As we embark on 2012, we wanted to highlight a few issues and trends that we feel impact the natural, organic and sustainable foods industry. We hope this presents some resources and food for thought as we face new challenges in growing the market for healthy, sustainable food.

• Consumer Health Concerns Drive 10% Natural and Organic Products Growth
• GMOs: Biotech Gains Ground; Consumers and Organic Industry Fight Back
• Another Price of GMOs? Organic Dairy Feed Shortages and Higher Organic Milk Prices
• Climate Change Is Affecting Agriculture; Rodale Shows Organic Farming More Resilient
• Feeding The World’s 7 Billion; Surprise Fact: More People Are Overweight than Hungry
• Equal Access: Improving the Availability of Healthy Food
• Fukushima Update: Cesium in Organic Milk, Contaminated Seafood on Horizon

Consumer Health Concerns Drive 10% Natural and Organic Products Growth

With the overall economy showing signs of recovery, Boston-based investment banking firm Canaccord Genuity is bullish on the natural and organic products industry, which, says analyst Scott Van Winkle, is currently growing in the 10% range due to strong consumer demand for quality, health and nutrition, compared to 1% growth in overall food sales. More than three-quarters of US families purchase some organic foods, according to a November 2011 Organic Trade Association (OTA) survey. Those surveyed revealed that their strongest motivator is the belief that organic products are “healthier for me and my children,” followed by concerns over the effects of pesticides, hormones, antibiotics and GMOs, and the desire to avoid highly processed or artificial ingredients. “In a time when the severity of the economy means making tough choices, it is extremely encouraging to see consumers vote with their values by including quality organic products in their shopping carts,” said OTA Executive Director Christine Bushway. While baby boomers have been early adopters of organic, younger Gen X and Gen Y consumers are emerging as supporters of organic and sustainable products, with Gen Y showing the highest usage of organic products and natural personal care; they just don’t have the same buying power yet as boomers, says research firm Natural Marketing Institute. However, it’s still tough out there for independent natural products retailers and manufacturers, as competition is intense for the healthy consumer’s dollar.

Canaccord Genuity’s Healthy Living Index of more than 40 publicly traded natural, organic and healthy lifestyles companies continues to outperform the S&P 500, with companies including UNFI, Whole Foods Market and Hain Celestial Group seen as darlings of Wall Street. “Strong growth is apparent across all channels of distribution,” says Van Winkle. According to OTA, sales of organic products totaled $29 billion in 2010, up 8% from 2009. Organic companies are creating jobs at three times the rate of businesses overall and supporting 14,540 organic farms and ranches in all 50 states, totaling 4.1 million acres of land currently in organic management, says OTA. Categories of organic products charting significant growth include fruits and vegetables (12% of all fruits and vegetables now sold in the US are organic), dairy, beverages, packaged foods, supplements, clothing and fiber, personal care products and pet foods. Meanwhile, total sales of natural and organic products by all retailers, including natural and mass merchandisers, grew 7.3% in 2010 to more than $65 billion, says industry communications leader New Hope Natural Media, with similar growth projected for the foreseeable future, as long as the economy continues to recover. Add to that the fact that sales of Non-GMO Verified products grew to $1 billion in 2011, and the health-conscious consumer is driving the market with the motto, “It’s the organic apple a day that keeps the doctor away!”

Back to Top

GMOs: Biotech Gains Ground; Consumers and Organic Industry Fight Back

GMO agriculture continues to present the greatest threat to organic and sustainable food production. Here in Boulder, CO, a center of organic products business, despite three years of contentious public hearings, a survey showing that 71% percent of Boulder County residents are against GMOs, and a growing body of research demonstrating the health and environmental risks associated with the widespread adoption of GMO agriculture, the Boulder County Commissioners voted unanimously in December to allow the cultivation of GMO sugar beets on taxpayer-owned Open Space land. The publicly owned land is leased to a handful of conventional farmers who claim they cannot compete unless they use GMO seed and Roundup herbicide. GMO farming continues to dominate more than 90% of major commodity crops, including corn, soy, cotton, canola and sugar beets. This past year GMO alfalfa was approved for market and Monsanto introduced GMO sweet corn to supermarkets’ produce sections. Both are prolific pollinators that will increase the risk of genetic drift and contamination of organic and native crops. Genetically engineered salmon designed to grow faster than native species narrowly missed FDA approval in 2011—but is still on the docket to be the first genetically engineered animal product to be approved for market. Should such a fish escape into the wild, a likely occurrence, native species could be seriously threatened. Meanwhile, scientists at the China Agricultural University are developing genetically engineered cows to produce milk that contains the characteristics of human breast milk that they hope to bring to market in two years.

The organic industry has been labeled Luddites in its opposition to GMOs by conservative Boulder columnist Bob Greenlee, and was discredited profusely in the Boulder County hearings as being against farmers’ right to coexist. Yet proponents of GMO agriculture ignore science that shows GMO insecticide toxins ingested in the diet were present in the blood of 93% of pregnant women and 80% of fetuses tested; that glyphosate, the active ingredient in Roundup herbicide, is so prevalent in the environment that it is being detected in the air, rain and rivers during the entire growing season in the Midwest; that engineered genes may jump into the DNA of other species in the environment with unknown consequences; that Roundup-resistant superweeds are emerging as a result of GMO farming; that pesticide use has actually increased by nearly 400 million pounds since the introduction of GMOs in 1996; that GMO corn is losing its effectiveness against insect pests in four major crop-producing states; that Purdue University Professor Emeritus Don Huber is being discredited for identifying an unknown new disease infecting plants and animals that has a strong association with GMO agriculture.

Now consumers and organic leaders are fighting back. In September, a number of organizations, including OTA, Rodale Institute, Environmental Working Group and others, together with the Center for Food Safety, filed a legal petition calling on the FDA to label genetically engineered foods; more than 450 partner organizations have signed on to help spread the word, and individuals are encouraged to sign the petition. In October, thousands of people participated in the 300-mile Right2Know March from New York to Washington to demand mandatory labeling of foods containing GMO ingredients. In California, petitioners are actively gathering signatures for an April 2012 deadline to place the California Genetically Engineered Food Act calling for labeling of GMO foods on the 2012 California ballot. The Organic Consumers Association’s Millions Against Monsanto has been supporting the initiative. Non-GMO activists in Boulder County are regrouping to pursue a referendum, beginning with a “GMO Free Boulder” benefit concert featuring Ziggy Marley on January 21. “If you put a label on genetically engineered food you might as well put a skull and crossbones on it,” Norman Braksick, president of Asgrow Seed Co., a subsidiary of Monsanto, told the Kansas City Star in 1994, shortly before GMOs were first introduced to the marketplace. With 96% of consumers saying GMOs should be labeled, according to a 2011 MSNBC Health Poll, it’s a statement that stands true today.

Also, attention natural food manufacturers: a class action lawsuit filed in December against Frito Lay by a California law firm alleges that the company misleads consumers by making all-natural claims on its Tostitos and SunChips, which also contain GMO corn and vegetable oils, ingredients the claimant says are not natural. As many natural products contain GMO ingredients, the outcome of this case should be of interest to natural products businesses.

Back to Top

Another Price of GMOs? Organic Dairy Feed Shortages and Higher Organic Milk Prices

The increased production of GMO corn for conventional animal feed and biofuels, including corn ethanol, is costing organic consumers indirectly by creating a shortage of organic grain needed for feed for organic dairy operations. The cost of organic feed and hay has risen sharply in the past year as farmers find it more difficult to source non-GMO and organic grains, while the price farmers receive for their organic milk has not, says the December 29, 2011, New York Times. Yet, consumer sales of organic milk increased 15-17% from January through October 2011, according to USDA, while total conventional milk sales dropped 2%. Organic dairy farmers, many of whom have cut back on production because they can’t afford the feed, are demanding a 20% increase in the price they receive for their milk, creating out-of-stock situations in Publix stores throughout the Southeast, and retailers Wegmans and Target say they, too, have been affected by organic dairy shortages. The Times reported that organic dairy leader Organic Valley raised the price paid to farmers in August 2011, and was considering raising the price further this past December, alarmed that some organic dairy farmers were actually abandoning organic for conventional farming, where the cost of feed is significantly less and the price paid for conventional milk has risen. Meanwhile, the direct cost to organic consumers is going up: a half-gallon of organic milk that typically sells for $3.99 may now sell for $4.39, with some supermarket chains already raising their prices. Farmers are asking retailers to do their part by lowering their markup on organic milk so that higher prices do not drive consumers away. A couple of messages are garnered from this story: 1) Organic dairy farmers need to be paid more for their milk so they can make a sustainable living; 2) More and more acreage is being dedicated to GMO corn production for human and animal consumption and for the growing demand for ethanol, which is reducing organic land conversion, increasing GMO contamination risks, and raising the cost for organic feed and organic milk. Now with the deregulation of GMO alfalfa, which threatens organic alfalfa crops, organic dairy farmers are even more at risk.

Back to Top

Climate Change Is Affecting Agriculture; Rodale Shows Organic Farming More Resilient

First it was chocolate, and now peanut butter. In September, the International Center for Tropical Agriculture reported that rising temperatures and changing rainfall patterns associated with climate change will dramatically reduce land area suitable for cocoa production between 2030 and 2050, particularly in Ghana and the Ivory Coast in West Africa, where half the world’s cocoa is sourced, impacting the $9 billion cocoa industry. In October, the Wall Street Journal reported that record heat and drought in the southeastern US and Texas had decimated the peanut crop, raising prices 30-40% on supermarket shelves and leaving small organic peanut butter producers pinched for supplies. A 2011 crop-yield analysis by Stanford University revealed that warming temperatures have reduced wheat and maize harvests by 5.5% and 3.8%, respectively, from what they could have been during the past three decades.

While GMO agriculture continues to promote that it is the solution to climate change and world hunger, the fact is that conventional and GMO farming, with its intensive use of water, fossil fuels and chemicals, is responsible for 20% of all greenhouse gas emissions – more than any other sector of the economy. Meanwhile, in 2011, the venerable Rodale Institute released the results of its 30-year field trials, America’s longest-running comparison of organic and conventional farming practices. Its primary conclusions: 1) organic yields match conventional yields; 2) organic outperforms conventional in years of drought; 3) organic farming builds rather than depletes soil organic matter, making it a more sustainable system; 4) organic farming uses 45% less energy and is more efficient; 5) conventional systems produce 40% more greenhouse gases compared to organic farming practices. “As we face uncertain and extreme weather patterns, growing scarcity and expense of oil, lack of water, and a growing population, we will require farming systems that can adapt, withstand or even mitigate these problems while producing healthy, nourishing food. After 30 years of side-by-side research…Rodale Institute has demonstrated that organic farming is better equipped to feed us now and well into the ever changing future,” said the authors of the report.

Back to Top

Feeding The World’s 7 Billion; Surprise Fact: More People Are Overweight than Hungry

The world’s population reached 7 billion this year. Of that total, nearly 1 billion people suffer from chronic hunger. As has been true for a long time, much of the problem is rooted in political unrest, armed conflict and civil war vs. the ability to produce food or engage in trade. Rising prices and climate change exacerbate the issue. Proponents of industrial and GMO agriculture persist in dismissing organic as an option to feed the world, spreading misinformation that there isn’t enough land, even as scientific studies conclude that not only can organic feed the world, but that it may the most viable option of doing so. Research from the University of Michigan and the United Nations shows that in developing countries, where risk of famine is greatest, organic methods could double or triple crop yields. “Organic agriculture can be more conducive to food security in Africa than most conventional production systems, and it is more likely to be sustainable in the long term. Furthermore, evidence shows that organic agriculture can build up natural resources, strengthen communities and improve human capacity, thus improving food security by addressing many different causal factors simultaneously,” said the UN.

Meanwhile, here’s an astonishing fact: there are more overweight and obese people on the planet than hungry people. An estimated 1.46 billion adults worldwide are overweight, with 502 million of them considered obese, according to a 2011 World Health Organization report. Ironically, according to the Red Cross, excess nutrition leading to obesity is killing more people today than hunger. “If the free interplay of market forces has produced an outcome where 15% of humanity are hungry while 20% are overweight, something has gone wrong somewhere,” said Red Cross Secretary General Bekele Geleta. The obesity epidemic is not just affecting wealthy nations; it is sweeping into low and middle-income countries, says WHO, creating a dual problem of unhealthy weight gain in some segments of a country’s population, and malnutrition in others. While nearly all countries are seeing rates rise, the severity of the problem varies greatly from country to country. In Japan, about one in every 20 adult women is obese, compared to one in four in Jordan, one in three in the United States and Mexico, and up to seven in 10 in Tonga. The across-the-board rise in obesity appears to be driven by changes in the global food system and the increased availability of processed foods, along with more sedentary lifestyles, say the authors. Adding more weight to the subject, researchers from Oxford and Columbia Universities forecast in The Lancet in August 2011 that nearly half of the US and UK populations will be obese by 2030, with a resulting increase in incidence of diabetes, heart disease, stroke and cancer. The combined medical costs associated with treatment of these preventable diseases are estimated to increase by approximately $50 – $60 billion per year in the US and by approximately £2 billion per year in the UK by 2030. Hence, effective policies to promote healthier weight also have economic benefits, the researchers conclude. Healthy food marketers that can help provide solutions to obesity will benefit as society realizes that an ounce of prevention is worth a pound of cure.

Back to Top

Equal Access: Improving the Availability of Healthy Food

Three primary obstacles remain to making healthy, natural and organic food more accessible. One is that the price of highly processed, cheaply produced food is just that—cheap, and organic products seem expensive in comparison. Market research firm the Hartman Group found that when consumers were asked why they didn’t buy more organic products, the reason most often cited (71% of the time) was that organic was too expensive. However, if you account for all the government subsidies enjoyed by industrial agriculture—more than $25 billion annually—and the hundreds of billions of dollars in external costs born by the public in terms of preventable, lifestyle-related diseases, including cancer, obesity and diabetes, plus damage to the environment often caused by chemical-intensive agriculture, then organically produced food, with its higher nutritional density and environmental benefits, is certainly the better value all around.

A second obstacle is that many people don’t have access to organic—especially those in inner city or rural areas. The USDA estimates that currently 30 million people in the United States live in “food deserts,” areas where healthy food is difficult to obtain, or “food swamps,” urban areas with no access to fresh foods but flooded with unhealthy fast food instead, according to the May/June 2011 Organic Processing. Progress is being made, with the advent of farmers markets, CSAs and urban agriculture programs. In an event produced by Compass Natural in September 2011 with Best Organics Inc. and held in partnership with the University of Colorado Deming Center for Entrepreneurship at the Leeds School of Business, Whole Foods Market Chair John Elstrott announced the retailer’s plans to reach new customers in historically low-income areas with new stores slated in neighborhoods of inner-city Detroit and New Orleans. “We believe all people want to eat healthy,” Elstrott said. “We want to experiment with the inner-city demographic.”

The third obstacle is that most children who eat school lunches are given no access to organic during a time when toxins in food can affect their development the most. First lady Michelle Obama’s Let’s Move! Campaign, which led to the president signing the Healthy Hunger-Free Kids Act of 2010—includes a $10-million Organic Pilot Program to help provide organic food choices in school nutrition programs. Also, many organic companies, including Nature’s Path, Veritable Vegetable, Organic Valley and others have been working to get organic food choices into schools. In higher education, a growing number of colleges are increasing healthy organic offerings and incorporating sustainability in their dining halls, including Cornell University, University of Colorado, and University of California at Berkeley.

Back to Top

Fukushima Update: Cesium in Organic Milk, Contaminated Seafood on Horizon

If you think that Fukushima hasn’t affected our food, think again. From rice and tea to beef and baby formula, radiation released from the March 2011 nuclear power plant disaster in Fukushima has contaminated a significant amount of Japan’s food, presenting an alarming health risk to its population. The nuclear explosions and subsequent meltdowns in three heavily damaged reactors, caused by an earthquake and tsunami, have released 70 tons of highly toxic nuclear material into the environment, according to nuclear power expert Arnie Gundersen of Fairewinds Associates, one of the world’s foremost authorities on the Fukushima event.

By May 2011, the enormous cloud of radioactive fallout created by the accident ended up not only in Japan, but also throughout North America, from Seattle to Boston, all the way to Europe, transported swiftly around the globe in the Jetstream. Most but not all of the fallout was deposited on the ground in the Cascades and the Rocky Mountains. Soon after, milk, drinking water and topsoil from Hawaii to Vermont began testing positive for radiation, including radioactive iodine and cesium, caused by the Fukushima disaster. By summer, a number of fruits, vegetables, mushrooms and other products grown or harvested in California—a major food producing region in the US—tested positive for radiation caused by Fukushima’s fallout.

At the end of September, more than six months after the Fukushima event, store-bought milk samples from an organic dairy producer in the San Francisco Bay Area with a Best Buy date of Oct. 10, 2011, tested positive for radioactive cesium 134 and cesium 137, according to the UC Berkeley Department of Nuclear Engineering, which has detected radiation in organic milk since testing began in mid-April. Also, tests found radioactive cesium 137 in topsoil in downtown Oakland and in the foothills of the Sierra Nevadas, suggesting widespread contamination. In November, UC Berkeley announced it was no longer testing soil or locally produced milk or vegetables, as its facilities were undergoing remodeling; however, the department stated that milk sampling would resume when the work is finished. In a report presented in late October by the Worcester Polytechnic Institute’s Department of Civil & Environmental Engineering in Worcester, MA, researchers claim that US topsoil may actually contain levels of radioactive cesium more than 100 times higher than previously reported by UC Berkeley, suggesting a far greater impact on public health, farm production and fishing, particularly in the Pacific Northwest. Currently there is no monitoring being done by government agencies.

The good news is that airborne fallout has mostly abated since the initial explosions last March, yet in the Pacific Ocean, a vast floating debris field from the earthquake and tsunami containing potentially radioactive material is soon expected to wash up on shores of the Pacific Northwest, threatening the environment and coastal residents. Pacific seafood is also at risk, as more than 460 trillion bequerels of radioactive strontium, plutonium and other isotopes have leaked into the ocean from the stricken Japanese reactors. The incident is being called one of the world’s most severe marine pollution disasters in history. “There’s a witches brew of chemicals leaking into the ocean…that eventually works its way up to the salmon and tuna and mackerel at the top of the food chain,” said Arnie Gundersen in a Dec. 26, 2011, radio interview with environmental health expert Helen Caldicott, MD. “It will be next year before we start to see the highly contaminated [seafood]. I’m eating as much salmon as I can this year because I’m a little bit concerned about what will happen next year,” he said. According to Greenpeace, governments and retailers are not adequately protecting the public from radioactive contaminated Pacific seafood, still sold unlabeled in Japan and international markets, including to the US, due to an alleged pact between the US and Japan.

Critical of the lack of testing of seafood by EPA, Gundersen said, “In our ports in the US, we have monitors that look for nuclear weapons; it’s likely that in a year from now, a truckload of tuna may fire off a radiation alarm because it’s loaded with cesium. At that point, hopefully, there will be a whistleblower at the dock to alert the authorities,” because, he says, the objective of the US, Japanese and other governments throughout the world has been to minimize the consequences of the disaster. “There’s way too much money on the line,” Gundersen concludes.

A lot of lives are at stake, too, starting with the young—infant mortality in the US has risen more than 10% since the Fukushima accident, say the authors of a new study published Dec. 19, 2011, in the International Journal of Health Sciences. The study links an estimated 14,000 excess deaths in the US alone, and potentially thousands more, to radioactive fallout from the Fukushima accident. The rise in reported deaths was highest among US infants under age one. “Deaths are seen across all ages, but we continue to find that infants are hardest hit because their tissues are rapidly multiplying, they have undeveloped immune systems, and the doses of radioisotopes are proportionally greater than for adults,” the authors said.

In disturbing news reported by Reuters on December 28, scientists in Alaska are now investigating whether local seals are being sickened by radiation from Fukushima, as scores of ring seals have washed up on Alaska’s Arctic coastline since July, suffering or killed by a mysterious disease that is causing extensive lesions and patchy hair loss in the animals’ fur.

So, what can one do to protect oneself and family, as the costs of the Fukushima accident, estimated at $257 billion, continue to escalate? Eat Icelandic butter, North Atlantic salmon and vegetables grown in the Southern Hemisphere? How about advocating for greater safety regulations and monitoring of aging nuclear reactors in the US, particularly those situated in major earthquake and tsunami zones, and also trying to slow the ambitions of the likes of Sen. Lamar Alexander, R-Tenn., who wants to build 100 new nuclear plants in the US in the next 20-30 years? Because it can happen here, and our food system, economy and population centers are not prepared for the consequences. Nuclear energy is clean, until it isn’t, and we need to invest in alternatives. Get informed; stay active; make a difference: www.enenews.com; Greenpeace.

Steven Hoffman writes on issues in sustainable food and agriculture. He is Managing Partner of Compass Natural LLC, a full service marketing, communications and public relations agency serving natural, organic and sustainable businesses. He also is Co-owner of Best Organics Inc., a leading online retail provider of premium artisan organic gift basket collections. He is Cofounder of the annual LOHAS Forum green business conference, former Director of The Organic Center, dedicated to scientific research and education about organic food and farming, and former Editorial Director of the Natural Foods Merchandiser, a leading industry publication. Hoffman also served as Program Director for Natural Products Expo, the world’s largest natural and organic products trade expositions, and as Marketing Director for pioneering organic foods manufacturer Arrowhead Mills. As a Peace Corps Volunteer, Hoffman specialized in food, agriculture and education in Central America. He is a former director of the Philadelphia Urban Gardening Program, and holds a M.S. in Agriculture from Penn State University. Visit www.compassnatural.com.

Copyright 2012, Compass Natural LLC, Boulder, CO. www.compassnatural.com. All rights reserved.

Back to Top

The first ever Eco Music Festival was held July 2. Compass Natural was hired to organize the first Eco Exhibition featuring natural, organic and green companies.

SNOWMASS, Colorado (July 6, 2011) – The first-ever Eco Music Festival – EMU, held July 4th Weekend in Snowmass/Aspen, Colorado, was very well received by festival-goers from Colorado and throughout the country. The event bridged sustainability with outdoor adventure, eco-exhibitors, and world-class musical acts, including Leftover Salmon, the New Mastersounds and the Disco Biscuits.

Compass Natural was engaged by EMU to help organize, market, sell and manage this year’s Eco Expo, featuring local, regional and national natural, organic and sustainable products companies. Exhibitors included Grant Family Farms, a renowned Colorado organic farm near Fort Collins that boasts the largest CSA (Community Supported Agriculture) program in the country; Slow Color, a Denver-based provider of naturally dyed linen scarves from India; Bottlehood, a Boulder-based company that repurposes glass bottles into vases, cocktail glasses, lamps, jewelry and more; Eco-Products, provider compostable disposable plates, glasses, utensils, napkins, etc.; energy bar maker Clif Bar; Honest Tea; Silver Peak Apothecary of Aspen; the Way of Nature Wilderness Retreats; and others.

Best Organics, a leading organic gift basket company owned in part by Compass Natural’s principals Steven Hoffman and Seleyn DeYarus, also displayed its Colorado’s Best Organics gift box collections at EMU, as well as products from local artisan organic producers from throughout the state.

Best Organics displayed its artisan organic gift collections at EMU.

Adding to the festival atmosphere, exhibitors brought product samples, games, button makers, fun photo booths and more. Larger than life puppets, and lighted hoola hoop dancers regaled the crowd as the bands brought excellent music to the occasion. Leftover Salmon, a popular band originating from Colorado, energized the afternoon with its blend of rock and bluegrass; and the Disco Biscuits lighted up the night with their extended, groove-infused musical journeys.

Other musical acts including Tea Leaf Green and RJD2 kept the crowd dancing throughout the day on Saturday, July 2, the day the main acts took the stage. A welcoming concert on Thursday, June 30, featured funk-jazz combo the New Mastersounds from Leeds, England. On Friday, a Suset Social featured bands from throughout the country, and a pool party at the Viceroy Hotel capped the festival on Sunday.

The goal of EMU was to reduce the footprint of an outdoor music festival to as zero waste as possible. Efforts to reduce its carbon footprint included working with the nonprofit Trees Water People to plant trees for every ticket sold; all compostable disposable products provided by Eco-Products; recycling and composting stations; and exhibitor tents made from renewable bamboo, repurposed beetle-kill pine, and army surplus parachutes.

Leftover Salmon was among the featured acts at EMU, the Eco Music Festival. Lead singer Vince Herman is picture above. Photo: Steven Hoffman

With a mission to combine sustainability, music and outdoor adventure, EMU, the Eco Music Festival’s goal is to be an annual event that helps educate festivalgoers about being more conscious in their daily lives–and helps bring sustainability to the outdoor concert business. For more information, visit www.emufestival.com.

For more information about Best Organics and its artisan organic gift collections, or to purchase gifts, visit www.bouldersbestorganics.com, info@bouldersbestorganics.com. For more information about or to contact Compass Natural, visit www.compassnatural.com, info@compassnatural.com.

Tiffany Tompkins of Best Organics, and Rachel Cohen of Bottlehood display products at the Eco Expo at EMU.

EMU organizers get "On the bus!"

As the crippled reactors in Japan continue to emit radiation into the environment, the risk grows that it will appear in our food. Radiation has already been detected in trace amounts in milk across the U.S., and in strawberries, kale and other vegetables in California.

“The Swiss government Wednesday decided to exit nuclear energy, phasing out the country’s existing nuclear plants and seeking alternative energy sources to meet Switzerland’s energy needs, following widespread security concerns in the wake of the Fukushima nuclear disaster in Japan.”  – Dow Jones, May 25, 2011

“We believe we can show those countries who decide to abandon nuclear power—or not start using it—how it is possible to achieve growth, creating jobs and economic prosperity while shifting the energy supply toward renewable energies.”  – Chancellor Angela Merkel when announcing on May 30 that Germany would abandon nuclear power by 2022.

Boulder, Colo. (June 1, 2011) – Nuclear energy is clean…until it isn’t.

The emerging reality of the ongoing nuclear reactor crisis in Fukushima, Japan—now in its third month after a devastating earthquake and tsunami caused nuclear explosions at the plant 150 miles north of Tokyo—is that it is not under control at all. Three of the six reactors are in meltdown. The crippled reactors are acting like a huge dirty bomb, emitting significant quantities of radioactive isotopes that are, in fact, contaminating our air, water, soil and food in a steady stream that may continue for a long time.

And it’s not just affecting Japan, though they’re certainly getting the worst of it. Since the accident on March 12, radioactive fallout from Fukushima has been spreading to the U.S. and across the northern hemisphere. Elevated levels of radiation caused by the meltdowns in Japan have been detected in drinking water across the country, in rainwater, in soil, and in food grown on U.S. farms.

The mainstream media is not really reporting on this. Since the initial weeks of the accident, there has been a disturbing silence. Tokyo Electric Power Company (TEPCO), the utility that owns and operates the reactors, and the government of Japan have handled public relations around this monumental disaster about as well as BP handled the Gulf oil spill last summer, and they are losing credibility fast. The radiation has leaked much faster than TEPCO’s disclosure of information related to the crisis; it’s only now that we know that three of the six reactors at the plant are in full meltdown. One of the meltdowns occurred within hours of the accident on March 12, but was not revealed until May 15, more than two months later.

Crisis, What Crisis?
In announcing the news, TEPCO admitted that it did not want the public to know the extent of the accident early on to avoid panic. They continue to downplay the time it will take to get the reactors under control and the threat this unprecedented crisis presents to our food, health and environment. While TEPCO has given a time estimate of six to nine months to control the reactors, on May 29 a senior TEPCO official admitted that it may be impossible to stabilize the crippled plant by the beginning of 2012. One U.S. official, John Kelly, deputy assistant secretary for nuclear reactor technologies at the U.S. Energy Department, told the Nuclear Regulatory Commission in late May that the Fukushima reactors are still in grave danger and may continue to vent radioactive steam for a year or more, according to the Washington Post.

With the reactors in meltdown, TEPCO employees are racing to avoid a potential “China Syndrome” as superhot nuclear fuel melts down through holes burned into the steel and concrete containment vessels into the earth, thus liberating it into the environment.

Additionally, highly toxic radioactive iodine, cesium, strontium, plutonium and other toxic man-made radionuclides have leaked unabated since March 12 into the ocean and atmosphere. The radiation is contaminating large areas of Japan. Monitoring the ocean around the Fukushima plant, Greenpeace reported on May 26 that the contamination is spreading over a wide area and accumulating in sea life, rather than simply dispersing like the Japanese authorities claimed would happen.

Also, radiation continues to blow in a steady stream across the Pacific Ocean toward North America, following the course of the jet stream in the atmosphere, and major currents in the ocean that flow from Japan to America. It took less than a month for radioactive iodine and cesium from the Fukushima nuclear accident to first show up in U.S. milk, and it continues to be detected in trace amounts in milk produced in California, one of the only states conducting any kind of testing for radiation in food.

Independent Tests Indicate Radiation Is Entering the U.S. Food Chain
Authorities in the U.S. insist that there is no danger to public health or the environment from the Fukushima nuclear crisis, and that levels of radiation that have been detected in water, air, soil and food in North America since the accident are in such minuscule quantities as to present little to no danger. EPA discontinued its Fukushima radiation monitoring efforts, and FDA says there is no danger to our food or seafood and therefore testing is not necessary. There have been no calls since the accident for heightened nuclear safety inspections or to upgrade or decommission aging nuclear power plants in the U.S.

Yet, in limited testing conducted by states and independent labs since the accident, radioactive iodine and cesium—both toxic to human health—have appeared at elevated levels in milk and vegetables produced in California. Radiation has also been detected in milk sold in Arizona, Arkansas, Hawaii, Vermont and Washington since the accident.

Elevated levels of radioactivity have also been detected in drinking water in numerous municipalities from Los Angeles to Philadelphia, and in soil samples tested in California. Fallout is blanketing America and will do so for a prolonged period of time until they can somehow stop the crippled reactors from leaking any more radiation into the environment—a formidable task.

On May 25, the University of California Berkeley Department of Nuclear Engineering (UCB)—one of the few organizations testing food, soil, air and water in the U.S.—reported that it had detected the highest level of radioactive cesium 137 in nearly a month in raw milk samples taken from a dairy in Sonoma County where the cows are grass fed. UCB also reported elevated levels of cesium 134 and cesium 137 in pasteurized, homogenized milk samples with a “best by” date of May 26 from a Bay Area organic dairy “where the farmers are encouraged to feed their cows local grass.”

Iodine 131 in California Milk Suggests New Fallout Continues
The State of California reported on May 2 that it detected higher levels of radioactive iodine 131 in milk samples tested at CalPoly Dairy Farm in San Luis Obispo compared to milk tested at the end of March. Additionally, the new milk samples contained trace amounts of radioactive cesium 134 and cesium 137, which were not seen in the March samples. The presence of iodine 131, with a short half-life of eight days, in the new milk samples indicates that even now, nuclear reactions are occurring at the crippled Japanese plant, bringing fresh fallout on a daily basis to Asia, North America and around the northern hemisphere.

The UCB nuclear engineering department emphasizes that levels of radiation measured in food samples grown in the U.S. are very low, and that there is little threat to public health from the fallout reaching the U.S. Yet they continue to find radioactivity at heightened levels due to the Fukushima meltdown in food grown in northern California—their chosen area of testing near the university. Little to no testing is being done in the rest of the country.

Dairy farmers on the Big Island of Hawaii, on the other hand, are taking a preventive approach to some of the highest levels of radiation detected in the U.S., and are now feeding boron in the form of sodium borate to their cows and goats at milking times along with kelp supplements as a way to help reduce elevated levels of radiation in milk. The dairy farmers are also considering applying boron to their pastures to mitigate radiation levels in the grass, reported Energy News on May 25. Boron is reported to act as a natural radiation absorber, and kelp may help prevent radioactive iodine from accumulating in the body.

Radiation Concentrates in Milk and Broad-leaf Vegetables
Radiation concentrates in milk because cows eat grass, and grass and broad-leafed vegetables such as spinach and kale are among the first crops to accumulate radiation from nuclear fallout when it comes down in rain and dust and settles on the leaves and surrounding soil.

Organically raised cows are more vulnerable, as they are required to eat grass as part of organic certification standards, reports NewHope360.com, an industry news source. However, organic proponents ensure consumers that any levels of radiation are minute and present no risk, and that the benefits of consuming organic milk far outweigh any such risks.

In Japan, spinach grown in the region around Fukushima was banned soon after the accident. Two months later, in mid-May, radiation above maximum allowable limits was detected in tea leaves harvested from farms south of Tokyo—farms that are 200 miles from the crippled reactors, indicating that Japan’s radiation contamination problem is far from over. Radiation has also been detected in potatoes and sweet potatoes in Japan. In fact, according to a report published on May 29 by the Japan Agriculture Ministry, potatoes may be more susceptible to radiation contamination than other vegetables. Sadly, radiation also has been detected in breast milk from several women in the Tokyo area, raising significant health risks for pregnant women, new mothers and children.

In the U.S., certain fruit and vegetables grown in California are testing positive for elevated levels of radiation from the Fukushima nuclear accident. On May 16, UCB reported detectable levels of radioactive cesium 137 in samples of kale, strawberries and grass grown in northern California. UCB has also found higher than normal levels of cesium 134 and cesium 137 in foods grown in the Bay Area, including spinach, arugula and wild-harvested mushrooms.

Eating Radiation Isn’t the Same as Flying in a Plane
The danger, of course, is that ingesting or inhaling long-lived, man-made radioactive particles over a long period of time in our water, dust, soil and food is very different than being exposed to electromagnetic radiation from a television or cosmic radiation from a plane ride. Once it gets in the body, lodging in bones, glands and other organs, it can damage DNA and cells for a long time, significantly raising the cumulative risk of cancer. Radioactive cesium 137 alone has a half-life of 30 years, where it can remain in the body emanating radiation the whole time. The risks are particularly high for pregnant women, infants and children.

Many scientists, including those at Physicians for Social Responsibility (PSR), claim that no level of man-made toxic radiation in the air, water or food is safe. “There is no safe level of radionuclide exposure, whether from food, water or other sources. Period,” said Jeff Patterson, DO, immediate past president of PSR, in late March. “Exposure to radionuclides, such as iodine 131 and cesium 137, increases the incidence of cancer. For this reason, every effort must be taken to minimize the radionuclide content in food and water,” he said.

“Consuming food containing radionuclides is particularly dangerous. If an individual ingests or inhales a radioactive particle, it continues to irradiate the body as long as it remains radioactive and stays in the body,” said Alan Lockwood, MD, board member of PSR. “Children are much more susceptible to the effects of radiation and stand a much greater chance of developing cancer than adults,” said Andrew Kanter, MD, president-elect of PSR’s board. “So it is particularly dangerous when they consume radioactive food or water.”

Europe Issues Caution on Certain Foods: Risks “No Longer Negligible”
In France, the respected radiological research institute CRIIRAD in mid-April cautioned pregnant and breastfeeding women and children in Europe to avoid eating certain foods due to the spread of radiation from Fukushima, including milk and creamy cheese, and spinach and other broad leaf vegetables, due to the potential health risks associated with ingesting radioactive particles that may accumulate in these foods. In making the announcement, CRIIRAD said the risks related to prolonged contamination among vulnerable groups of the population can no longer be considered “negligible” and it is now necessary to avoid “risky behavior.” CRIIRAD also estimated that the West Coast of the U.S. is being subjected to eight to 10 times higher levels of radiation than Europe from the nuclear meltdown in Japan.

Chris Busby, Ph.D., Scientific Secretary of the European Committee on Radiation Risk, who published a “Don’t Panic” guide in early April saying that the danger was insignificant, later changed his opinion. In an April 24 statement to Washington’s Blog, Busby said, “…since then I have re-thought this advice as the thing is still fissioning and releasing 10 to the fourteen Becquerels a day. This will mean that strontium 90 and uranium and particulates will be building up in the USA and Europe. I will assess this later but for now I think it prudent to stop drinking milk.”

This is not something the dairy industry—conventional or organic—nor the produce industry, much of which is based in California, want to hear. One official at a major California-based organic produce company told me, “It made the hair stand up on the back of my neck when I first heard the news about radioactive spinach in Japan.”

What Can We Do About It?
While we may not be able to affect what’s going on at Fukushima, we could certainly try to prevent such an accident from happening again. We need to express our concern and speak out to the President, who supports nuclear power, and Congress and insist that aging reactors be inspected regularly, upgraded for safety, and decommissioned when necessary. Letter writing works when you’ve got lots of constituents doing it.

This global-scale crisis happened from just one nuclear power plant. There are 104 nuclear reactors in operation in the U.S., with a number of them located in major earthquake and tsunami zones in heavily populated areas along the West Coast of the United States. God forbid something should happen close to home; we are in no way prepared to handle an accident of this magnitude. Heck, we couldn’t even get help to the victims of Hurricane Katrina in a timely manner, let alone evacuate all of southern California, for example.

We also should insist on increased, not scaled-back, testing for radiation in our air, water, soil and food. It is unconscionable that our public institutions established to safeguard food, health and the environment have neglected this responsibility. Food producers, too, need timely access to this information from federal, state and regulatory agencies.

What to do about food? As I make my livelihood in the food industry, it is difficult for me to say that pregnant women, breastfeeding moms, infants and children might want to avoid certain foods such as milk and broad-leaf vegetables that may present a higher risk of radiation exposure, and to check the source of their drinking water.

However, as an advocate of public health and the environment, that’s what I think needs to be said. I would refer readers to CRIIRAD‘s recommendations to certain vulnerable segments of the European population. I believe our food, water, health and environment have been terribly compromised by this global nuclear catastrophe, and I also think that, after poor Japan, which may have to evacuate large portions of its sovereign land, the U.S. is directly downwind and downstream, so to speak, from the Fukushima disaster.

What our family is doing this summer is buying more locally grown food. We live in Colorado and I’m hoping the Rocky Mountains will take some of the stuff out of the air. But I am concerned for my friends on the West Coast and Hawaii. And frankly, the whole country, hemisphere and world will continue to be exposed to the fallout emitted from one nuclear power plant located thousands of miles away. And my prayers go to Japan. The world is truly a small place.

In my lifetime, there has been Three Mile Island, Chernobyl and now Fukushima, which is quickly surpassing Chernobyl as one of the world’s worst nuclear disasters…and those are just the ones they’ve told us about. Basically, we have experienced a major nuclear accident about once every 20 years. That is not good odds, given that there are hundreds of reactors around the world. This type of incident could happen anywhere, whether it be from natural disaster or human error. With Fukushima in full meltdown, it is a very good time to speak out that nuclear power is not safe, and the cost is way too high.

Get the Facts: News and Resources
All the facts I have included in this commentary have come from the following sources. These are excellent resources, backed with scientific credibility, to inform you about what’s really going on at Fukushima and its impact on our environment and health.

•    Energy News
One of the best, comprehensive sources of news and scientific information related to the Fukushima nuclear accident, with information on food, milk, soil and air.
•    Fairewinds Associates
An excellent and informative series of no-nonsense news videos featuring nuclear energy expert Arnold Gundersen reporting on the accident.
•    University of California Berkeley Department of Nuclear Engineering
Results from monitoring of Bay Area food, milk, air, water and soil.
•    Russia Today
Russia’s English-speaking news source, with coverage of the Fukushima disaster from a Russian perspective.
•    NHK World
International news service of NHK (Japan Broadcasting Corporation), with in-depth coverage in English.
•    Greenpeace
Pestering Japanese authorities like it chases whaling ships, Greenpeace published on May 26 that it detected radiation in marine life around the Fukushima plant at levels above the maximum safety limit.
•    Forbes.com
Columnist Jeff McMahon has been reporting extensively on the Fukushima accident.
•    Wall Street Journal/Dow Jones
- Wall Street Journal is subscription based, however, Ameritrade provides a headline and news brief feed from Dow Jones Newswire.
- WSJ’s Japan Real Time nuclear coverage.
•    New York Times
- Staff writer Matthew L. Wald has been covering the Fukushima crisis.
- Reporter Hiroki Tabuchi has also been covering the story.
- Writer Martin Fackler’s coverage of the Fukushima accident.
•    Bloomberg.com
Extensive coverage from the business and financial news source.
•    Compass Natural
Kelp and the Fallout Zone: Foods that help protect against radiation.

Steven Hoffman writes on issues in sustainable food and agriculture. He is Managing Partner of Compass Natural LLC, a full service marketing, communications and public relations agency serving natural, organic and sustainable businesses. He also is Co-owner of Best Organics, a leading provider of premium artisan organic gift box collections. He is Cofounder of the annual LOHAS Forum green business conference, former Director of The Organic Center, a leading scientific research organization, and former Editorial Director of the Natural Foods Merchandiser, a well-respected industry publication. Hoffman also served as Program Director for Natural Products Expo, the world’s largest natural and organic products trade expositions. As a Peace Corps Volunteer, Hoffman specialized in food and farming in Central America. He is a former director of the Philadelphia Urban Gardening Program, and he holds a M.S. in Agriculture from Penn State University. Visit www.compassnatural.com, steve@compassnatural.com, tel 303.807.1042.

###

All of the kelp dietary supplements were sold out. This is a phenomenon that is occurring in natural foods stores throughout the Western USA. While government officials are saying risk of radiation exposure is low from the nuclear reactor catastrophe in Japan, US citizens aren’t buying it. Instead, they are buying foods, nutritional supplements and natural medicines to counter the effects of radiation, to the point where these products are out of stock in stores throughout the West.

At Natural Grocers in nearby Longmont, CO, they were also sold out of all kelp and much of their green foods supplements. I spoke with nutritionists in the store, and also with a fellow informed citizen who was shopping for supplements to help protect his teenage son from the risks of radiation fallout. They recommended kelp, chlorella, spirulina, green foods, selenium and lots of dark green leafy vegetables to help counter the effects of radioactive fallout. Convinced that green foods are good for us anyway, we purchased a high quality superfood powder just in case. Maybe a good idea as the news worsens by the hour.

Just to check, I called Whole Foods Market in the Bay Area, as California will be among the first to experience fallout from the jet stream. A team member there told me that yep, they’re sold out of all kelp supplements, too. Same phenomenon at Pharmaca locations and independent natural foods stores throughout the West, too, according to sources.

Additionally, I was told that Whole Foods will not carry any potassium iodide supplements in large “milligram” potencies. Since there is a great risk of iodine toxicity, these higher levels must be taken only under the supervision of a physician, Whole Foods says, and many experts agree. The natural grocery chain is exploring such supplements in safer “micro-milligram” potencies, as demand for these products has soared through the roof.

I also spoke with my friend, herbal medicine expert and noted author Brigitte Mars (www.brigittemars.com) to ask how people can protect themselves from radiation through food, nutrition and natural medicine. Excerpts from her recommended list, posted on her Facebook page and on her website, is as follows. Read the full article on Brigitte’s website.

•    Buckwheat and brown rice
•    Seaweeds rich in iodine and microminerals, such as Hiziki, found in macrobiotic or Asian food sections
•    Wheatgrass and barley grass
•    Sulfur rich vegetables including broccoli, cabbage and mustard greens
•    High-pectin foods including carrots, sunflower seeds and apples
•    Liver-cleansing foods such as artichokes, beets and radishes
•    Fermented foods such as miso and unpasteurized sauerkraut
•    Nutritional yeast
•    Garlic, burdock, dandelion, milk thistle seed, nettles, yellow dock
•    Echinacea
•    Green and black tea
•    Eleuthero
•    Vitamins A, beta-carotene, B complex and C; and zinc, calcium and magnesium

In a letter to subscribers, raw food specialist David Wolfe shared these sobering recommendations:

“How to protect yourself and your thyroid against radiation: kelp, ginseng, ashwaganda (recently found to regrow nerves), chlorella, zeolites, fulvic acid, nascent iodine, reishi mushroom, sea salt (also salty miso), botanical (plant-derived) or lipo-vitamin C, magnesium (chlorophyll), selenium (brazil nuts), coconut butter (coconut products), Megahydrate, Crystal Energy. Spread the word.

“Start small, but increase your dosages rapidly and dramatically if you live in Hawaii, Western Canada, and the Western USA. Start now. Fallout will descend upon North America sometime around March 22.

“If you live in Japan, start taking massive doses of these foods, superfoods, superherbs, and supplements immediately. These are all safe for children.

“Radioactive fallout lingers longest in medicinal mushrooms. If you live in North America, pick your mushrooms NOW. I wouldn’t recommend picking any medicinal mushrooms in the fallout zones (after the fallout begins) for several years, if not a decade depending on how bad the radiation is.

“If you live in North America, stock up on food NOW because fresh food may be contaminated for several months after the fallout comes down from the jet stream into the fallout zones.”

Regarding any of the recommendations above, I urge you to do your homework and consult a physician and complementary alternative medicine practitioner.

Another concern is how fallout from the crippled reactor in Japan might affect agriculture in the Western US, as so much of our fruits and vegetables come from California and the Northwest. Spring rains could well bring radioactive fallout to this year’s crop, and how will radiation in the soil affect future crops? I will be doing some more research in this regard for an upcoming post.

Between a massive oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico last year, and now the nuclear tragedy in Japan, the earth is being increasingly subjected to major environmental trauma. So are its people. As long as the costs of environmental destruction continue to be born by the citizens and not the corporations and governments that cause it, we have no level playing field.

So we are left to buying out all the kelp off the shelf of our local natural foods store to try to protect our families from the fallout of a legacy of greed and destruction.

Update: In the second deregulation of GMO crops in a week, on February 4, the USDA announced it will now allow farmers to begin planting “Roundup-Ready” GMO sugar beets in order to avoid a “shortage of U.S. sugar.” This decision, released to the media on a Friday at the end of the business day—a key tactical PR move when you don’t want media attention—is in defiance of a court order made by U.S. District Judge Jeffrey S. White banning the planting of GMO sugar beets until a study of their environmental impact can be done, according to reports in the New York Times and the Wall Street Journal.

Boulder, CO (February 7, 2011) – The USDA on January 27 announced it would allow the planting of genetically modified alfalfa without any restriction or labeling requirements.

Since then, the organic industry has been up in arms. Alfalfa is the nation’s fourth largest crop and a prodigious pollinator, and as such, it is all but guaranteed that organic alfalfa crops will become genetically contaminated, which could be particularly threatening to organic dairy producers who rely on alfalfa as feed for their cows.

Now, it is reported that the Obama administration itself appears to have used this issue as a trading card to further its own agenda, allowing GMO alfalfa to become completely deregulated, according to a commentary by New York Times columnist Maureen Dowd and a January 27 article in the Wall Street Journal.

Calling the proposal to regulate GMO alfalfa—originally promised by USDA secretary of agriculture Tom Vilsack—overly “burdensome” to business, the Obama administration, led by departing presidential advisor David Axelrod, “abandoned a proposal to restrict planting of genetically engineered alfalfa,” says the Wall Street Journal.

Say it ain’t so, Barack!

The organic industry, in my respectful opinion, should sue the USDA for putting an unreasonable burden on our own market—the only agricultural system in the United States requiring a paper trail from seed to shelf. Now, organic producers are at huge risk that their organic seed stock will become polluted by GMO alfalfa and other pollinating GMO crops, including GMO corn and sugar beets, significantly threatening their ability to produce certified organic product.

The organic industry may not know it is at war with the biotech seed industry, but the biotech industry definitely knows it is at war with organic. This time, through shrewd political lobbying with USDA and the White House, biotech agriculture has won a decisive victory in the continuing onslaught of genetically engineered foods, controlled by only a handful of multinational corporations.

In criticizing the USDA on loosening restrictions on GMO alfalfa, Sen. Patrick Leahy, author of the original Organic Foods Production Act, called it “a big payday for the giant firms that pushed for this rollback,” according to the Burlington Free Press.

Before we lose this battle completely, we must press all our government and business representatives all the way up to the president to push for required labeling of GMO ingredients, just like in Europe, Japan and elsewhere. Over there, GMOs are in hardly any grocery products because they must be indicated on the label—and when they are, nobody buys them.

Here in America, the pro-biotech lobby has been very successful in that there is no labeling requirement at all for GMO ingredients in foods. As a result, most consumers don’t even know that GMO ingredients are in 80% of conventional grocery products, and that virtually 90% of all the corn, soybeans, cotton and sugar beet crops in the U.S. are from GMO seed.

If consumers knew their foods were derived from genetically engineered ingredients, no one would buy them! That is how the biotech seed and herbicide companies have the advantage—and they’ve known that since GMOs were first introduced. “If you put a label on genetically engineered food you might as well put a skull and crossbones on it,” said Norman Braksick, president of Asgrow Seed Co., a subsidiary of Monsanto, in a 1994 article in the Kansas City Star. Even then, the biotech lobby knew how consumers would react. Their success is a direct result of violating the consumer’s right to know regarding labeling of what is in their food.

There is more than enough science to show that GMO foods are risky to human, animal and plant health and the environment. The use of toxic, synthetic herbicides has increased by nearly 400 million pounds due to GMO agriculture, and superweeds are already becoming resistant to Monsanto’s Roundup, the primary herbicide used in GMO agriculture. Because of that, GMO farmers are now being recommended to use even more toxic herbicides.

I urge you to read balanced perspectives on this issue, and then write to your congressperson, senators and also to the President to require the labeling of GMO ingredients in foods. The organic industry and organic consumers need to speak loudly on this issue.

Just remember, the same lobby that brought you GMO food had this to say:  “Monsanto should not have to vouchsafe the safety of biotech food. Our interest is in selling as much of it as possible. Assuring its safety is the FDA’s job,” said Phil Angell, Monsanto’s director of corporate communications, in a 1998 New York Times article.

And now, it’s only getting worse. Urge organic industry leaders that there is no compromise with GMOs in our food system. It will only backfire on the organic industry. Heck, where are organic dairy farmers going to get organic alfalfa in 10 years, maybe even only five? Let’s see what the cost of organic milk is then. That would be another victory for the biotech lobby – to continue to make organic foods out of reach of most folks’ budgets.

Don’t think that ain’t in their plan.

About Compass Natural – Your Guide to the Natural, Organic & LOHAS Market

Compass Natural LLC, established in 2002 and based in Boulder, CO, brings 30 years’ experience in natural and organic products sales, marketing, public relations, communications, research, event planning, and strategic industry guidance to businesses with interests in the $290 billion market for natural, organic, sustainable, and socially responsible products and services. Visit www.compassnatural.com or call 303.807.1042, info@compassnatural.com.

Article also featured in Elephant Journal: http://www.elephantjournal.com/2011/02/say-it-aint-so-mr-president-tell-me-you-didnt-cave-on-gmo-alfalfa/

© 2011. All rights reserved.

Resources:

Non-GMO Project: http://www.nongmoproject.org/2011/01/29/team-organic-will-never-surrender-to-monsanto-now-we-continue-the-fight-together/

Institute for Responsible Technology: http://www.responsibletechnology.org/news/1092

Chews Wise: http://www.chewswise.com/chews/2011/01/vilsack-gm-alfalfa.html

Grist: http://www.grist.org/article/2011-01-31-media-reports-white-house-pressure-stomped-on-vilsack-over-gmo-a

Whole Foods Market Blog: http://blog.wholefoodsmarket.com/2011/01/no-regulations-ge-alfalfa/#more-14431

Organic Consumers Association: http://www.organicconsumers.org/articles/article_22449.cfm

Maureen Dowd, New York Times: http://www.nytimes.com/2011/01/30/opinion/30dowd.html?ref=maureendowd

Wall Street Journal: http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424052748703399204576108601430251740.html?mod=wsj_share_twitter#printMode

New York Times, on GMO Sugar Beets: http://www.nytimes.com/2011/02/05/business/05beet.html?src=busln

Rodale: http://www.rodale.com/gmo-alfalfa

Burlington Free Press: http://www.burlingtonfreepress.com/article/20110128/NEWS03/110128011/Leahy-criticizes-USDA-ruling-on-genetically-modified-alfalfa

World-renowned organic food pioneer Thomas Harding, founding president of the Organic Trade Association, will speak to a Boulder business audience at “An Evening at the Epicenter,” a series of interactive talks featuring national leaders in sustainability on Thursday, January 27, 5:30-7:30 pm; produced by Boulder’s Best Organics and Compass Natural, and hosted by the Sterling Rice Group.

Boulder, CO, (January 12, 2011) – Organic food and agriculture pioneer Thomas Harding will speak on the future of sustainable food and agriculture to an invited audience of Boulder and Denver-area business, media, agriculture and community leaders. Harding, the founding President of the Organic Trade Association and advisor to leading organic producers, manufacturers, retailers, NGOs, and policymakers throughout the world, will speak on Thursday, Jan. 27, 5:30-7:30pm, at the offices of the Sterling Rice Group in downtown Boulder. A small reception will precede the discussion.

Organic pioneer Tom Hardiing will speak on Jan. 27 in Boulder as part of Boulder's Best Organics' "An Evening at the Epicenter."

Through his company Agrisystems International, based in Wind Gap, PA, Harding is an international specialist in sustainability, certified organic food and farming production systems, and in U.S. and international policy governing organic foods. He has served as advisor to leading local companies including Horizon Organic Dairy, Celestial Seasonings and Coleman Natural Products. Harding’s talk, entitled The Great Conversation: A Dialogue for our Common Future in Sustainable Food and Agriculture, will include an interactive discussion of the following topics:

• Global Trade in Organics
• GMOs in Agriculture
• Global Warming & Food Production
• Organic Agriculture Policy & Regulation
• Market Opportunities in Organics
• Integrating Sustainability into the Organic Industry
• Animal Welfare
• Local & Fair Trade

Harding is visiting Boulder as part of “An Evening at the Epicenter,” a series of interactive talks for entrepreneurs and business and community leaders in natural, organic, sustainable and socially responsible products and services—often referred to as the LOHAS market (Lifestyles of Health and Sustainability). Sales for products in the LOHAS market are estimated at nearly $300 billion per year.

“An Evening at the Epicenter” is produced by Boulder’s Best Organics, the area’s leading organic and eco-friendly gift and brand promotion company; and Compass Natural Marketing, a leader in LOHAS communications. Charter sponsor Sterling Rice Group, an internationally renowned, integrated brand development company based in Boulder, will host the event.

“We are honored to partner with the Sterling Rice Group and other leading companies in furthering the discussion of how to bring about a green economy and a more sustainable system of food and agriculture – one that contributes to the health of people, local economies, and the environment,” says Steven Hoffman, co-owner of Boulder’s Best Organics and Principal of Compass Natural Marketing. “The Epicenter series will bring nationally known leaders in organic and sustainable business to interact with leaders in our own community, thus helping to further a deeper understanding of these issues locally, and also to engage our region in a broader conversation.”

An “Evening at the Epicenter” is an invitation-only event. Space is limited. For more information or to request a media pass, contact Steven Hoffman, tel 303.807.1042, steve@compassnatural.com.

About Boulder’s Best Organics

Best Organics LLC, a majority woman-owned company, is a leading provider of hand-packed, organic and eco-friendly gift box collections featuring local artisan organic foods, personal care and other items from leading Boulder and Colorado producers. Its gift collections and products from brand partners including Bonterra Organic Vineyards, the nation’s leading seller of California wines made from organic grapes,* are available at www.bouldersbestorganics.com. Best Organics gift boxes are also available in Pharmaca Integrative Pharmacy Boulder locations. Best Organics is a member of Colorado Proud and Green America Business Network. Contact gifts@bouldersbestorganics.com or call 303.499.ORGANIC (6742).

About Compass Natural Marketing

Compass Natural Marketing, established by organic and LOHAS industry veteran Steven Hoffman and based in Boulder, CO, brings more than 25 years of experience in natural and organic products sales, marketing, public relations, communications, research, event planning, special project assignments and strategic industry guidance to businesses involved in the $290 billion market for natural, organic, sustainable, and socially responsible products. Visit www.compassnatural.com or call 303.807.1042.

About Sterling Rice Group

Sterling-Rice Group is a 27-year-old, Boulder-based brand strategy, innovation and communications firm. With its origins in natural and organic food in particular, and health and wellness overall, SRG is pleased to sponsor the Epicenter series featuring thought leaders in our space. We look forward to welcoming you to meet with Tom Harding. Visit www.srg.com, tel 303.381.6400.

* Source: Nielsen data, 52 weeks ending July 24, 2010.

###

Steven Hoffman, Compass Natural

1.  The Economy

Wall Street may be recording record profits, but the job market is lagging. As such, hard-pressed consumers will continue to look for value. Core healthy lifestyles shoppers will be more discerning in their budgets for organic, and low-income families are particularly strained in finding healthful food alternatives. With people looking to save money, coupon redemption is up 25% this past year, and coupon use in the natural sector reflects a similar growth trend. Also, redemption rates for Internet coupons, while still small, account for the fastest growing segment in the business. Private label product sales also increased from 15 percent of total food sales before the recession to 18% this past year, according to research firm Booz & Company, which also reports that the new frugality may be here to stay, as consumers continue to feel they are on shaky ground. The natural and organic companies that can communicate value as well as benefits will continue to grow in a tough market.

2.  Social Networking

Word of mouth travels fast in the social network, good or bad. Take an active role in making it good. Stay engaged on Facebook and Twitter and build your brand among friends and followers. Sustainable consumers tend to be early adopters on the web and build strong online communities. “Friend” and “follow” other like-minded Facebookers and Twitterers – they’ll help you spread the word – and stay connected professionally on networks such as Linked In. See what other companies are doing on their Facebook pages. Learn WordPress, a relatively easy, open source blog publishing program, or get someone on your team who knows how, and contribute regularly to your blog. Tie it all in with your website and traditional public relations and marketing campaigns. All these efforts can go far in getting your brand to show up higher in the Google searches. Try to keep up!

3.  Chemicals in the Environment

The cumulative effects of chemicals in our environment, food and packaging are impacting our public health. The average school age child is walking around with an estimated 10-13 pesticide residues in their bodies every day. However, when they switch to an all-organic diet, the residues literally disappear from their bodies, according to studies by Emory University and Harvard School of Public Health. Additionally, the President’s Cancer Panel in 2010 reported on “pre-polluted babies” born with as many as 300 man-made chemicals in their umbilical cords. Families are reacting: 41 % of parents report they are buying more organic foods today than a year ago, up significantly from 31% reporting organic purchases in 2009, according to a joint survey released this month by the Organic Trade Association and Kiwi Magazine. A growing body of research also points to links between pesticides and alarming rises in the rates of childhood autism, ADHD, diabetes and obesity. Additionally, synthetic nitrogen fertilizer runoff is primarily responsible for the Dead Zone in the Gulf of Mexico and elsewhere. GMO contamination threatens native plant species and promotes the emergence of superweeds. As a result, demand for sustainable food production that protects health and the environment will continue to grow, and consumers are willing to pay a premium for organic products, but only up to a point (see #1).

4.  Sustainable Packaging

Did you hear the latest research about fast food and deli paper wrap and microwave popcorn bags that leach cancer-causing chemicals into our food? These stories will continue to emerge, and packaging is facing challenges on two fronts: reducing package waste in landfills; and keeping chemicals from leaching into food. Many natural and organic products companies are leading the way toward more sustainable packaging, including BPA-free cans, and also innovating on reduced package content and recyclable and compostable packaging alternatives. Concerned over squeeze pack packaging, Justin’s Nut Butter, a small Boulder-based business, recently convened a sustainable squeeze pack summit, bringing competitors, industry leaders and packaging specialists together to explore ways to develop more sustainable packaging in consumer products. This is a great opportunity for the industry to work together and serve as a pacesetter for the food and consumer products industry at large.

5.  Organic Gardening and Urban Agriculture

As Michelle Obama leads the way with the White House organic garden, Victory Gardens are back, except they’re organic. And it’s helping people get in touch with their food, as well as giving them access to fresh, local produce. The organic sector of the lawn and garden (L&G) market has experienced significant growth over the last few years, and major garden centers are expanding the shelf for natural and organic L&G products. Market research firm Packaged Facts in January 2009 estimated that the organic L&G sector reached $460 million in retail sales in 2008, a gain of 12% over 2007. Farmers Markets and CSAs (Community Supported Agriculture) are growing fast, and small-scale urban farms are also on the rise, thanks to the efforts of organizations like Growing Power, linking inner city teens and communities with working urban food gardens utilizing vacant city lots. Many natural and organic products companies are already helping support similar causes.

6.  Organic and Climate Change

The global food system is estimated to account for one-third of the world’s total greenhouse gas emissions, says Anna Lappe, author of Diet for a Hot Planet. Yet, organic farming has the potential to help reduce agriculture’s impact on global warming. According to Dr. David Pimentel, author of Food, Energy and Society, organic agriculture has been shown to reduce energy inputs by 30%. Organic farming also conserves more water in the soil and reduces erosion. Healthy organic soils tie up more carbon in the soil, helping to reduce CO2 levels in the atmosphere. An October 2010 study in California’s Central Valley concluded that organic farming significantly reduced GHGs, while conventional agriculture increased GHGs in the atmosphere. Additionally, the National Sustainable Agriculture Coalition reported, “Sustainable and organic agricultural systems offer the most resilience for agricultural production in the face of the extreme precipitation, prolonged droughts and increasingly uncertain regional climate regimes expected with rapid global warming.”

7.  Slow Money

According to Woody Tasch, founder of Slow Money, a nonprofit formed to catalyze the flow of investment capital to small sustainable food companies and agriculture, the innate value of investing in sustainable food comes not only in the form of monetary return, but also in benefits to individuals and communities—“more organic farms, more organic food available locally, and a more robust local economy,” he writes in the Winter 2010 GreenMoneyJournal. In the fast-pitch world of Buy Low and Sell High, Slow Money is developing vehicles that enable small investors to invest in local sustainable food businesses. In two years, Slow Money has grown to 1,200 members and six regional chapters, and has facilitated the investment of more than $3 million into a number of local sustainable food businesses. In 2010, Slow Money established the Soil Trust to pool small donations into a philanthropic investment fund dedicated to small food companies and soil fertility, and is working with socially responsible investing companies to further open the playing field for everyday citizens who want to make sustainable food investments. See www.slowmoney.org.

8.  Animal Rights

The beauty without cruelty movement has been around for a while, helping to usher in a generation of body care products that have not been tested on animals. Now, we enter a new era of animal rights and consumer advocacy that is critical of the inhumane, intensive confinement conditions in which most animals bred for food find themselves. However, beginning on January 1, Whole Foods Market will require that all meat sold to it will be rated under new animal welfare standards. The world’s largest retailer of natural and organic products created Global Animal Partnership as a nonprofit third party certifier to establish ratings, conduct inspections and administer the standards. Kudos to Whole Foods: This is a huge step in increasing consumer awareness of animal rights, and also in presenting more humane options to the public.

9.  GMO Debate

This is an issue that isn’t going away. In fact, I would venture that the organic industry is pretty much at war with the biotech and pesticide companies that seek to dominate the market with GMO agriculture, the genetic drift from which is a threat to organic seed stock and organic crops. While proponents insist that GMOs are the only way to feed the world, opponents claim that GMO farming has passed the point of diminishing returns. While pesticide use was reduced in the first three years after GMO crops were introduced in the mid ‘90s, herbicide use has actually increased over the past 13 years by nearly 400 million pounds as a result of GMO agriculture, according to The Organic Center. GMO yields are not matching what was promised, and superweeds are emerging due to the overuse of glyphosate, the herbicide mainly used in GMO agriculture, hence the need for more herbicide. With numerous food allergy and health concerns also emerging, many manufacturers are turning to the Non-GMO Project to verify that their products are GMO free. Consumers are highly confused over this issue, due to the rhetoric from biotech companies that have co-opted the term “sustainability.” And the onslaught continues: the FDA currently is evaluating genetically engineered salmon—the first potential GMO animal for commercial consumption—and also a GMO apple that doesn’t turn brown when cut open. If you are not choosing organic or if it doesn’t say non-GMO on the label, chances are your food contains GMOs, as it is estimated that 80% of conventional grocery products now contain GMO ingredients.

10.  Sustainability

“Sustainability is not an exact science, but it is a strategic decision,” says Jeanne von Zastrow, senior director of industry relations and sustainability at the Food Marketing Institute (FMI). And it’s more than how the food was grown; it’s also about a company’s energy and water use, transportation, equipment, supply chain management, packaging and waste – garnering efficiencies in these areas and elsewhere promotes sustainability and cuts costs. Many natural and organic products companies are leading the way but could do more, and FMI also is developing sustainability resources for the food industry. While what consumers say and do regarding sustainability may be a dichotomy, health conscious and environmentally aware consumers will continue to develop brand loyalty by identifying with your green efforts.

11.  Organic Acreage Grows

Compared to overall acreage dedicated to conventional agriculture production, the amount of land under organic production is still very small. But it is growing. In the first wide-scale survey of organic farming, published this past year, USDA counted 14,540 U.S. farms and ranches that were under organic production, comprising 4.8 million acres of land in 2008. Certified U.S. organic cropland acreage between 2002 and 2008 averaged 15% annual growth. Globally, organic acreage grew by 9% in 2008, with more than 35 million hectares in organic production. The highest increases came in Latin America and Europe, according to the Research Institute of Organic Agriculture (FiBL) in Switzerland.

12.  Local and Fair Trade

As my friend and colleague Joel Dee likes to say, “We are all local.” At Edward & Sons, Joel and his team work with small-scale organic producers all over the world. One example is the organic hearts of palm project in Peru’s Amazon basin. Working with local and indigenous people, Edward & Sons helped create a sustainable harvesting and processing program in Iquitos, a small city 125 miles from the source of the Amazon, helping to protect the rainforest and bring sustainable jobs to an impoverished region. This type of partnership supports local economies and environments around the world. As consumers respond to the ‘local” trend, they are understanding that local means not only supporting farmers and producers in their own area, but also choosing organic and fair trade products that support lo cal economies all over the world. This is a story the sustainable food industry was born to tell, so if you are going to import organic products from China or elsewhere, make sure you’ve got a sustainable, fair trade and maybe even a cultural story behind it and not just because it’s cheaper (see #2).

13.  The Real Cost of Cheap Food

One of the best articles I’ve read on this subject was the cover story of Time’s Aug. 31, 2009, edition, appropriately entitled The Real Cost of Cheap Food. In it, author Bryan Walsh reports: “The U.S. agricultural industry can now produce unlimited quantities of meat and grains at remarkably cheap prices. But it does so at a high cost to the environment, animals and humans. Those hidden prices are the creeping erosion of our fertile farmland, cages for egg-laying chickens so packed that the birds can’t even raise their wings and the scary rise of antibiotic-resistant bacteria among farm animals. Add to the price tag the acceleration of global warming — our energy-intensive food system uses 19% of U.S. fossil fuels, more than any other sector of the economy. And perhaps worst of all, our food is increasingly bad for us, even dangerous,” says Walsh, referring to rising obesity rates and food safety issues in America. Plus, if you haven’t seen it, check out the 5-minute video of Birke Baehr’s talk, What’s Wrong With Our Food System, at the TEDx Next Generation conference in Asheville, NC. This 11-year-old young man, who wants to be an organic farmer, speaks clearly about what is wrong with conventional agriculture, factory farming and the industrialized food system, and what people can do to change it. “Some people say organic or local food is more expensive, but is it really? With all these things I’ve been learning about the food system, it seems to me that we can either pay the farmer, or we can pay the hospital,” says an astute Birke.

Bonus Trend: Young Organic Farmers

For years, young people have been leaving the farm. Today, the USDA estimates the average age of the American farmer is 57, with more than 25% over age 65. However, while the trend is too new to quantify, USA Today reports that there is an emerging movement in which young people, “most of whom come from cities and suburbs,” are taking up organic farming on small-acre farms throughout the country as an “honorable, important career choice.” Three factors have made these small organic farms possible: a rising consumer demand for organic and local produce, a huge increase in farmers markets nationwide, and the growing popularity of community-supported agriculture (CSA) programs, says USA Today. The National Young Farmers’ Coalition is a new organization created by and for young and beginning farmers in the United States, and a soon to be released documentary, The Greenhorns, explores the lives of America’s young sustainable farming community. Also, an international volunteer organization, Worldwide Opportunities on Organic Farms, since 1971 has been connecting young workers with organic farms all over the world, where they gain hands on experience in sustainable farming. The invested energy of youth is a promising bonus trend indeed for the future of sustainable food.

About Compass Natural – Your Guide to the Natural, Organic & LOHAS Market

Compass Natural LLC, established in 2002 and based in Boulder, CO, brings 30 years’ experience in natural and organic products sales, marketing, public relations, communications, research, event planning, and strategic industry guidance to businesses with interests in the $290 billion market for natural, organic, sustainable, and socially responsible products and services. Visit www.compassnatural.com or call 303.807.1042.

© 2010 Compass Natural LLC.

Article also appears in:

http://www.rodale.com/organic-trends

http://www.elephantjournal.com/2010/12/bakers-dozen-top-13-trends-in-sustainable-food-and-agriculture/

http://www.organicconsumers.org/articles/article_22193.cfm

http://www.sustainablefoodnews.com/story.php?news_id=11241

http://foodceo.com/news/2010/12/compass-natural-announces-top-13-trends-in-sustainable-food-and-agriculture/

http://blog.slowmoneyalliance.org/?p=524

http://www.perfumerflavorist.com/flavor/trends/111810244.html

http://www.goodfoodworld.com/2010/12/top-organic-food-and-farming-trends-in-2011/

http://www.progressivegrocer.com/top-story-counting_down_the_top_trends_in_sustainable_food__ag-31782.html

http://www.naturalhomemagazine.com/blogs/blog.aspx?blogid=78&tag=2011%20trends

http://www.organicitsworthit.org/news/learn/2010/12/20/10-organic-farming-trends-can-make-your-life-better

http://topics.treehugger.com/article/0a9T4na72d1Uk

- David Pimentel, Ph.D., Professor of Ecology and Agriculture, Cornell University, and author of Food, Energy and Society.

Growing food requires a lot of fossil fuel energy, which generates greenhouse gases (GHGs). With nearly 7 billion people on the planet, agriculture and livestock

Organic farming methods may help mitigate agricultures' impact on global warming.

production also are responsible for widespread clearing of forests, grasslands and prairies. These are major contributors to global warming. However, researchers point to organic farming as a way to reduce energy inputs, help minimize agriculture’s impact on global warming, and also help farmers adapt to rising global temperatures.

Conventional Agriculture Adds Heat

The global food system is estimated to account for one-third of the world’s total greenhouse gas emissions, says Anna Lappe, author of Diet for a Hot Planet. Much of the fossil fuel used in commercial agriculture comes not only from running tractors and machinery, but also because petroleum is a primary ingredient in synthetic pesticides, herbicides and fertilizers, which are widely used in conventional agriculture. Synthetic nitrogen fertilizer is known to release large amounts of nitrous oxide into the atmosphere, a potent GHG and a primary threat to earth’s ozone layer. Synthetic nitrogen fertilizer also is responsible for the Dead Zone in the Gulf of Mexico, an oxygen-depleted area the size of New Jersey in which no fish can survive.

Organic Farming A Cool Solution

Simply stated, organic farming has the potential to help reduce agriculture’s impact on global warming. According to Dr. David Pimentel of Cornell University, author of Food, Energy and Society, organic agriculture has been shown to reduce energy inputs by 30%. Organic farming also conserves more water in the soil and reduces erosion. Also, healthy organic soils tie up carbon in the soil, helping to reduce CO2 levels in the atmosphere.

Changes in temperature caused by global warming could have dramatic effects on agriculture. Extreme weather, rising temperatures, drought and flood caused by global warming all could have an adverse impact on yield, disease and insect pests. Organic farmers may be better able to adapt to climate change in that healthy organic soils retain moisture better during drought, making it more available to plant roots. Also, organic soils percolate water better during floods, helping to decrease runoff and soil erosion. The National Sustainable Agriculture Coalition recently reported, “Sustainable and organic agricultural systems offer the most resilience for agricultural production in the face of the extreme precipitation, prolonged droughts and increasingly uncertain regional climate regimes expected with rapid global warming.”

Sources

• Environmental, Energetic and Economic Comparisons of Organic and Conventional Farming Systems, Pimentel, D., et. al., Bioscience (Vol. 55:7), July 2005.
• Diet for a Hot Planet: The Climate Crisis at the End of your Fork and What You Can Do About It, Anna Lappé, Bloomsbury USA, April 2010.
• Getting Real About the High Price of Cheap Food, Bryan Walsh, Time Magazine, Aug. 31, 2009.
• Climate Change in Africa: The Threat to Agriculture, United Nations Food and Agriculture Organization, Oct. 15, 2006.
• Livestock’s Long Shadow: Environmental Issues and Options, United Nations Food and Agriculture Organization, 2006.
• A Harvest of Heat: Agribusiness and Climate Change, Agribusiness Action Initiatives North America’s Working Group on Climate Change, 2010; www.agribusinessaction.org.
• Impacts of Genetically Engineered Crops on Pesticide Use in the United States: The First Thirteen Years, Benbrook, C., et. al., The Organic Center, November 2009.
• Reducing Energy Inputs in the U. S. Food System, Pimentel, D., Human Ecology, 2008.
• Nitrous Oxide (N₂O): The Dominant Ozone-Depleting Substance Emitted in the 21st Century, A. R. Ravishankara, et. al., National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, Science, August 28, 2009.
• Rodale Institute, 30-year Ongoing Field Trials, Emmaus, PA, www.rodaleinstitute.org.
• Organic Agriculture and Climate Change in Developing Countries – Research conducted by Costa Rican Corporation for Training and Development, Garibay, S., et. al., presented at BioFach Congress, Nuremberg, Germany, 2008.
• Organic Agriculture and the Global Food Supply, Ivette Perfecto, et. al., University of Michigan, Renewable Agriculture and Food Systems, July 2007.
• Organic Agriculture and Food Security in Africa, United Nations Conference on Trade and Development and United Nations Environment Programme, Capacity Building Task Force on Trade, Environment and Development, October 2008.
• Agriculture & Climate Change: Impacts and Opportunities at the Farm Level, National Sustainable Agriculture Coalition Policy Position Paper, July 16, 2009.

Boulder, Colo. (September 7, 2010) – Local, organic and eco-friendly gift provider Best Organics announces a unique, cross-promotional partnership with Bonterra Vineyards of Mendocino County, CA. Bonterra is the nation’s number one seller of California wines made from organic grapes.* The company is widely known for its commitment to organic winemaking and biodynamic agriculture, a system of sustainable farming that approaches the land as a living, self-contained eco-system. Its winery and grapes are certified by California Certified Organic Farmers.

Beginning with September’s Organic Harvest Month, Best Organics will promote its Boulder’s Best Organics™ and Colorado’s Best Organics™ gift collections to a targeted audience of organic consumers across the country together with the Bonterra Vineyards brand. Likewise, Bonterra will feature Best Organics as a promotional partner in select marketing campaigns and holiday promotional themes throughout the year. Best Organics and Bonterra Vineyards will feature each other’s products in seasonal promotions including online campaigns at www.Bonterra.com and www.BouldersBestOrganics.com, and e-mail marketing, e-newsletters, social networking, including Facebook and Twitter, and public relations.

“As we move toward expanding on a national level, we are honored to partner with such a highly regarded organic brand leader as Bonterra Vineyards,” says Seleyn DeYarus, president of Best Organics. “Bonterra’s wines are elegant, reasonably priced, and delicious—and their grapes are organically produced without the use of toxic synthetic pesticides or fertilizers. They complement our gift collections perfectly. By partnering with Best Organics and supporting our national marketing efforts, Bonterra helps us promote all the local, organic and eco-friendly product vendors featured in our gifts to a much broader audience.”

“We are excited to be the preferred wine partner of Best Organics. It allows us to reach the organic consumer and be one of the many quality organic products Best Organics offers,” says John Tichenor, AVP, Group Brand Director, Bonterra Vineyards. “It’s truly a unique partnership in that both the Bonterra and the Best Organic brands are aligned in providing the consumer a richer, more rewarding experience through our organic philosophy,” he says.

About Best Organics

Best Organics LLC, a majority woman-owned company, provides local, organic and eco-friendly gift box collections filled with high-quality organic foods, personal care and other items. Our gift collections feature leading organic brands and outstanding local products made by Boulder and Colorado companies. Best Organics gift collections are sold online at www.bouldersbestorganics.com and www.coloradosbestorganics.com; to corporate customers for employees, clients and VIP contacts; and at leading retailers in Colorado. Our keepsake gift boxes can be readily shipped anywhere, and feature paintings of Boulder and Colorado by renowned local artist Jim Freeheart. Support Local – Give a Better Gift! Visit www.BouldersBestOrganics.com, www.ColoradosBestOrganics.com, tel 303.499.ORGANIC (6742).

About Bonterra Vineyards

As one of the world’s leading producers of wines made from organically grown grapes, Bonterra Vineyards has long believed that organic grapes make better tasting wines. From its home in Mendocino County, California, Bonterra’s holistic organic approach to winemaking took root in 1987. Bonterra produces a full array of award-winning wines from organic and biodynamic vineyards including Chardonnay, Merlot, Cabernet Sauvignon, Sauvignon Blanc, Riesling, Rosé, Syrah and Viognier. For more information visit www.bonterra.com.

* Source: Nielsen data, 52 weeks ending July 24, 2010.

The incident is yet another in a long string of food safety scares linked to the factory-farming, intensive confinement, and inhumane conditions in which poultry and livestock are raised for human consumption.

Egg laying hens (chickens) in a factory farm battery cage

One of the egg producers linked to the most recent salmonella case has a history of violations dating back to 1994, according to Fox News, but the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) says that the past violations were outside of its regulatory arena. The USDA has never had an inspector dedicated to food safety visit the farms in question, reported Fox News.

Have you seen photos of these farms? In CAFOS, or Concentrated Animal Feeding Operations such as the farms in question, poultry are packed to the rafters in long, corrugated metal, warehouse-like buildings. Often, their beaks are cut off so they don’t peck at each other due to the intensive and stressful crowding. They are kept in close cages where they can barely stand or turn around. Drugs such as antibiotics are administered regularly on a preventive basis, as diseases spread rapidly amidst such close quarters. In fact, the overuse of antibiotics in conventional agriculture has been linked to increases in antibiotic-resistant diseases in human populations. The efficient disposal of animal waste becomes a polluting problem, too, with such large farm operations. They are not sustainable.

Score One For the Chickens

However, in a major animal welfare victory announced in August, farmers and animal rights activists in Ohio reached an agreement that will sharply restrict the close confinement of hens, hogs and veal calves. This is the latest sign, says the New York Times, that “so-called factory farming – a staple of modern agriculture that is seen by critics as inhumane and a threat to the environment and health – is on the verge of significant change.”

Urged by Governor Ted Strickland, Ohio farm leaders met in secret with the Humane Society of the United States; they were hoping to avoid a November 2010 ballot referendum on humane animal treatment that some farmers feared they would lose. The result was that the sides agreed to ban new construction of egg farms that pack birds in cages, and to phase out the tight caging of pregnant sows within 15 years and veal calves by 2017.

Coming on the heels of factory farming limits imposed by California voters in 2008, this agreement between farmers and animal rights activists is a huge step in the right direction. It’s important, too, in that Ohio is the second largest egg producer, after Iowa.

However, the agreement does not affect the large factory farm operations already in place in Ohio; the New York Times described one typical barn at a large-scale egg farm as containing 268,000 small white hens living in cages “about the size of an open newspaper, six or seven to a cage.”

As the salmonella egg recall spreads, egg production has come to the fore of the debate because more than 90% of the country’s eggs are produced in the stacked rows of cages that animal welfare advocates call inhumane, says the Times.

Don’t Panic; Buy Organic

Organic eggs may be more expensive, but I submit that they are worth more, and they may be better for your health. Produced under humane conditions where animals have access to the outdoors and where they are not over-crowded, organic eggs may contain more essential fatty acids and other nutrients. Some say, including me, that organic eggs are more flavorful, with richer, deeper yolks. No antibiotics, synthetic growth hormones or pesticides are used in their production, thus helping to reduce your dietary exposure to toxic synthetic chemicals.

Retailers in my area such as Natural Grocers by Vitamin Cottage, Sprouts and Whole Foods Market sell humane, natural and organically produced eggs, including Horizon, Organic Valley, Cyd’s Nest Fresh and Vital Farms, to name a few. I’m partial to the mixed dozen of fresh green and brown eggs I buy from Grant Family Farms, located just north of Fort Collins; they’re available through Grant Farms’ CSA, and also in Whole Foods’ Colorado stores.

For budget minded consumers (aren’t we all?) who want to support ethical treatment of animals, visit the natural and organic foods coupon sites; Organic Valley offers $1 off coupons on their website; Horizon offers coupons on its website. Here’s an organic egg coupon resource, too: http://www.organicfoodcoupons.com/organic/coupons/food/eggs/.

Humane animal treatment – what an egg-cellent idea!