SEDRO-WOOLLEY, Wash. & TERRA BELLA, Calif., May 8 /PRNewswire/ -- Veteran
organic industry leaders, Tom Pavich, president and CEO of Pavich Family Farms
and Gene Kahn, CEO of Cascadian Farm, tout a combined experience of over 40
years in the organic industry, many of them spent lobbying for a federal
regulation for organic. Both leaders announced today their gratification that
the USDA will rewrite the proposed organic standards to more accurately
reflect both consumer and industry wishes for a national organic label.
In a news release today, Agriculture Secretary Dan Glickman announced that the
USDA, after receiving more than 200,000 responses to the Proposed Rule for
Organic, will fundamentally revise the Proposed Rule for organic. Glickman
also confirmed that sewage sludge, biotechnology and food irradiation
practices would not be in the re-drafted rule. "USDA is committed to
developing national organic standards that organic farmers and consumers will
embrace," Glickman said in the USDA release.
Pavich Family Farms, the largest producer of table grapes in the world, is led
by brothers Tom Pavich and Stephen Pavich. Tom Pavich is the president of the
Organic Farming Research Foundation (OFRF) and on the board of the Organic
Trade Association (OTA). Stephen Pavich is an appointee to the National
Organic Standards Board (NOSB), the board mandated by Congress to develop the
original standards for organic. "We're pleased that the USDA listened to the
tidal wave of response and recognized that the practices they were proposing
were never part of genuine organic practices," said Tom Pavich. "Now, we hope
the USDA will finally embrace the NOSB recommendations. We don't want a
watered down organic label -- we want a federal label for organic that all
consumers can completely trust "
Gene Kahn founded Cascadian Farm, one of the nation's largest packaged organic
food manufacturers, more than 25 years ago. Kahn, currently a board member of
the OTA, was influential in developing organic standards for Washington state
and is a charter member of the NOSB. "This is clearly a recognition by the
USDA that they understand the importance of developing standards for organic
food production that are consistent with consumers expectations and historical
industry standards," said Kahn. "We are pleased that the USDA is proceeding
with developing organic standards with high integrity and look forward to
analyzing the re-draft in the coming months."
In the meantime, both Pavich and Kahn encourage consumers to continue "voting
with their grocery dollars" by purchasing certified organic products until the
final rule is implemented and the USDA's organic seal appears on all products
that meet their criteria.
To schedule interviews with either Gene Kahn or Tom Pavich call Sylvia Tawse
at The Fresh Ideas Group at 303-415-9778.
SOURCE Pavich Family Farms and Cascadian Farm
CO: Pavich Family Farms; Cascadian Farm
ST: Washington, California
IN: ENV
SU:
05/08/98 17:39 EDT http://www.prnewswire.com
To Unsubscribe: Email majordomo@ces.ncsu.edu with "unsubscribe sanet-mg".
To Subscribe to Digest: Email majordomo@ces.ncsu.edu with the command
"subscribe sanet-mg-digest".