When all else fails, throw mud at the wall and see if something sticks. Here’s the latest attempt by the Cornucopia Institute to discredit me just because I want to cut down on paperwork and politics in the organic industry I love.

The charge being made by Mark A. Kastel and Will Fantle (co-directors at Cornucopia) is that I’m part of the “Corporate Agribusiness Interest” which opposes the organic movement. Ha! That’s good for a laugh. Everyone knows I receive no funding from anyone in my ongoing effort to replace useless record-keeping and exorbitant fees with inexpensive, once-annual organic field testing. They go on an on about The Hudson Institute, but sorry guys... I don't work for Hudson or receive any money from them. Never have; never will.

So there goes their "Trojan Horse" theory about me. (Yes, that's actually what they're calling it.) Don't you just hate it when the facts get in the way of perfectly good propaganda? (You really cannot make this stuff up.)

In an internet brief that would make George Soros blush, Mark & Will also charge that I made up my title of IOIA Advanced Organic Farm and Process Inspector. Unfortunately for them, I have a certificate from IOIA that says just that. And still, the Executive Director of IOIA, Margaret Scoles, joins in on Cornucopia’s attack by saying, "he has never worked for us and has no affiliation with IOIA.”

Well of course I never worked for you Margaret. Only a few organic inspectors actually work for IOIA; the rest work on contract for organic certifiers that are accredited by the USDA. Geez… talk about trying to pull the wool over everyone’s eyes. Organic inspectors are independent contractors, not employees.

Margaret knows full well that I performed over 500 farm and process inspections as a member of IOIA; I also apprenticed four rookie inspectors under my wing and organized the first IOIA training session that taught field sample-collection for lab testing, something I notice they recently picked back up on now that the USDA NOP promises to finally begin organic field testing. (I guess I was right on that one Margaret.)

Political activists always try to weasel their way around the issue of field testing. Instead of listening to organic farmers and fully supporting the concept, people like Margaret, Mark & Will straddle the fence, saying they instead support “spot testing,” and insist we keep all the paperwork, forms and fees. Now stop for a second and try to imagine the Olympics with spot testing and paperwork. Do you think maybe some athletes might break a few records?

They claim to support spot testing in cases where there is suspicion of malfeasance. Great! But how exactly do we even know where the malfeasance is occurring if we don’t test? It's like telling a policeman he can only use his radar gun if someone is speeding!

This is a multi-billion-dollar business; why can’t they take the organic certification process seriously? Do you trust the deluge of bargain-priced certified-organic product coming from China right now? Because domestic organic farmers sure's heck don't. Why not test it in the field before it even leaves the People’s Republic? Margaret? Mark? Will? Anyone care to comment?

Anyone? Come on now! People deserve to know.

Maybe George Soros could provide a statement on why there's no routine field testing in the organic biz. After all, he's heavily invested in all of this.

The cost of test-based organic certification is one-tenth the cost of the current bureaucratic system. So I’m having a really hard time understanding why we can’t just do a single test on every farm and processing facility once year. Hell... we could test every organic farm in North America ten times a year and still break even; so why not perform just one test on every farm? C'mon... and get rid of the useless paperwork and fees?

Sadly, the real reason my detractors reject routine field testing and only support spot testing is because they represent interests (Soros) that benefit greatly from all the cheap imports from farms in countries like China which they know full well would never stand up under scientific scrutiny. But they can’t very well admit to that, so instead they attack my character.

This and lot more about Soros's plan to undermine the North-American food economy through front groups like Cornucopia is all described in my book.



All the best my friends, and stay organic!

Mischa Popoff
Author of Is it Organic? The inside story of the organic industry
Some people won't like this book, but you will
Osoyoos BC Canada

Here's a summary response to Cornucopia's laughable charges...

1. Cornucopia states that you deny global warming…is that true? I do not believe modern-day farmers, whether organic, conventional, biodynamic or otherwise, are in any way responsible for global warming.
2. They state that the title of “Advanced Inspector” with IOIA does not exist.  Is this true? I have two certificates from IOIA indicating that I am an Advanced Inspector
3. Are you a current member of IOIA? No, IOIA has denied me membership. Fortunately though, the training they provided me over the years remains valid. Education does not have an expiry date.
4. Are you a member of the ultra-conservative Hudson Institute? No
5. How about The Hoover Institution? No
6. The Heartland Institute? No
7. Or The Competitive Enterprise Institute? No
8. You state that you are not a paid lobbyist. Do you in any way support, assist, or agree with any “right-winged” lobbying groups (on an un-paid basis)? Only if you consider the Christian Church to be “right-winged.” I am not paid by anyone and have asked Cornucopia to post their financial statements on their website to prove they're not receiving funding from individuals like George Soros whose stated goal is to bring down the American economy. They have not done so.
   
9. Cornucopia says it is “false and highly objectionable” to assert that "everything’s just fine in the organic industry as long as the paperwork’s all in order, the fees are paid, and no one blows the whistle." Can you prove your statement? Certification without scientific testing is, by its very nature, a free-for-all. Wealthy importers benefit and small family farmers suffer.
10. Cornucopia claims to support random testing in addition to farm inspections and audits of record-keeping. Why do you still disagree with them? Because they only want spot testing and they want to keep the whole organic bureaucracy intact. Instead, we should move to routine,unannounced field testing as a replacement to all the bureaucracy. After all, it will cost one-tenth what the current system costs. We all know it doesn't matter what someone writes down on paper; all that matters is the results of a lab test. That's why President Clinton and the American Consumers Union wanted routine,unannounced field testing in 1997. Sadly, the concept was lobbied into oblivion by individuals like George Soros, George Siemon and by organizations like Cornucopia.