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Organic Cotton News Briefs

Organic Cotton Advertising Campaign at Academy of Art College
San Francisco, CA, May 2002
In addition to featuring organic cotton in the graduate fashion show, the AAC has also launched an ad campaign ("A Better Feeling")

Organic Cotton at Academy of Art College Graduate Fashion Show
San Francisco, CA, May 2002
At their graduate fashion show, on May 21st, Academy of Art College (AAC) students delighted their audience.....

A "Cleaner Cotton Campaign"
San Francisco State University
The Sustainable Cotton Project has launched a "Cleaner Cotton Campaign," which includes an effort to make university bookstores aware of organic cotton.....

Giorgio Armani's "green" spirit is embodied by Armani Jeans
This collection is about fashion which respects the environment...

Organic Fibers Highlighted at Premier West Coast Fashion Show and Sacks Fifth Ave
San Francisco, CA
Sustainable Cotton Project Promotes Use of Organic Fibers to Future Designers
Inspired by the Sustainable Cotton Project (SCP....

Study Examines Yield and Quality Potential of Organic Cotton
by Martha Brown for "CA/AZ/TX COTTON" magazine, April issue
With organic cotton often commanding....

The Sustainable Cotton Project encourages the next generation of fashion designers to use Organic Cotton
In addition to working with farmers, textile manufacturers, and the media to develop and promote organic cotton.....

Royal College of Art Organic Cotton Design Project
United Kingdom
Marks and Spencer have co-sponsored an organic cotton project ....

1998 Organic Cotton Tallies
USA
According to the OTA's Organic Fiber Council, 8,954 acres of organic cotton were produced in 1998. Sandra Marquardt, the Organic Fiber Council director, reports that the acreage was roughly equivalent to 1997 plantings. "Had it not been for El Niño," says Marquardt, "growers probably would have planted substantially more acres." Organic cotton is grown in five states (Arizona, California, Missouri, New Mexico, and Texas) and seventeen countries around the world.

Mainstream Manufacturers
USA
Beaverton, Oregon-based Nike is expecting to purchase 1500 bales of organic cotton in 1999 to incorporate into its year 2001 cotton sportswear deliveries. The company currently blends 3% organic fiber into millions of t-shirts and socks, and has set the goal of including 3% organic fiber into all cotton products by 2003. Thus far, Nike has not raised the price of these blended garments. Levi Strauss also blends organic cotton into its jeans. In 1998 the San Francisco firm purchased 670 bales of certified organic cotton fibers. They have released no commitment yet for 1999.

Calling Southern San Jaoquin Cotton Growers
California
The Sustainable Cotton Project's BASIC program has established a pilot project into the Bakersfield area in order to focus on particular issues related to the southern end of the valley. "We've put together a coalition that includes Bakersfield area farmers, agriculture extension, Rincon-Vitova beneficial insectary, and Univerity of California at Riverside personnel in an effort to create a locally tailored BASIC program," says SCP's founder Will Allen. Among the participants are entomologists Everett and Jan Dietrich, and veteran cotton farmers Roger and Sandy Sanders. BASIC is the acronym for the Sustainable Cotton Project's four-year old program Biological Agriculture Solutions in Cotton. For more information, call 530.589.2686.

From Field to Fashion
San Francisco
In late February 1999, Levi Strauss hosted From Field to Fashion: An Apparel and Textile Industry Forum on Environmental Issues in Cotton Agriculture in San Francisco. Major manufacturers, farmers, environmental activists and others showed up to discuss such topics as pesticide reduction, biotechnology, and the promise of organic techniques. Most importantly, SCP had the opportunity to continue forging vital links between manufacturers, farmers, mills and consumer groups in carrying out its mission of "cooperation for a change."

Not Just Champagne
California
Last year's repeal of the one variety law in California allowed cotton farmers in that state, for the first time since 1924, to plant other varieties besides Acala, the reputed champagne of cotton fibers. According to Will Allen, executive director of the Sustainable Cotton Project, this offers growers the opportunity to experiment with other fibers and new marketing possibilities. "Growers can now plant some of the shorter season varieties that defoliate naturally," says Allen. "In bad weather years, this may enable growers to produce higher yields in a shortened season. Other varieties may also allow farmers to test pesticide reduction strategies not previously possible due to the strict Acala-only regulations."
Growing Interest in Organic Cotton the Result of Successful 1998 Market Outreach Initiative

Farmer Outreach
California
For California farmers seeking pesticide reduction strategies, the Sustainable Cotton Projec's BASIC program (Biological Agriculture Solutions in Cotton) has just released their new 1999 video. The 10-minute video includes farmer and scientific testimonials and is aimed at encouraging northern San Jaoquin Valley growers to learn more about a four-year old project that can save money, reduce sprays and other innovative strategies.
For more information call 209.665.3925.

New Organic Cotton Book
England
At long last, British-based Pesticides Trust has released its book on the organic cotton industry, Organic Cotton: From Field to Final Producer. The book covers a variety of topics detailing the cotton production chain, including a number of case studies.
To get your copy, contact lgrose@aol.com

Cotton suicides
India
Excerpted from "Cotton, Pesticides and Suicides," by Jitedra Verma, posted in the Earth Island On-line Journal. Verma is a reporter for Down to Earth magazine.
"Since the beginning of the new year, not a single day has passed without one cotton farmer committing suicide," says a farmer in Warangal, where almost the entire standing cotton crop has been devastated, placing communities on the brink of starvation. Faced with a raging attack on the cotton crop by Spodoptera litura (tobacco cutworm) and Heliothis armigera (American bollworm), frantic Andhra Pradesh farmers were sitting ducks for pesticide suppliers offering to sell pesticides on credit. But the indiscriminate application of pesticides only led to increased resistance in pests. While pests continued to ravage crops, expenses mounted and the noose tightened. What followed was a spate of suicides. Despite the efforts of national and state agricultural research institutions, losses from pests were ranging from 10 to 30 percent, according to officials with the Indian Council of Agriculture Research (ICAR). On January 7, the government decided that loss of crops constituted a "national calamity" and began extending debt relief to farmers, a humiliating acceptance of the failure of crop science. Desperate farmers used pesticides in quantities that astounded even pesticide dealers, who reaped a rich harvest with sales of methomyl and other highly-poisonous pesticides. The powerful pesticide lobby was one of the chief promoters of the switch from sustainable, low-yielding traditional cultivars to cash crops like cotton that, because they are susceptible to a host of pests, require frequent applications of pesticides.

Academy of Art College
San Francisco, CA
The Academy of Art College in San Francisco will hold its final degree fashion show May 23rd 2000. The show will include final collections by students using organic fibers. In particular, Song Yeuk_s collection features organic linen and organic cotton in modern asymmetrical shapes. Tickets are limited but available from Melissa at Tel: 415 274 8699.

Marks & Spencer
United Kingdom
On May 1, 2000, the United Kingdom's largest retailer, Marks & Spencer will be launching its own organic cotton line in UK flagship stores. The program includes women_s children_s and home products in knits and wovens. This initial launch amounts to $6.5 million and will be shown in the following stores: London Marble Arch, Reading, Hedge End, Manchester, Cardiff, Kingston, Milton Keynes, Thurrock and Bath. In November 1997, SCP made a presentation about the organic to Marks & Spencer executives and staff as part of the Cleaner Cotton Campaign. In the fall of 1999, SCP hosted an organic cotton farm tour, allowing Marks & Spencer technical executives to meet with California organic cotton farmers. In anticipating a successful organic launch, Marks & Spencer is planning for future supplies of organic fiber and holding direct discussions with organic farmers to project the potential increase in organic acreage over the next three years.

International Textiles Magazine
United Kingdom
The April 2000 International Textiles Magazine will feature an article on organic cotton. The article compares industry activities in the early 1990's and the early 2000's. Consumer awareness of organic crops has increased significantly over the last decade, and this has spawned interest in organic cotton from large clothing companies. This movement is creating a secure market for organic fibers, which in turn is encouraging more farmers to transition from conventional to organic crops. Organic cotton is slowly becoming recognized as a valid alternative to genetically modified and heavily sprayed fiber crops.

Press Release

Growing Interest in Organic Cotton the Result of Successful 1998 Market Outreach Initiative
Richmond, CA
The niche market in organically grown cotton is likely to gain ground in 1999....