California Certified Organic Farmers (CCOF) is supporting the illegal spraying of chemicals on mixed human populations in California. The National Organic Program (NOP) has been given assurances that crops sprayed with toxins, plastics, carcinogenic pesticides and synthetics can still be sold as organic. Organic consumers do not agree!

CCOF has shown its readiness to go along with the LBAM spraying so long as their status as organic is protected. This is not right. What follows is our letter to Peggy Miars, Executive Director of CCOF, sent March 12, 2008.

Dear Peggy Miars,

I am a resident of California. I have been a devoted purchaser of organic products for 18 years. I am writing to express my grave concern and disappointment over learning that CCOF is supporting the aerial spraying of plastic, toxins, and synthetics on the state of California.

I would like to share three thoughts with you about this, and appreciate you taking the time to consider them.

1) Though many of the ingredients in the product that will be aerially sprayed on human beings are not being revealed in order to protect corporate profits, the ingredients we do know about include Butylated Hydroxytoluene, Polyvinyl Alcohol, Tricaprylyl Methyl, Ammonium Chloride, Tetradecen-1-yl Acetate, and 1,2-Benzisothiozoli-3-one.

Produce that has been sprayed with the above in addition to the synthetic pheromone does not look any different to me than the ‘conventional’ produce I might as well be buying at Safeway. I pay extra for organic because I do not want to eat sprayed food, and everyone I speak to agrees that no California produce will be considered organic by consumers if it has been aerially sprayed with a secret chemical formula that includes not only the above unhealthy ingredients, but also includes whatever hidden pesticides the manufacturer has incorporated into the spray. There will no longer be a point in buying food labeled as ‘organic’ if organic no longer means not sprayed with toxins.

Though we understand that NOP has declared that sprayed food will still be legally called ‘organic’, organic shoppers do not agree. We will not consider sprayed food organic, and will have no reason to purchase it instead of so-called ‘conventional’ food.

2) Organic consumers understand that the farmers you represent may be threatened with closure if they do not comply with government policies. We understand what you are up against. If you do not speak up for the welfare of human beings, if you do not make a bold stance of non-compliance with inhumane policies, the CCOF is putting itself in the same untrustworthy and hated company as corporations like Monsanto. We know that Monsanto does not care about the damage it is doing to world food supplies and to the genetics of plants and people. By approving spraying on human beings in California, CCOF is sending a very clear message that it also has no care for the health of people, the environment, or the future of the human race. It is very clear from the pro-spray stance of CCOF that fear and profits are driving out ethical concerns and it is difficult to describe the pain and disappointment I feel in discovering CCOF to be guilty of this after the years I have given them my support with my dollar. Organic consumers are savvy people, and your brand is going to suffer greatly in regards to the once-strongly held loyalty of your consumers.

We understand that CCOF enjoys non-profit status, and is meant to represent the stance of organic farmers. Any organization or farmer who holds that produce aerially sprayed with pesticide is organic has lost the basic sense of what organic means, and has lost all credibility in the eyes of committed organic consumers.

3) In supporting the CDFA’s determination to test chemicals on human beings, CCOF is supporting illegal activity. US Laws forbid the testing of chemicals on various demographics of the public, and also prohibit airplanes flying at low altitudes over urban areas. CDFA intends to break both of these laws and lawsuits are inevitable. CCOF should not support the breaking of laws which have been put in place to protect the public. Our government and its brother organizations should not be permitted to bypass these laws.

In addition to the illegal aspects of CDFA’s past actions in the Santa Cruz and Monterey regions, and their intended future actions in the SF Bay Area, the epidemic sickness and environmental damage caused by the aerial spraying has been documented. Santa Cruz and Monterey rivers were covered with surfactant foam and the coastline was fouled with the most severe red tide in recent recorded history. More than 600 cases of illness were reported to doctors who had not been warned to expect or treat pesticide-induced illnesses. Respected doctors are desperately speaking out on the carcinogenic components of the spray, which they expect to see affecting their patients for years to come. Perhaps worst of all, because the spray is encapsulated in particulate matter - as it is with biochemical warfare - humans, animals, water, and soil will be filled with minute bits of non-biodegradable plastic…forever. In such an environment, you cannot grow organic. CCOF’s farmers will be lucky if there is anyone left with lungs, organs, and immune systems intact enough to get to the store to purchase produce.

Having now spoken with numerous individuals whose lives have been permanently altered and damaged by exposure to the plastic particulate matter and its toxic contents, I do not need any further information to make up my own mind as to how unacceptable it is that CDFA is about to pour this spray all over the SF Bay Area, every 30 days, for an unlimited number of years. This concept of aerial spraying over urban areas represents a brash and callous new tactic of unethical corporations, and by not demanding that it be stopped right now, CCOF is giving permission for the spraying of human beings to become a norm in our country.

I urge you, your staff, and CCOF’s farmers to understand the ethical crossroads you are currently standing at. Your organization’s name will go down in history for the stance you take on this issue, which is going to have such a massive impact on California for all time. Please reconsider your support of spraying human beings. We do not want to be sprayed. Organic farmers cannot profit in the absence of devoted organic consumers. You have put yourself on the opposite side of the fence from us, and we want you to come back and stand with us.

Thank you for your time.

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