Go to the Pure Foods / Organic Consumers' Association webpage. They will print and mail your comments to the USDA, since USDA are too scared to put out an email address for fear of an even greater inundation of comments than they received the last time they tried to undermine the organic food standard. Your comments are needed to make them listen! On the OCA page, look for BioDemocracy News #26, which has a good listing of what is wrong with the current proposal.

"We need to bury the USDA once again with thousands of comments to keep them on track. Otherwise we may be confronted by a final set of federal regulations early next year which restricts organic agriculture to a small niche market and opens the door for biotech and factory farm special interests to control the alternative food network which is rapidly expanding across the US."

May 3, 1999: HAVE YOUR SAY WITH THE FDA
The Food and Drug Administration is coming to Oakland on May 12 to hold two community Town Hall Meetings at the State Building Auditorium, 1515 Clay Street from 10am-1pm and 4-7pm. The FDA wants to hear from the community how it can improve service and outreach mechanisms to its constituents. So if you work with or represent clients who are affected by FDA policies (think drug trials, drug approvals, nutritional labeling and food safety) this is your chance to voice your concerns. We know public testimony is daunting, but how often does an opportunity to be heard by a huge government agency in a forum like this come around? Don't miss this chance. Contact Mary Ellen Taylor at 510-337-6888 for information regarding comments, testimony or special accommodations.

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