ACTION NEEDED to Stop the Weakening of Organic Food Production Law. Three quick phone calls is all that is needed. It is time to make your voice heard to protect the organic law! Join consumers, organic companies, and trade groups from across the county to stop Congress from weakening the standards for organically labeled food. CALL your two U.S. Senators and one U.S. Representative NOW to co-sponsor a bill being introduced by Senator Patrick Leahy (D-VT) and Representative Sam Farr (D-CA) TODAY to repeal a provision in appropriations legislation passed by Congress on February 13, 2003. The Leahy/Farr bill does not have a number yet because it is being introduced this afternoon. Members of Congress should be encouraged to sign-on and support the legislation even after the bill is introduced, as part of the process of building support for passage. In its $397 billion Omnibus Appropriations Bill, Congress attached a last-minute rider allowing an exemption to the requirement that organic livestock be fed 100% organic feed. The language allows farmers to feed livestock conventional feed if organic feed is more than twice as expensive and still label the meat as organic. Senator Patrick Leahy (D-VT), the original co-sponsor of the 1990 Organic Foods Production Act, announced at the time that he would launch an effort to repeal the rider and restore the intent of the law. A repeal bill will be introduced today by Senator Leahy and Representative Sam Farr (D-CA), who are seeking co-sponsors in both the U.S. Senate and House of Representatives. The bill will stop the weakening of the organic label by repealing Section 771 of the Omnibus Appropriations Bill. Consumers and supporters of organic food are a powerful force behind a $10 billion organic industry. They showed their influence in Washington, DC, when in 2000 a record number of people stopped a U.S. Department of Agriculture proposal to allow in organic production genetically engineered organisms, sewage sludge, and irradiation. Two websites provide additional information that can assist you further with this effort, http://www.ota.com/SUAaction.htm and http://www.wholefoodsmarket.com/issues/org_feed02-03.html. To read the exact language of the rider, see http://www.ota.com/FeedLanguage.htm. If you have any questions, please contact Jay Feldman ([log in to unmask]) or Jessica Lunsford ([log in to unmask]). Erin E. Jordahl Director, Iowa Chapter Sierra Club 3839 Merle Hay Road, Suite 280 Des Moines, IA 50310 515-277-8868 [log in to unmask] www.iowa.sierraclub.org - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - To get off the IOWA-TOPICS list, send any message to: [log in to unmask]