Subject: PANUPS: New US Organic Cotton Org.
From: [email-masked] (PANNA InfoPubs)
Date: 30 Jul 1994 20:33:03 -0000
Newsgroups: alt.sustainable.agriculture

>From: PANNA InfoPubs <paninfopubs>

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  PESTICIDE ACTION NETWORK NORTH AMERICA UPDATES SERVICE
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New U.S. Organic Cotton Organization

July 29, 1994

	Representatives from every sector of the U.S. cotton 
industry -- from growers to post-harvest processors, 
environmental organizations to agricultural labor -- came 
together in June at a historic meeting, the result of which 
was the formation of a new industry group, the National 
Organic Cotton Association (NOCA).  In addition to being the 
only group to represent the growing organic cotton industry, 
NOCA is the first national agricultural industry organization 
to formally include non-farm environmental leaders in its 
national leadership. This effort constitutes a major step 
toward getting diverse and sometimes competing constituencies 
to collaborate, and is the culmination of several years of 
work by CIRS Rural Toxics Project Director Will Allen.
	Though there were a few tense moments, a spirit of 
compromise and cooperation prevailed among these different 
sectors who, in the past, have sometimes been at odds with 
one another. For the first time, groups as disparate as 
growers from California and Texas, manufacturers such as 
Esprit and Patagonia, unions such as Teamsters Local 890 and 
the United Farm Workers, and environmentalists were able to 
transcend their differences and forge an alliance that 
reflects the true face of the organic cotton industry.
	At the conference, held June 25 and 26 in Albuquerque, 
an interim board of directors was elected, with six members 
representing growers and agriculture, six members from the 
post-harvest side of the industry, and a single at-large 
member representing a non-farm environmental organization.  A 
major accomplishment was the appointment of a national public 
advisory board which will assist the organization by 
providing policy recommendations. The board will also help 
with the important task of informing the general public about 
organic cotton.
	NOCA also formed four member committees -- marketing, 
certification/standards, administration, and vision -- which 
convened meetings to develop specific work plans and elect 
chairpersons. The vision committee is unusual in that it 
addresses labor issues, as well as long-term planning and 
research direction.  Finally, NOCA assumed responsibility for 
the next National Transitional Organic Cotton Conference, 
although no date has been set.
 	The next NOCA general membership meeting will be held at 
the Beltwide Cotton Conference, January 4-7, 1995, in San 
Antonio, Texas. For more information about NOCA, please 
contact Rene Robin, interim executive director, at (510) 
649-1962.
Source: Rural California Report, Summer 1994.
Contact:  Don Villarejo, California Insitute for Rural 
Studies, Box 2143, Davis, CA 95617; phone (916) 756-6555; fax 
(916) 756-7429.

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The Pesticide Action Network Updates Service (PANUPS) is a 
pesticide-related news service posted weekly by the 
Pesticide Action Network North America Regional Center 
(PANNA). PANNA is located at 116 New Montgomery Street, 
#810, San Francisco, CA 94105. Tel: (415) 541-9140. Fax: 
(415) 541-9253. To receive a standard information packet 
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