The Organic Consumers Association (OCA) is a consumer protection and organic agriculture advocacy group based in Finland, Minnesota. It was formed in 1998 in the wake of the mass backlash by organic consumers against the U.S. Department of Agriculture's controversial proposed regulations for organic food. The OCA is an online non-profit public interest organization that has over 850,000 members in its database. The members include subscribers, volunteers, supporters, and 3,000 cooperating retail co-ops, such as in the natural foods and organic marketplace.
The OCA deals with wide range of current crucial issues for health, justice, and sustainability. The campaigns are issues of food safety, industrial agriculture, genetic engineering, children's health, fair trade, environmental sustainability and other crucial topics.
One of OCA's positions is that large corporations are undermining the intent of "organic" as an identifier by influencing the legislation and implementation of government standards, or by directly failing to meet existing standards. Through the OCA's Safeguard Organic Standards (SOS) Campaign and other organizations' cooperation, the organic community has been able to mobilize a great many consumers to pressure the USDA and organic companies to preserve organic standards. One of their campaigns in this regard is a call to boycott Dean Foods' Horizon Organic and Aurora Organic Dairy; as well as Dean Foods subsidiaries Silk and White Wave Foods, and private label milk supplied by Aurora.[1]
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Since 1972, various groups have worked to ensure a certain quality of organic foods. This campaign is concerned with large corporations which want to lower standards to claim their foods are "organic" and can market them accordingly and sell them to an unaware public. The campaign targets various companies, including Horizon and Aurora organic dairy products, such as the brand Silk (soy milk). Horizon's parent company, Dean Foods, makes White Wave Foods' tofu and Silk. Much of the soy in these products is sourced abroad, primarily from Brazil and China where environmental standards and workers' rights are routinely violated.[1]
The Organic Consumer Association received a low rating from the Charity Navigator organization. Between 2005 and 2006, OCA's program expenses accounted for 68% of the organization's spending. Charities typically allocate at least 75% of their revenue towards programs. Charities which operate below this value are not functioning as efficiently as possible. OCA has a modest budget, approximately $1,000,000 annually. [2]
| 2005 Expenses | Percentage |
|---|---|
| Programs | 67.55 |
| Administration | 16.5 |
| Fundraising | 15.95 |
Other organizations comparable to the OCA include: