Welcome to Organic Pastures

In 2008, McAfee Farms along with 15 other California almond growers filed suit against the USDA. This lawsuit came after the California Almond Board with the backing of the USDA mandated that all almonds grown in CA be pasteurized. Cornucopia Institute helped to raise funds specifically earmarked for this litigation, but is no longer able to do so.

This legal battle in the federal courts has taken years to develop and mature. There have been wins and losses. Now, to win the battle, we all must join together to assure that our rights, as growers and consumers of unprocessed whole raw almonds is a fight we win. You can read more about this case and find the key legal documents at the Actions for Almonds website

Today in California, if you go buy a California raw almond at a store, it has been pasteurized, but yet it is labeled as raw. It is a lie and it is a fraud on the consumers. It has also hurt the farmers. Organic almonds used to be a strong market niche. Now, European farmers may sell “truly raw (not pasteurized) organic almonds” in CA, but California growers cannot do the same. The rule is discriminatory and it is not about food safety. If the concern were for food safety…then all almonds sold in CA would be required to be pasteurized. When this rule passed, the few studies that had been done were biased ones designed and carried out by and for the benefit of the Almond Board of California dominated by large almond handlers and growers that wanted this rule, that did not give a true picture of risk or the effects of pasteurization on the almond itself.

This litigation has the potential to affect other foods, not only almonds. It is about consumer food choice, food freedom, truth in labeling and nutrition.

Please donate to this fight. Little by little, growers are losing the ability to produce whole unprocessed foods and you as a consumer are losing the ability to buy unprocessed whole foods. This is a fight we all must support. Our win will send a message.

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FOOD SAFETY PLAN

Assuring food safety is an evolutionary journey. The effort, learning, observation, measurement, verification and educational processes never rest or cease.

-Mark McAfee
Founder, OPDC

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