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This note came of MDA, Colleen Collier as an FYI
piece. Thought you may be interested in this as I listen to unhappy farmers who
have certified organic produce.
>>> "Jacqueline Ostfeld"
<[log in to unmask]> 4/11/2007 4:34
PM >>>
<http://www.whistleblower.org/template/index.cfm>
Dear Colleen M. Collier,
Please find below an op-ed I recently authored in The
Buffalo News
titled "Blowing the Whistle on Sham
'Organics.'"
As organics go mainstream and new players enter the
market who value
profit over principle, the danger rises that corners
will be cut and
organics standards driven down. If that happens, it's
not only the bad
actors who will suffer. Consumers will look upon
everyone who flies
the
organics banner with suspicion and cynicism. That's
not fair but it is
reality. So it falls upon each of us to do what we can
to protect the
reputation of organics.
My name is Jacqueline Ostfeld and I am the Food and
Drug Safety
Officer
at the Government Accountability Project, a non-profit
whistleblower
protection organization. For 30 years, GAP has been
defending the free
speech rights of government and corporate employees as
they disclose
information relevant to the public interest. I write
to you today to
commend you for all of your hard work developing and
maintaining a
vibrant organic food production and distribution
sector. As the public
debate over the future of the organic label rages on,
I want you to
know
that GAP is dedicated to maintaining the integrity of
the organic
standards and defending the rights of people who raise
their voices to
hold all players, even the giants, accountable to
these standards.
GAP works closely with Congress, media, relevant
agencies and other
organizations to ensure that whistleblower disclosures
(both public
and
anonymous) inspire positive change. If you or a
colleague knows of a
violation of organics standards and you want to
correct it, please
feel
free to contact us. GAP is here to protect your
rights!
Please visit GAP's website
<http://www.whistleblower.org/> to learn
more about our work and achievements, and how you can
confidentially
report
<http://whistleblower.org/template/page.cfm?page_id=14> a
violation of organics standards and seek our guidance
or assistance.
Here are the highlights from this WEB site:
What is a Whistleblower?
reporting wrongdoing or a violation of the
law to the proper authorities such as a
supervisor, a hotline or an Inspector General
(b) refusing to
participate in workplace wrongdoing
(c) testifying in a
legal proceeding
(d) leaking evidence of
wrongdoing to the media
Blowing the Whistle: Twelve Survival
Strategies
1.) Before taking any
irreversible steps, talk to your family of close friends about your decision to
blow the whistle.
2.) Be alert and
discreetly attempt to learn of any other witnesses who are upset about the
wrongdoing.
3.) Before formally
breaking ranks consider whether there is any reasonable way to work within the
system by going to the first level of authority. If you do decide to break
ranks, think carefully about whether you want to "go public" with
your concerns or remain an anonymous source. Each strategy has implications:
the decision depends on the quantity and quality of your evidence, your ability
to camouflage your knowledge of key facts, the risks you are willing to assume
and your willingness to endure intense public scrutiny.
4.) Develop a plan-such
as strategically-timed release of information to government agencies-so that
your employer is reacting to you, instead of vice-versa.
5.) Maintain good
relations with administration and support staff.
6.) Before and after you
blow the whistle, keep a careful record of events as they unfold. Try to
construct a straightforward, factual log of the relevant activities and events
on the job, keeping in mind that your employer will have access to your diary
if there is a lawsuit.
7.) Identify and copy
all necessary supporting records before drawing any suspicion to your concerns.
8.) Break the cycle of
isolation research and identify and seek a support network of potential allies,
such as elected officials, journalists and activists. The solidarity of key
constituencies can be more powerful than the bureaucracy you are challenging.
9.) Invest the funds to
obtain a legal opinion from a competent lawyer.
10.) Always be on guard not to
embellish your charges.
11.) Engage in whistleblowing
initiatives on your own time and with your own resources, not your employer's.
12.) Don't wear your cynicism on
your sleeve when working with the authorities.
To make a complaint
Call Colleen M. Collier
Organic Program Manager
Michigan Department of Agriculture
Pesticide and Plant Pest Management
Division
P.O. Box 30017
Lansing, Michigan 48909
(517) 373-0280
Feel free to share this notice with any individual or
organization you
believe might be interested in learning more about
GAP's commitment to
protecting organics whistleblowers.
Sincerely,
Jacqueline Ostfeld
Food and Drug Safety Officer
Government Accountability Project
1612 K St. NW, Suite 1100
Washington, DC 20006
Phone: (202) 408-0034 Ext. 153
Fax: (202) 408-9855
www.whistleblower.org
An abridged version of this op-ed appeared in
Blowing the Whistle on Sham 'Organics'
February 12, 2007
Written by GAP Food & Drug Safety Officer
Jacqueline Ostfeld
The organic food industry is booming. In this country
alone, sales
have
grown from $4 to $18 billion in just ten years. The
sharp rise is
largely due to increased public skepticism about the
conventional food
supply. Last year brimmed with food safety scares and
scandals. Now
with
the impending market arrival of cloned animal
products, consumer
concerns about the wholesomeness of their food are
commonplace.
The public is ripe for change - and big business is
geared up for the
challenge. Nothing could have better symbolized
organic food's entry
into the lives of mainstream America than when, last
summer, Wal-Mart
announced it would introduce organic products at
affordable prices.
But
is that really what consumers are getting?
As major retailers stock their shelves with
"organic" products,
underselling the existing industry, longtime organics
advocates fear
for
the standards. Cutting costs invites cutting corners.
While the vast
majority of organic farmers, ranchers and retailers
follow legal
standards, violations by the few, combined with
inadequate oversight,
threaten the integrity of the entire sector.
The allegations have begun. Horizon and Aurora, the
country's two
largest organic dairy producers, have been hit with a
consumer boycott
for confining their cows to feedlots rather than
providing required
access to pasture. Cows cramped in feedlots spend
their lives
wallowing
in a mixture of mud and feces. Studies show that cows
fattened on
grass,
rather than corn, are far less likely to harbor the
dangerous and
sometimes deadly strain of E. coli that continually
threatens our food
supply.
Consumers expect that organic milk comes from cows
grazing on
pesticide-free pastures. A recent poll by the Center
for Food Safety
found that over 60 percent of women - primary
household shoppers - who
purchase organic milk, would stop if they knew that
cows were confined
rather than grazing. Smaller distributors have already
dropped Horizon
from their shelves.
The United States Department of Agriculture (USDA) is
soon expected to
clarify guidelines detailing the level of pasture
access organically
raised cows must receive. Whether or not the rule
change will satisfy
public expectations remains to be seen. Even if it
does, it will be
left
to USDA-sanctioned, but privately or state-employed
organic
certifiers,
to monitor compliance. Their track record of
enforcement is
uninspiring.
Dear Colleen M. Collier,Dear Colleen M. Collier,
China has four times the amount of land in organic
food production
than
does the US. China's organic exports, growing at a
rate of 50 percent
annually, now total upwards of $200 million. While
most of the exports
enter European markets, a significant and growing
portion are reaching
American dinner tables. Yet a USDA economist
acknowledged that China
is
probably too polluted "to grow truly organic
food."
A Dallas Morning News investigation disclosed the
discovery by a
Japanese inspector of an empty herbicide bag on an
"organic" soybean
field in China. Could soy from this field enter the US
market?
Absolutely. The USDA says it would not look behind the
claim that the
herbicide bag was carried by the wind onto the farm.
Rather, it relies
on organic certifiers to make the call.
The Cornucopia Institute, a farm advocacy group,
discovered last
September that Wal-Mart was falsely labeling
conventional products
with
organic sales tags in its retail stores across the
country. Wal-Mart
has
yet to clean up its act, compelling the Organic
Consumers Association
to
call a nationwide boycott of what it calls
"America's retail Death
Star."
Perhaps the USDA is asleep at the wheel. More
generously, they are
overworked, under-staffed and under-funded. The USDA's
National
Organic
Program, still in its infancy, is unable to keep up
with the galloping
market growth. Last year, the Dallas Morning News
revealed that the
USDA
has no idea to what degree organic standards are being
violated.
That's
no wonder, as the agency has been nonchalant about
following up on
leads
into potential misbehavior.
Because of organic advocacy groups and committed
journalists, some
violations of the standards have been exposed, action
is being taken
and
the public is becoming more discerning about which
organic food brands
and retailers they can trust. But holding appropriate
parties
accountable to organic standards is everyone's job.
Government and
corporate employees on the inside are also critical to
ensuring the
integrity of the industry. Let's keep organic organic.
Jacqueline Ostfeld is Food & Drug Safety Officer
at the Government
Accountability Project, a nonprofit whistleblower
protection
organization. For 30 years, GAP has been defending the
free speech
rights of government and corporate employees.