The Associated Press is reporting on a controversy surrounding a $180,000 Department of Food and Agriculture grant awarded to a California-based group that critics say is advocating against organic agriculture.
Environmental and consumer groups are protesting the federally-funded Specialty Crops Block Grant awarded to the Alliance for Food and Family Farming, which is working on a “public education campaign to correct misconceptions that some produce items contain excessive amounts of pesticide residues.”
The articles I found didn’t outline many of the complaints, but here’s a snippet from the protest letter and a link to the full thing:
“The award of this grant strikes a blow to California’s expanding organic produce industry and places the department in opposition to the public’s interest in reducing pesticide exposure. This action also represents a fundamental failure to implement a fair and balanced grant selection process,” a coalition of environmental and consumer groups wrote to state ag officials.
Signatories of the letter include representatives from the Environmental Working Group, National Resources Defense Council, Parents for a Safer Environment, and a host of other environmental, farming and consumer organizations.
Virtual Farmgirl 