Consumers lose to big business again

So, here is yet another way in which the U.S. government bows to economic pressure over the consumer well-being and pushes the consumer further down the list of who they are protecting. This time the USDA takes a crack it, again.

I learned from a fellow gardening blogger that the USDA changed the standards by which they label a “food” as organic.

The USDA has authorized 38 “other” substances to be added to the list of what can be called organic. Most items are food colorings, but the big beer brewers and the pork industry are the big winners here. They lobbied hard (call that legalized bribery and coercion) and won the right to add ‘other’ items that no one in their right mind would ever consider to be organic.

Here's an example: mega beer brewer Anheuser-Bush (they have lots of money to get what they want, thanks to all of you alcoholics and drunks out there) will be allowed to sell what it calls ‘Organic Wild Hops Beer’ without using any organic hops at all! Take a moment and think about this. Anheuser-Bush just bought the rights to use the word ‘organic’ so they can jump on the ‘organic’ bandwagon without having to actually go organic. The USDA sold the right to them! I am outraged! How much is the USDA getting for this sell-out?

Here's another example: USDA ‘Organic-certified’ sausages, brats, and breakfast links will be allowed to contain intestines from factory-farmed animals raised on chemically grown feed, synthetic hormones, slaughterhouse waste, and antibiotics! This is because the cost to actually go organic is too prohibitive. Additionally, pork raised without growth hormones and chemically grown feed would revert to the smaller sizes that used to be the norm for pork before all of this scientific intervention. That would be like taking a step backwards. Heaven forbid we would ever have to forego science in order to eat healthy.

There was a time when we all ate healthier than we do today. That time was before science got involved to help industry produce larger and more, more, more! They did not get involved to 'help' the consumer, they did it first of all because they could and secondly because when industry saw they could they shelled out money for science to continue doing it.

The truth is people don’t really want to pay the higher prices to eat healthier. Oh, they say they do, when they are around other people so they can ‘show’ everyone how they are part of the modern trend to go ‘natural’. It always comes down to money. Let’s not forget this is the good ole United States of Capitalism after all. The USDA did not forget.

If you are outraged enough, and if you believe your voice will actually be heard, much less considered in this matter then go to this link and make yourself feel better.