PDA Goes Organic, Urges Activists to Survey Candidates!
By Joe Libertelli, PDA Advisory Board Member
October 18, 2006, Rockville, MD
As millions of Americans have learned over the past few decades, run-off from petrochemical agriculture is a major contributor to the pollution of our groundwater, streams, rivers and estuaries.
In some cases, fertilizers in runoff rob oxygen from the water, killing most aquatic life. In other cases, the contaminants are absorbed by plants, fish, shellfish, aquatic birds and often, make their way to the top of the food chain -- us! And, of course, some of these chemicals - which are designed to kill living creatures – don’t run off at all, but soak into our foods, creating both short- and long-term health threats.
In response to these hard facts, the organic agriculture movement has blossomed. Now, according to the
Organic Consumers Association over 50 million people purchase organic foods, creating a $15 billion-a-year industry.
Of course, this dramatic trend has been noted by agribusiness. The forces of chemical agriculture have exerted steady pressure on state and federal regulatory agencies to water down the definition of "organic" to make it easier for mass-produced, agribusiness products to meet the standards.
But organic consumers are fighting back! The
Organic Consumers Fund http://organicconsumersfund.org has created a non-partisan 2006 Political Candidate Survey and Voter Guide to educate the public about the current positions of thousands of incumbents and challengers in the November local, state, and federal elections, as well as the past voting records of the 535 members of Congress.
According to the OCF, "The goal is to distribute the following questionnaire to every candidate in your area and to let them know that a significant number of their constituents want them to answer the questions. Some candidates have already replied, while others, mostly incumbents and leading major-party candidates, will need a little encouragement from organic and green-minded voters in their states and districts.
"Following the completion of the Organic Consumers Political Candidate Survey and Voter Guide in October, the Guide will be distributed via email, telephone, mail, and websites to millions of organic consumers across the country, starting with the 850,000-person data base of the Organic Consumers Fund."
You can take part in this historic effort by going to
http://organicconsumersfund.org/voterguide.cfm and following the instructions!
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