300,000 letters and still...

Here's an easy question.
Which way did Congress vote: on the side of a trade association or on the side of a large (300,000) vocal group of citizens?

Last month , the food processing industry attempted to weaken the standards the 'organic' food label is based on. The Organic Trade Association and other food processors wanted changes to the legal definition of what 'organic' means.

* They wanted to amend the definition to allow as many as 500 synthetic food additives and processing aids (?) to be redefined as 'organic'.

* They wanted to amend the definition to allow young dairy cows to be routinely fed antibiotics and genetically engineered feed.

* They wanted to amend the definition so non-organic ingredients could be substituted for organic ingredients on an 'emergency' basis.

On the other side was the Organic Consumers Association, the Consumers Union and over a dozen other environmental, organic growers and organic retail groups.

The organic growers and consumers bombarded congress with over 300,000 letters and e-mails.

The trade association gave bribes -- excuse me, I mean, they gave campaign contributions.

And which side won?

Last week Congress voted to change the definition of organic to allow non-organic additives, to allow feeding young dairy cows antibiotics and genetically engineered feed, and to substitute non organic ingredients on 'emergency' basis.

For more information you can go to the organic consumers webpage athttp://www.organicconsumers.org