Your return address, with as many ways to contact you as possible (phone, fax, e-mail)

Owner or Manager, "Whole Foods" [URGENT, Re: organic food]

--address--

Dear Whole Foods,

We have been regular customers of your store for years. We look to you as an excellent source of organic food, and know that you understand how important this is.

With that in mind, we would like to bring up the topic of the new proposed USDA national standards for organic foods. You may already be aware that this proposal will undermine and destroy the meaning of the organic standard by allowing such things as toxic sludge fertilizer, irradiation, factory-farmed animals, genetically engineered food (engineered to withstand heavy pesticides), fees that will be unaffordable for small organic farmers, and many other deleterious changes. No other standard will be allowed. The new standard will be to the benefit of large agri-business concerns, the chemical industry, and the genetic engineering industry, but will rob the rest of us of the benefits now available when we choose to pay extra for "organic". There will, in fact, be little or no reason to do so any more.

Until April 15th, there is a period for the public to comment on this USDA proposal. It is crucial that Congress, the USDA, and the Clinton administration hear from citizens in massive numbers, because the lobbies behind this new "organic" standard are very powerful (not to mention devious). It is well known that high-level employees of agricultural chemical companies cycle in and out of employment at the USDA, making policies that benefit their companies, and of course those industries have plenty of money to throw at politicians.

What can Whole Foods do to affect the outcome at this critical moment? Put up a display with literature about the situation, have petitions at the cash registers. In fact, to make things easy, ready-made displays are available from the "Save Organic Standards": any store that wants an SOS display can call the SOS campaign office in Minnesota at 218-226-4164 and leave a message, or send an email to alliance@mr.net. (We have no connection with this organization ourselves.)

If you have Internet access, you can find all the details about the crisis from the following web-pages: http://www.geocities.com/Athens/1527/Organic/foodByt7.html http://www.sinewave.com/ksvp/organic.htm http://www.ams.usda.gov/nop

We know that Whole Foods here in Berkeley and at its other locations will want to take advantage of this real opportunity that you have to help win a battle that none of us can afford to lose.

PS: If possible, please respond to this in some way, just so we know that it has actually been read. An "I received your letter" would be adequate. Thanks!