Leader of largest US organic food fraud gets 10-year term

[Eugene]

Last edited Wed Aug 21, 2019, 11:34 AM - Edit history (1)

Update - August 21: Coroner: Leader of large organic food scheme dies by suicide (Associated Press)

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Source: Associated Press

Leader of largest US organic food fraud gets 10-year term

By RYAN J. FOLEY
August 16, 2019

CEDAR RAPIDS, Iowa (AP) — A judge on Friday sentenced the mastermind of the largest known organic food fraud scheme in U.S. history to 10 years in prison, saying he cheated thousands of customers into buying products they didn’t want.

U.S. District Judge C.J. Williams said Randy Constant orchestrated a massive fraud that did “extreme and incalculable damage” to consumers and shook public confidence in the nation’s organic food industry.

Williams said that, between 2010 and 2017, consumers nationwide were fooled into paying extra to buy products ranging from eggs to steak that they believed were better for the environment and their own health. Instead, they unwittingly purchased food that relied on farming practices, including the use of chemical pesticides to grow crops, that they opposed.

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The farmers grew traditional corn and soybeans, mixed them with a small amount of certified organic grains, and falsely marketed them all as certified organic by the U.S. Department of Agriculture. Most of the grains were sold as animal feed to companies that marketed organic meat and meat products.

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Read more: https://apnews.com/9dbce7d3c042402b92ab5dfcce7e3cb9

[empedocles]

1. There is more to this fraudulent chain it would seem?

[Farmer-Rick]

2. I suspect this even on the small scale

Just too many organic farmers putting out the exact same crap as chemical farmers.

I use to attend a very successful Farmer's Market. But when I saw an organic farmer's tomatoes bounce across the black top road, I knew something was wrong.

Be careful of the stuff being marked organic....especially if the price is too good to be true.

I'm thinking about developing an at home test for organic produce. There are about 3 chemicals that chemical farmers use routinely to get those perfect veggies. It wouldn't be 100 percent accurate but it would be close.