President Trump and the USDA must protect farmers

by Lisa Stokke
Op-ed, The Hill

This week, the National Organic Standards Board (NOSB) is meeting in Jacksonville, Fla., to decide whether or not to redefine organic to remove soil as the foundation for organic farming. The NOSB is the USDA committee that advises on the standards for organic labeling. A host of organic farmers will be there to meet them. These farmers are defending the value of traditional organic farming in the face of corporate lobbyists opposing them.

 Farmers voted overwhelmingly for President Trump in the election, but already his administration has shown it will side with the big corporations that are impoverishing them. In the first day of the Trump presidency, new animal welfare reforms in the National Organic Program were withdrawn “for further study.” Just last week Trump’s USDA, at the behest of the big producers, got rid of a rule allowing farmers to challenge predatory and retaliatory practices by multinational corporations. This policy locked many farmers into unfair contracts that are driving them deeper into debt.