The Organic Consumers Association:
Who We Are & What We're Doing
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The Organic Consumers Association: |
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Genetically Engineered |
The OCA is a grassroots non-profit public interest organization which deals with crucial issues of food safety, industrial agriculture, genetic engineering, corporate accountability, and environmental sustainability. We are the only organization in the US focused exclusively on representing the views and interests of the nation's estimated ten million organic consumers. Our national coordination center is located in Little Marais, Minnesota and our West Coast field office is located in San Francisco. The OCA has additional staff in Minneapolis and Duluth, Minnesota; Los Angeles; Seattle; Boston, Massachusetts; and Washington, D.C. as well as 45,000 members, subscribers, and volunteers across the US. Our US and international policy board is broadly representative of the organic, family farm, environmental, and public interest community. The Organic Consumers Association was formed in 1998 in the wake of the mass backlash by organic consumers against the U.S. Department of Agriculture's controversial proposed national regulations for organic food. Through the OCA's SOS (Save Organic Standards) Campaign, as well as the work of our allies in other organizations, the organic community was able to mobilize 280,000 consumers to send in letters and emails to the USDA. In this project the OCA worked in cooperation with hundreds of natural food stores, consumer co-ops, Community Supported Agriculture groups, and farmers markets, as well as thousands of individual volunteers across the country--a relationship which has continued through the present time. Our political program is the Food Agenda 2000-2010: a three point platform calling for (1) a global moratorium on genetically engineered foods and crops; (2) a phase-out of the most dangerous industrial agriculture and factory farming practices; and (3) the conversion of American agriculture to at least 30% organic by the year 2010. Our web site, research, and media team are considered by reporters and radio talk show hosts to be among some of the nation's top experts on food safety and organic food. Our media team provides background information, interviews, and story ideas to TV and radio producers and journalists on a daily basis--from national TV networks to the alternative press. Our field organizers provide advice and coaching to grassroots activists across the nation and coordinate our network of 10,000 volunteers. |
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Privacy Policy: OCA may contact you concerning own work or work of our coalition partners. We will not give your name to other
organizations. You may be notified about participating with outreach educational activities such as: lectures,
media interviews, demonstrations, teach-ins, phone trees, newsletters (BioDemocracy News), website updates, leaflet
distribution, book sales, etc. |