Organic Consumers Association

Open Harvest has supported the Organic Consumers Association (OCA) since 1998 when it was founded to save organic standards from being radically degraded by the USDA. Open Harvest continues to support the OCA's efforts to provide education to consumers and protect organic standards.

The Organic Consumers Association (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. It is the only organization in the US focused exclusively on representing the views and interests of the nation's estimated ten million organic consumers.

The OCA represents over 500,000 members, subscribers and volunteers and hundreds of companies in the natural marketplace. The OCA's 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 Save Organic Standards Campaign, as well as the work of 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.

The Organic Consumers Association (OCA) promotes food safety, organic farming and sustainable agriculture practices in the U.S. and internationally. The OCA provides consumers with factual information they can use to make informed food choices. Genetic engineering, irradiation, toxic sludge fertilizer, mad cow disease, and rBGH are some of the issues we address. The OCA gives interviews and supplies background material for journalists, news organizations, and public interest activists worldwide. The OCA's campaign strategies include public education, activist networking, boycotts and protests, grassroots lobbying, media and public relations, and litigation. The OCA publishes one print newsletter (Organic View) and two electronic newsletters (BioDemocracy News and Organic Bytes). The OCA's National Director is Ronnie Cummins.

For more information, and to read BioDemocracy News, go to: OrganicConsumers.org