With all the news lately that organic is indeed better for you (and especially better for the planet, including healthy soil working as a carbon sink), it is especially important that this government (the first lady of which is making important strides for organics, local, and fighting childhood obesity) make its oversight of the organic certification process as transparent as possible.
Furthermore, it is essential that the National Organic Standards Board include members who are not representatives of corporate agribusinesses. If we really want people to eat more local food, we need to work to decentralize the food system, and small, local producers should be represented on the board.
The fact that the Obama administration has continued the Bush practice of keeping the nominees to the board secret is simply unacceptable, and further fuels the theory that corporations rule the world. After all, look where government trust of these money-grubbing machines has gotten us.
Eight years of foxes in hen houses has left us with a lot of dead chickens (or pelicans). Especially when it comes to our food--the number one factor in determining our health--we need to be open and fair about regulating what should be a guarantee that our food is healthy and organic.
"“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."
- Watchdog Calls on USDA to Boost Transparency in Organic Governance | Cornucopia Institute (view on Google Sidewiki)
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