You can't count on the Federal government. We believe in Participatory Guarantee System (PGS) which is supported by our certification agency, Certified Naturally Grown. Read the following press release from the Ludington Daily News today to see what I mean:
"WASHINGTON (AP) — The Department of Agriculture has failed to enforce penalties against some who falsely marketed foods as organic, according to an internal department investigation.
A report by the agency's inspector general says the agency needs to step up enforcement of those who sell products under the "USDA Organic" label but do not meet government standards to do so. The report says the department has made improvements in maintaining the integrity of the organic program in recent years, but needs to better handle complaints about potential violators.
Oversight of the organic program has become more important and more scrutinized as the industry has exploded in popularity over the last decade, growing 14 percent to 21 percent annually with sales of $24.6 billion in 2008. As more companies have vied to be part of the business, critics have charged that the government has not been restrictive enough in what it allows to be labeled as organic.
The internal report says the department has failed to monitor some companies it had already identified as improperly marketing their products as organic. In one case, the department never issued enforcement action against an operation that had marketed non-organic mint under the department's label for two years.
Enforcement action can simply be an agreement to correct the problem or can be more severe, including revocation of an operation's organic certification or cash penalties. In some cases, the report said, it took more than two years for the department to issue enforcement action while the companies continued to falsely market their products.
The report also said the department was not processing complaints about the program fast enough and that agents charged with certifying organic operations were not following consistent rules."
Peacefield Farm is now CERTIFIED NATURALLY GROWN by the organization of the same name. Certified Naturally Grown is based on the "Participatory Guarantee System" model of certification. An estimated ten thousand farmers worldwide participate in this type of peer-review certification program.
Click here to learn more about CNG
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