We appreciate your concern and hope you will join with us to work on these issues.

Wholesome Harvest was honored in Sept 2005 with the "Spirit of Organics" award for leadership in the next generation of organics at the Biofach conference in Washington DC.

Campaign #1: "VOLUNTARY BSE TESTING SHOULD BE PERMITTED"

On Feb 13 2004, Wholesome Harvest decided it wanted to test all beef animals for BSE. This was for complete transparency for the consumer, to demonstrate our confidence in our vegetarian feeding system and traceability. The USDA is preventing us from voluntarily conducting this test. They are limiting and deciding which animals can be tested. If you think the government should not limit voluntary testing and be for safe food, please contact your government officials and let them know.

Campaign #2: "GET OUR MEAT AT YOUR NEIGHBORHOOD GROCERY STORE"

Statisticians say that if 14 consumers request a product from a grocery store manager, the manager begins to stock that product. Please tell your meat manager to carry our farmer-direct brand. Please give him or her a copy of our home page. Also, here is a letter you can edit and leave with the grocer:

Dear Store Meat Manager,

I am a shopper at your store. I would like to buy Wholesome Harvest organic certified meat. It is a brand you do not currently carry and it has advantages that I want, including:

• Pasture based production for better flavor and human nutritional value surpassing the USDA organic requirements which allow for confinement, feedlots and factory scale farming
• Donations to environmental charities with proceeds from the purchase
• A Fair Trade independent family farmer owned brand
• Large product line with many species and cuts
• Humane treatment of animals, giving them the space and environment they deserve
• Protection of our drinking water from high density animal production, forsaking potentially damaging feedlot and confinement systems

Please see their website for more information, www.wholesomeharvest.com and call 641-377-7777 to place an order.

Sincerely,

YOUR NAME

Campaign #3: Organic meat standards should be higher

Wholesome Harvest was honored to be asked to testify before the USDA National Organic Standards Board (NOSB) in 2002 as organic meat production standards were being discussed. The transcript presented by one of our farmers follows below.

Download NOSB testimony transcript (Adobe PDF format)

Unfortunately, the lobbying pressure of large processors resulted in no ban of factory farming or feedlots. Neither does the USDA organic seal means it was raised or butchered in the USA. Let your political representatives and your local store know what kind of organic meat you want to buy.

Campaign #4: Voluntary country of origin labelling

We think you deserve to know what country your meat is raised in, butchered and processed. Our product is voluntarily labeled, while mandatory labelling is held up in Washington DC.

Campaign #5: Domestic Fair Trade

Wouldn't it be great to see the Fair Trade seal on domestic products too, so you could help save the family farm and ensure that farm workers are treated fairly and profits shared justly? While we work for a domestic fair trade certifying agency, we are going ahead and voluntarily following the international principles of Fair Trade, with collaboration on price setting, transparency of finances to farmers, the option for farmers to become owners and share profits, and a farmer board leading the organization.