Date of publication: August 4, 2008

Source: Food Chemical News

By Stephen Clapp

The Wisconsin-based Leonardo Academy has chosen a committee to develop

a sustainable agriculture standard for adoption by the American

National Standards Institute (ANSI).

Organic and small-scale farming are strongly represented on the panel,

which also includes representatives of major agribusiness trade

associations and well-known food companies such as Kellogg and General

Mills (see below).

Controversy has dogged the ANSI standard development process from its

inception. Critics of a draft standard for trial use (DSTU) earlier

speculated that representatives of conventional agriculture would

decline to participate on the committee because of perceived bias

against biotechnology and other new technologies (see FCN May 26, Page

20).

The Leonardo Academy reports receiving 175 applications from

individuals and organizations interested in serving on the voting body

for the standard. "We were very pleased with the quality and diversity

of applications received from all stakeholder categories (i.e.,

producers, users, environmentalists, and general interest) and across

all sectors of agriculture," the academy says, explaining that it had

increased the committee's size from 40 members to 58 "to ensure that

the voting body is broadly representative of the many, diverse sectors

of agriculture represented under the current draft standard."

Concerns remain

Russell Williams, regulatory relations director for the American Farm

Bureau Federation, tells Food Chemical News that he and other members

of an informal conventional agriculture task force remain concerned

about the makeup of the Standards Committee, however.

Williams, along with Kenneth McCauley, representing the National Corn

Growers Association, and Ronald Moore, representing the American

Soybean Association, were chosen to serve on the committee. "We hope

the apparent bias [against conventional agriculture] is only

superficial," Williams says, noting that there is no representative of

the livestock industry on the panel.

The Leonardo Academy has set Sept. 10 at an undetermined location for

the first meeting of the Standards Committee. "We'll reserve judgment

until we get there," Williams says.

Other members of the Standards Committee include the following:

Producers. Hans Brand, B&H Flowers, Inc.; Frans Wielemaker, Dole Fresh

Fruit International; Brian McElroy, Driscoll's Strawberry Associates,

Inc., John Foster, Earthbound Farm; James Knutzon, Farm Fresh Direct;

Luke Howard, Homestead Farms Inc.; Mark Yelanich, Metrolina

Greenhouses, Inc.; Mike Wanless, Napa Sustainable Wine Growers; Tracy

Miedema, Stahlbush Island Farms, Inc.

Users: Prudence Ferreira, Amy's Kitchen; Will Healy, Ball

Horticultural Company; Steve Lomax, Corn Refiners Association; Gene

Kahn, General Mills Inc.; Paul Noe, Grocery Manufacturers Association;

Diane Holdorf, Kellogg Company; Colleen Kohlsaat, Levi Strauss & Co.;

Timothy York, Markon Cooperative, Inc.; Cecil Wright, Organic Valley/

CROPP Cooperative; Tom Leckman, Sierra Flower Trading; William Pool,

Wegmans Food Markets; Margaret Wittenberg, Whole Foods.

Environmentalists: Ann Sorenson, American Farmland Trust; Steve

Apfelbaum, Applied Ecological Services; Ron Strochlic, California

Institute for Rural Affairs; Laurel Marcus, California Land

Stewardship Institute; Frank Casey, Defenders of Wildlife; Suzy

Friedman, Environmental Defense Fund; Taylor Reid, Michigan Organic

Food & Farm Alliance; Jonathan Kaplan, Natural Resources Defense

Council; Timothy Mahoney, Oxfam America; Jeff Moyer, Rodale Institute;

Molly Anderson, Wallace Center of Winrock International; Philip

Rasmussen, Jr., Western Region Sustainable Agriculture Research and

Education Center.

General Interest: Juan Carlos Isaza-Cassolis, Asocolflores; Casey Wash

Cady, California Department of Food and Agriculture; Betsy Peterson,

California Seed Association; Hector Quemada, Calvin College and Crop

Technology Consulting, Inc.; Marty Matlock, Center for Agricultural

and Rural Sustainability; Damara Luce, Coalition of Immokalee Workers;

David Pimentel, Cornell University; Bryan Endres, University of

Illinois at Urbana-Champaign; Alvin Bussan, University of Wisconsin-

Madison; Douglas Johnson, Environmental Intelligence, Inc.; Jim

Pierce, Food Trade Sustainability Leadership Association; Nora Ferm,

International Labor Rights Forum; Jacques Wolbert, MPS-ECAS; Grace

Gershuny, Organic Trade Association; Stan Pohmer, Pohmer Consulting

Group; John Kukoly, QMI-SAI Global; Linda Brown, Scientific

Certification Systems; Robert Guenther, United Fresh Produce

Association; James Barrett, University of Florida; Jim Jones, U.S.

Environmental Protection Agency; Hank Giclas, Western Growers; and Bill Wolf, Wolf, DiMatteo and Associates.