The Organic Consumers Association is a left-of-center nonprofit organization that advocates for tightening the United States Department of Agriculture (USDA) criteria for labeling food products as organic. The association aims to stymie the sale of genetically engineered foods and other products associated with the use of pesticides and livestock antibiotics. ¹  

In the wake of the COVID-19 pandemic, the association has published material and launched a publicity campaign expressing concern and skepticism regarding available vaccines and alleging that the virus was manufactured in a laboratory. ^{2 3}

OCA has opposed the use of zero carbon nuclear energy. ⁴

Background

The Organic Consumers Association was founded by activist Ronnie Cummins and his wife Rose Welch in September 1998 in Finland, Minnesota as a tax-exempt, nonprofit educational organization. The association was founded following news coverage of an ultimately unsuccessful Department of Agriculture (USDA) proposal to allow certain food products, particularly genetically modified crops, to be characterized as organic. ^{5 6}

Campaigns

Opposition to Monsanto

During the 1990s, the Organic Consumers Association began an advocacy campaign against the American agrochemical and agricultural biotechnology company Monsanto, which the association later termed “Millions Against Monsanto.” Beginning in 2012, the association organized and fundraised in support of various citizen ballot initiatives in California, Washington, and Oregon, which sought to required that foods derived from genetically modified organisms (popularly known as GMOs) be labeled as such. ⁷

In April 2017, the association worked with Beyond Pesticides to sue Monsanto over its leading weedkiller product, RoundUp. The lawsuit alleged that the company had made false claims by stating that the product targeted an enzyme found in plants when it was in fact found in people and animals as well. On March 30, 2018, the U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia ruled against the Monsanto corporation’s motion to dismiss the lawsuit. ^{8 9}

Boycott Big Meat

In July 2020, the association launched the “#BoycottBigMeat” campaign with left-of-center environmentalist partners including the Socially Responsible Agricultural Project, Regeneration International, and the National Coalition of U.S. Farmers and Ranchers for a Green New Deal. The campaign aims, through public relations and lobbying efforts, to pivot the United States from general economic reliance on centralized meat production practices towards more decentralized, less industrialized forms of production. ¹⁰

COVID-19 Activism

Following the outbreak of the COVID-19 pandemic, Organic Consumers Association launched a “Right to Know” campaign in an effort to provide “the best health-related information and resources” on minimizing both the risk of infection and severity of symptoms. ¹¹ One emphasis was placed on improving “overall health,” through good nutrition and boosting vitamin D levels. ¹² Another focus of the campaign was uncovering the origin of Covid-19. The campaign alleged that Covid-19 was the product of ““gain-of-function” research conducted in a lab using genetic engineering and animal experimentation,” ¹³ whilst blaming “industrial agriculture” as a potential source of future pandemics. ¹⁴

Association cofounder and international director Ronnie Cummins co-authored a book with controversial physician Joseph Mercola featuring a forward by environmentalist lawyer and anti-vaccine activist Robert F. Kennedy Jr. The book, entitled The Truth About COVID-19: Exposing the Great Reset, Lockdowns, Vaccine Passports, and the New Normal, was published by Chelsea Green Publishing on April 28, 2021. ^{15 16}

Opposition to Nuclear Energy

In May of 2021, OCA was one of 715 groups and businesses listed as a co-signer on a letter to the leadership of the U.S. House and Senate that referred to nuclear energy as a “dirty” form of energy production and a “significant” source of pollution. The letter asked federal lawmakers to reduce carbon emissions by creating a “renewable electricity standard” that promoted production of weather dependent power sources such as wind turbines and solar panels, but did not promote low carbon natural gas and zero carbon nuclear energy. ¹⁷

Nuclear power plants produce no carbon dioxide or other greenhouse gas emissions, and as of 2021 accounted for 19 percent of American electricity production—the largest source of zero carbon electricity in the United States. ¹⁸ An October 2018 proposal from The Nature Conservancy noted that zero-carbon nuclear plants produced 7.8 percent of total world energy output and recommended reducing carbon emissions by increasing nuclear capacity to 33 percent of total world energy output. ¹⁹

People

Ronnie Cummins is the co-founder and international director of the Organic Consumers Association. Prior to cofounding the association, Cummins was the campaign director for the Foundation on Economic Trends in Washington, D.C, a nonprofit that primarily aims to promote and disseminate the views of radical-left economist Jeremy Rifkin. ^{20 21}

1. “Boycott Big Meat.” Organic Consumers Association. Accessed 30, 2021. https://www.organicconsumers.org/campaigns/boycott-big-meat
2. “The Truth About COVID-19: Exposing The Great Reset, Lockdowns, Vaccine Passports, and the New Normal.” Chelsea Green Publishing. Accessed August 30, 2021. https://www.chelseagreen.com/product/the-truth-about-covid-19/
3. Butler, Kiera. “Inside the Anti-GMO Movement’s Obsession With Virology Research and Lab Leaks.” Mother Jones. June 14, 2021. Accessed August 30, 2021. https://www.motherjones.com/politics/2021/06/inside-the-anti-gmo-movements-obsession-with-virology-research-and-lab-leaks/
4. Letter from Center for Biological Diversity et. al. to U.S. Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer, U.S. House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, Sen. Joe Manchin, and Rep. Frank Pallone. “RE: CONGRESS SHOULD ENACT A FEDERAL RENEWABLE ELECTRICITY STANDARD AND REJECT GAS AND FALSE SOLUTIONS.” May 12, 2021. Accessed July 25, 2023. https://www.biologicaldiversity.org/programs/energy-justice/pdfs/2021-5-12_600-Group-Letter-for-RES.pdf?_gl=1*1c9h3t8*_gcl_au*MTc3NjM3MTM1Mi4xNjg5OTU1MzAz
5. Organic Consumers Association. ProPublica. Accessed August 30, 2021. https://projects.propublica.org/nonprofits/organizations/411908341
6. “About OCA.” Organic Consumers Association. Accessed August 30, 2021. https://www.organicconsumers.org/about-oca
7.  “Beyond Pesticides, et al v. Monsanto Co, et al: Memorandum Opinion.” United States District Court for the District of Columbia. March 30, 2018. Accessed August 30, 2021. https://www.organicconsumers.org/sites/default/files/5.1.18_memorandum_order_denying_mtd.pdf
8. “Beyond Pesticides, et al v. Monsanto Co, et al: Memorandum Opinion.” United States District Court for the District of Columbia. March 30, 2018. Accessed August 30, 2021. https://www.organicconsumers.org/sites/default/files/5.1.18_memorandum_order_denying_mtd.pdf
9. “Millions Against Monsanto.” Organic Consumers Association. Accessed August 30, 2021. https://www.organicconsumers.org/campaigns/millions-against-monsanto
10. “Boycott Big Meat.” Organic Consumers Association. Accessed 30, 2021. https://www.organicconsumers.org/campaigns/boycott-big-meat
11. “COVID-19.” Organic Consumers Association. Accessed September 14, 2021. https://www.organicconsumers.org/campaigns/covid-19
12. “COVID-19.” Organic Consumers Association. Accessed September 14, 2021. https://www.organicconsumers.org/campaigns/covid-19
13. “COVID-19.” Organic Consumers Association. Accessed September 14, 2021. https://www.organicconsumers.org/campaigns/covid-19
14. “COVID-19.” Organic Consumers Association. Accessed September 14, 2021. https://www.organicconsumers.org/campaigns/covid-19
15. “The Truth About COVID-19: Exposing The Great Reset, Lockdowns, Vaccine Passports, and the New Normal.” Chelsea Green Publishing. Accessed August 30, 2021. https://www.chelseagreen.com/product/the-truth-about-covid-19/
16. Butler, Kiera. “Inside the Anti-GMO Movement’s Obsession With Virology Research and Lab Leaks.” Mother Jones. June 14, 2021. Accessed August 30, 2021. https://www.motherjones.com/politics/2021/06/inside-the-anti-gmo-movements-obsession-with-virology-research-and-lab-leaks/
17. Letter from Center for Biological Diversity et. al. to U.S. Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer, U.S. House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, Sen. Joe Manchin, and Rep. Frank Pallone. “RE: CONGRESS SHOULD ENACT A FEDERAL RENEWABLE ELECTRICITY STANDARD AND REJECT GAS AND FALSE SOLUTIONS.” May 12, 2021. Accessed July 25, 2023. https://www.biologicaldiversity.org/programs/energy-justice/pdfs/2021-5-12_600-Group-Letter-for-RES.pdf?_gl=1*1c9h3t8*_gcl_au*MTc3NjM3MTM1Mi4xNjg5OTU1MzAz
18. “Nuclear explained.” U.S. Energy Information Administration. Accessed July 25, 2023. https://www.eia.gov/energyexplained/nuclear/us-nuclear-industry.php
19. “The Science of Sustainability.” The Nature Conservancy. October 13, 2018. Accessed July 25, 2023. https://www.nature.org/en-us/what-we-do/our-insights/perspectives/the-science-of-sustainability/
20. “The Foundation on Economic Trends.” The Office of Jeremy Rifkin. Accessed August 30, 2021. https://www.foet.org/about/foundation-on-economic-trends/
21. “Staff: Ronnie Cummins.” The Organic Consumers Association. Accessed August 25, 2021. https://www.organicconsumers.org/staff