On the recordFebruary 15, 2011
I represent the largest number of organic growers in the United States and the headquarters of Earthbound Farm, which is the largest shipper of organic produce in the United States. And what concerns me is that you totally wiped out the program, zeroed it out. It is organic transition grants. One, they are competitive because they are grants. Two, it's about people transitioning from traditional agriculture, which is agriculture that uses pesticides, herbicides, and so on, into organic, where you have to lay your land fallow, which means that you can't, for 3 years, use any of those fumigants on your land. That is what this money goes to, to help you transition. It is not major agriculture that needs these transition grants. It's the really small farmer who finds, as was stated previously, an organic niche that they want to sell to, and they need some assistance both in research and how do you get certified. Because in order to be organic, you have to go out there and have people test everything and be certified as organic before you are allowed to use the 'organic' label on your marketing. So it's a small amount of money, but to zero it out I think is just going too far. I support the amendment.
