Cornucopia Institute Urges Public Nomination Process for Organic Board
An organic industry watchdog has released a June 7, 2010, letter that urges the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) to increase the transparency of the National Organic Standards Board (NOSB) appointment process.
“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,” states a June 8 press release, which claims that in the past, “many eminently qualified candidates . . . did not have the political clout to be appointed.”
According to Cornucopia, USDA has continued “the Bush administration policy of keeping secret the nominees and the related corporations or organizations they work for or represent.” The group alleges that NOSB positions reserved for consumers or organic farmers have previously gone to specialists employed by corporate agribusiness or only the largest organic marketers. It has thus asked USDA to make public “the name of the individual and the slot of which they are applying,” as “[m]any in the organic community would welcome the opportunity to provide constructive feedback on the potential appointees and help ensure that the best and most qualified individuals are the focus of the final appointment process.”
In addition, Cornucopia has requested “a modest stipend for NOSB members who are not affiliated with a corporate entity or well-funded nonprofit organization,” to help ease the financial burden on independent farmers participating in these activities. “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,” one organic dairy farmer was quoted as saying.
