COG Newsroom
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On January 31st in New York City, the Canadian Organic Growers (COG) will take part in the first phase of a court case filed to protect farmers from Monsanto’s GMO seed, which contaminates organic and non-GMO farmer's crops and opens them up to abusive lawsuits. In March, we signed onto a legal action against Monsanto. Click here to find out more about this important campaign. Click here to support the campaign. |
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Your Food, Your Choice: The Value of Organic
Saturday, February 18
9 am - 5 pm
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The national office has moved!
39 McArthur Avenue, Level 1-3
Ottawa, ON, K1L 8L7
Organic farmers' suit against Monsanto goes to hearing
A court hearing in New York City at the end of this month will determine if a "pre-emptive" lawsuit by a clutch of U.S. and Canadian organic producers against seed and ag chem firm Monsanto will go ahead.
U.S. District Judge Naomi Buchwald said she will hear oral arguments Jan. 31 in Manhattan on a motion by St. Louis, Mo.-based Monsanto to dismiss the suit filed last March 31 by a group of 83 farmers, seed growers and farm organizations...
Canadian plaintiffs attached to the suit include Ottawa-based Canadian Organic Growers (COG), Quebec advocacy group Union Paysanne, the Manitoba Organic Alliance, the Peace River Organic Producers Association and a number of producers in Saskatchewan, Alberta, Manitoba and Ontario.
"Monsanto's technology is harmful for organic producers and processors," COG executive director Beth McMahon said in a separate release this week. "To penalize our growers for GMO contamination adds insult to injury, and we won't back down from this fight."
Alfalfa a key battleground in organic farming war
Globe & Mail, April 22, 2011
Monsanto says its genetically modified seed will boost yields; organic farmers say it will spell the death of their young industry. To organic farmers like Larry Black, it represents the end of their blossoming industry.
To agricultural companies like Monsanto Co., it is a breakthrough technology that will help address dire food shortages in a rapidly growing world.
A war is escalating over genetically modified alfalfa - and depending on whom you talk to, either the fate of a sector or the future of millions hangs in the balance. The fight has emerged as a key battleground in the increasing tension between organic growers and biotech firms. With food prices rising and concerns mounting about global food demand, both sides have sharpened their attacks. Read more
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A crop of consequences
Eco Living, Supplement to the National Post, April 21 2011
The U.S. government has recently removed regulatory roadblocks for transgenic alfalfa and in Canada Monsanto’s Roundup Ready® (RR) alfalfa is one step away from approval. RR alfalfa has been genetically-engineered (GE) to tolerate glyphosate herbicides, an attribute that would allow farmers to apply weed controlling herbicides without risking crop damage. RR alfalfa will be sold under a Technology Agreement that prevents farmers from saving seeds for future crops and sales of branded Roundup herbicides are an integral part of Monsanto’s business model. Use of GE crops in the U.S. has been blamed for a significant increase in herbicide use. Read More (article on page 6)
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Organic Growers launch 'pre-emptive strike'
Western Producer, April 21, 2011
Canada’s largest organic farming organization has joined 59 other plaintiffs in a lawsuit aimed at preventing Monsanto from suing them over patent infringement.
Canadian Organic Growers is part of what’s being billed as a “pre-emptive strike” lawsuit filed in a federal district court in New York.
“We’re simply asking (Monsanto) to stop suing farmers when their patented product ends up in farmers’ fields,” said COG national director Laura Telford.
Monsanto Canada spokesperson Trish Jordan called the lawsuit a publicity stunt.
“We never have and we never will sue a farmer for adventitious presence,” she said...Read More
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Local organic insiders watching closely as Monsanto sued over seed patents
April 7, 2011, Guelph Mercury
Monsanto, the world’s largest seed and biotechnology company, is being jointly sued by American and Canadian organic farmers, seed businesses and agricultural organizations.
The lawsuit, filed by the Public Patent Foundation in the federal district court of Manhattan, is an effort to protect organic and conventional farmers from being accused by Monsanto of patent infringement when crops come to be influenced by the company’s genetically modified seed. The legal action is expected to take years to reach a conclusion. Read More
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Canadian organic growers in for the long haul
Better Farming, April 7, 2011
A Canadian organic organization has joined a United States-based lawsuit challenging Monsanto’s patents on genetically modified seeds.
Laura Telford, executive director of Canadian Organic Growers, Canada’s largest organic farming organization, says her organization joined the lawsuit in a show of solidarity with farmers everywhere. The Organic Growers are among 59 other farming associations, seed companies and farmers taking part in the lawsuit... Read More
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Farmers' political priorities
Toronto Star, April 12, 2011
Organic producers have a political wish-list as well, says Laura Telford, executive director of Canadian Organic Growers. While organic agriculture only accounts for 1.5 per cent of the Canadian industry, it is a quickly growing sector, she says.
“I think our issues have been mentioned, but do our members think they’re going to be addressed or met? I’m not convinced that that’s true,” says Telford.
Those issues include protection from genetic contamination due to genetically modified crops, a reward program for ecologically responsible agriculture and federal investment in marketing the two-year-old “Canada Organic” label... Read More
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Food now on plate for all federal parties
The Tyee, April 12, 2011
Voters are hungry for food policy. All five federal political parties apparently think so, given that each of them has made a national food strategy part of their platforms this election. It's a first, and food advocates across the country are pleased to see it.
Liberal leader Michael Ignatieff was out front, and now the NDP, Conservative, Bloc Quebecois and Green parties have followed suit with their own promises to support a Canadian food policy in some form or another...Read More
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Farmers take on Monsanto
March 30, 2011
In a law suit filed Tuesday, the Public Patent Foundation (PUBPAT), a Manhattan-based public interest law association, asks the court to consider whether Monsanto has the right to sue farmers for patent infringement if Monsanto's genetically modified seed lands on their farm. Dan Ravicher, PUBPAT’s Executive Director, said “It seems quite perverse that an organic farmer whose land is contaminated by transgenic seed could be accused of patent infringement, but Monsanto has made such accusations before and is notorious for having sued hundreds of farmers for patent infringement, so we had to act to protect the interests of our clients.” Read More
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Canadian Organic Growers respond to Mischa Popoff's book "Is it Organic?"
Realagriculture.com, November 26, 2010
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Organic Foods
October 14, 2010, Supplement to the Globe & Mail
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5 ways to go organic on a budget
July 2010, Best Health Magazine
If you find yourself standing in the produce aisle, trying to decide between the organic apples and the non-organic apples, consider this: while your "regular" apples might be less expensive, they can carry a hefty environmental and social price tag.
"Agriculture has a huge environmental footprint," says Laura Telford, national director of Canadian Organic Growers. "Getting things to market quickly can mean ignoring the environmental and social costs. These things will add up and have an huge impact on our health."... Read More
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Organic sector to adapt on-farm food safety plans
May 7, 2010, Country Guide
A national organic growers' group plans to pick five commodities for a project to see how best to adapt their current on-farm food safety systems to suit organic production.
The federal government on Saturday pledged almost $50,000 through its Integrated Food Safety Initiative for the Canadian Organic Growers Association (COG) to develop a strategy for determining how current on-farm food safety systems can best meet the "specific needs" of organic agriculture.
Five organic commodities will be chosen for this project "in consultation with organic farmers across the country," the government said in a release Saturday.
"This funding will go a long way to enable the organic sector to begin a dialogue with national agricultural commodity groups to customize on-farm food safety programs to meet the specialized needs of organic farmers," COG executive director Laura Telford said in the government's release.
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A healthy, growing industry. Organic foods
November 12, 2009, Supplement to the Globe & Mail
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Health benefits outweigh the cost of organic eating
August 12, 2009, Insidetoronto.com
Organic food production as a holistic production system focuses on improving the soil by not adding fertilizers and other chemicals, said Laura Telford, national director of Canadian Organic Growers, a federally incorporated charity that promotes organic growing as a social good.
"We think organics has major benefits, particularly environmental, and that it's on society's good to promote organic methods," she said.
Simply put, healthy soil equals healthy plants and organic farmers believe in working with nature's natural processes, not adding things to the soil. Read More
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Canadian Organic Growers' response to Food Standards Association Study
August 4, 2009
In late July, an advance copy of an article (Nutritional quality of organic foods: a systematic review Alan Dangour, at the London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine, funded by the United Kingdom's Food Standards Agency) slated for publication in a September issue of The American Journal of Clinical Nutrition was released to great sound and fury in the media. The report stated that organically grown foods contain no more nutritional value than conventionally grown foods. Below is Canadian Organic Growers’ response to that study...Read more
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Organic Industry Gets Ready for New Federal Rules Governing "Organic"
Feb 10, 2009
Canadian Organic Growers, the Organic Trade Association in Canada and the International Organic Inspectors Association have teamed up with the Canadian Food Inspection Agency to help get Canada’s organic industry up to speed on new federal rules governing organic. ... Read more
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Press Conference on Parliament Hill with NDP MP Paul Dewar
Feb 14, 2008
Canadian Organic Growers applauds Paul Dewar’s private members bill as an important step to reclaiming our food system. Canadians have a right to know what they’re eating and a right to know that the food that they’re eating is not contributing to the degradation of their health and the ecosystems of which they are a part. ... Read more
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Canadian Organic Growers’ response to the proposed Organic Products Act
Nov 15, 2006
We believe that a federal regulation is a necessary first, though far from last, step for building a viable organic sector in Canada. We see organic agriculture not only as an essential tool to help move Canadian agriculture into the 21st century, but we believe that it can help our government meet its environmental objectives and give Canadians the traceable and accountable food system they want. Globally, the most successful organic regimes have received a considerable amount of government support beyond regulatory controls. These initiatives are designed to ensure adequate domestic production and reliable markets. We hope the Canadian government will demonstrate similar leadership. An important first step will be to ensure that adequate resources are allocated to not only implement the regulation, but to help raise public awareness of the new organic label. ... Read more
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Canadian Organic Growers Releases Report on the State of Organic Production in Canada
October 23, 2006
OTTAWA, Ontario, Canada (October 23, 2006): Canadian Organic Growers (COG), Canada’s largest national organic organization, today released its analysis of the organic farming sector in Canada in 2005. These data were collected with the help of Canada’s organic certification bodies (CBs). According to Anne Macey, the report’s author, “This year’s results provide mixed signals about the health of the organic sector. Certain parts of the country, such as British Columbia continue to show strong growth, while growth in others appears to be slowing down.” ... Read more
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Canadian Organic Growers applauds new organic regulation
September 5, 2006
OTTAWA, Ontario, Canada (Sept. 5, 2006): Canadian Organic Growers (COG), Canada’s largest national organic organization, applauds the Government of Canada’s new organic products regulation (available at www.cog.ca). “The organic regulation will help put Canadian agriculture on the path towards sustainability” said Janine Gibson, COG’s national President. “The regulation and the new Canada organic label will not only make it easier for Canadian consumers to identify home grown organic products, it will also create new market opportunities that will bring more farmers into the system. This is good news for both the environment and the consumer.” ... Read more
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Canadian Organic Growers Responds to proposed changes to the Plant Breeders’ Rights Act
February 2005
Prepared by Anne Macey assisted by members of COG's Seeds Review Committee: Irena Knezevic, Peter Johnston, Chris Wells, Lloyd Strachan, Tom Manley, Jean Arnold, Celia Guilford. Also thanks to the following people who reviewed the document and/or made helpful suggestions: Brewster Kneen, Sharon Rempel, Dan Jason, Harro Wehrmann. When PBR legislation was proposed COG and many individual farmers and growers as well as consumers, made submissions to the Prime Minister and the Agriculture Minister in 1988 and to the Chair of the Legislative Committee on Bill C-15 in 1989. It is interesting and informative to note the concerns COG expressed at that time, the government's response, and today's reality after 14 years of implementation of the legislation. (These are set out below). COG was opposed to the PBR legislation in principle. Among other things we believed it would encourage the escalating use of chemicals in agriculture rather than encouraging the development of seed varieties which promote sound agricultural practices. At that time 50% of all "new varieties" of some crops were genetically engineered (GE) and being developed for tolerance to herbicides. COG’s suspicions proved correct as many of the “new varieties” that have been introduced are indeed GE and have caused an increased use of herbicides on Canadian farms. Although corporate-funded scientists would have us believe that GE foods are safe, virtually all of the independent research done on GE crops raises questions associated with risks to human health, soil quality, biodiversity, pollution, and increased input costs to farmers. Read more
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Report of the Standing Senate Committee on Agriculture and Forestry
December 2004
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Canadian Organic Growers appears before Senate Committee on Agriculture and Forestry
April 22, 2004