After years of discussion and review, the USDA announced their plans to strengthen organic regulations on organic dairy and meat producers, mandating that animals have to have at least 120 days out in a pasture.
Before this, the existing rules were consider vague, by some, and only required that the animals had to have “access” to pastures. Critics of the old policy have said for years that the loophole allowed dairies to claim organic while maintaining factory-farm like conditions and operate at odds with the full intension of "organic" and mislead consumers in the process.
Mark Kastel, Senior Farm Policy Analyst at the Cornucopia Institute (WI), had battled for the change had this to say in a Cornucopia press release.
“The organic community has been calling for strong regulations and its enforcement for much of the past decade. Cheap organic milk flowing from the illegitimate factory farms has created a surplus that is crushing ethical family farm producers.”
The new regulations impact not only dairy operations, organic meat producers will fall under the same rule; 120 days of pasture and at least 30 percent of the animals’ diets have to come from pasture during the grazing season. The new rules go into effect in June and producers will be allowed one year to comply.
The USDA Deputy Secretary, Kathleen Merrigan, said; “This is an industry that’s come to Capitol Hill and wants tough, strict regulations, because they know that’s what consumers want. They want clear, consistent, tough enforceable rules.”
More on this @ NYTimes.com.
About time!
Posted by: Lisa @ Retro Housewife Goes Green | February 22, 2010 at 09:16 PM