-nine farmers applied for the two open producer slots, nine individuals applied for the open handler slot, four individuals are seeking appointment to the open retailer slot, and five people applied for the open environmentalist position.