(NaturalNews) Three years after the USDA destroyed the U.S. raw almond business by forcing almond producers to fumigate or pasteurize their nuts, a significant victory has been achieved that could overturn that onerous regulation. A federal appeals court has ruled that California almond farmers
may now challenge the USDA regulation in the courts.
Why is this a victory? Because for years, a federal district court has ruled that almond growers
could not even challenge the rule. The USDA's power over
farmers was absolutely, the court seemed to say, and no mere peasants can challenge the King.
But today that has all changed. A
Cornucopia Institute press release announces the details of this court decision:
From the Cornucopia Institute...
See original release at
http://www.cornucopia.org/2010/08/federal-court-victory-almond-farmers-ca...WASHINGTON, DC – A federal appeals court ruled today, overturning a lower court decision, that a group of
California almond farmers have the right to challenge a
USDA regulation requiring the treatment of their
raw almonds with a toxic fumigant or steam heat prior to sale to
consumers. For the past three years, the U.S. Department of Agriculture has denied American consumers the right to buy raw
almonds, grown in the USA, when they shop in grocery and
natural food stores.
A group of
almond growers sued the government to challenge USDA's rule, but the federal district court ruled that courtroom doors were closed to the growers' claims. The controversial rule has cost individual farmers millions of dollars in lost sales since it was enacted in September 2007.
"We are delighted by the court's decision," said Will Fantle, Cornucopia's Research Director. Cornucopia has been coordinating the legal strategy for the farmers'
lawsuit. "At long last the farmers who have been injured by this rule will have the opportunity to stand in court and state why this poorly thought out regulation should be thrown out," Fantle added.
The USDA and the Almond Board of California imposed the
treatment scheme to minimize the risk of salmonella contamination outbreaks like those that had occurred with almonds in 2001 and 2004. USDA investigators were never able to determine how salmonella bacteria somehow contaminated the raw almonds that caused the
food illnesses but they were able to trace back one of the outbreaks, in part, to the country's largest "factory farm," growing almonds and pistachios on over 9000 acres.
Family-scale growers have argued that the onerous and expensive mandated treatment regime is only needed by the giant industrial producers, who have less control over the quality of their
nuts, and has hurt their market because it consumer resistance.
Many in the industry have questioned the logic exempting foreign-grown almonds from the treatment scheme. Imports have displaced raw domestic nuts in many major markets and retail locations across the U.S. This regulatory loophole is part of what has been crushing California producers.
"I am very happy with this first step in overturning this destructive regulation," said Nick Koretoff, an almond
farmer and plaintiff in the lawsuit. "The treatment mandate has been a financial catastrophe for me. My consumers want raw, untreated healthy almonds and I have been denied the opportunity to sell them what they want."
Attorney John Vetne, who has been representing the almond farmers, said the Appeals Court made a "very strong decision affirming farmers' rights." The USDA had been arguing that farmers did not even have the right to legally challenge
the USDA regulation. "We are pleased that the Appeals Court rejected USDA's argument that courthouse doors are closed to farmers. We now intend to demonstrate to the federal district court that USDA acted outside of authority granted by Congress when it denied California almond growers a consumer market for raw almonds," Vetne added.
Tens of thousands of consumers have expressed their discontent with the raw almond treatment rule in comments to the USDA. Organic and raw foods enthusiasts were particularly incensed that the nuts, despite being processed with propylene oxide (identified as a carcinogen by the federal EPA) or steam-heat, were still allowed to be labeled as "raw" -- many believe that essential nutrients in food can be destroyed by heat, radiation and
toxic chemicals.
The Cornucopia Institute, an organization known for its
research and defense of family farmers involved in organics, artisan and local food production, was impressed with how many consumers have a real passion for maintaining the availability of
raw food and nuts, including almonds, and have been willing to financially support the farmers in their legal challenge. "Contributions continue to flow in supporting this effort," Fantle noted.
"I and many of my friends look forward to the day when we will once again be able to easily purchase truly raw, authentic almonds from California in my local
store," said Joan Levin, a Chicago resident and raw foods consumer. "We hope this Appeals Court ruling brings that day closer," she said.
Learn more at:http://www.cornucopia.org/almonds/
About the author: Mike Adams is a natural health author and award-winning journalist with a passion for teaching people how to improve their health He has authored more than 1,800 articles and dozens of reports, guides and interviews on natural health topics, impacting the lives of millions of readers around the world who are experiencing phenomenal health benefits from reading his articles. Adams is an independent journalist with strong ethics who does not get paid to write articles about any product or company. In 2010, Adams co-founded NaturalNews.TV, a natural health video sharing site that has now grown in popularity. He also founded an environmentally-friendly online retailer called BetterLifeGoods.com that uses retail profits to help support consumer advocacy programs. He's also the founder of a well known HTML email software company whose 'Email Marketing Director' software currently runs the NaturalNews subscription database. Adams volunteers his time to serve as the executive director of the Consumer Wellness Center, a 501(c)3 non-profit organization, and practices nature photography, Capoeira, martial arts and organic gardening. He's also author of numerous health books published by Truth Publishing and is the creator of several consumer-oriented grassroots campaigns, including the Spam. Don't Buy It! campaign, and the free downloadable Honest Food Guide. He also created the free reference sites HerbReference.com and HealingFoodReference.com. Adams believes in free speech, free access to nutritional supplements and the ending of corporate control over medicines, genes and seeds.
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Wednesday, August 11, 2010
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