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A
Growing Movement
I
first heard the word from my grandfather back in the mid-’60s.
He had read Rachel Carson’s Silent Spring, had a subscription
to Organic Gardening magazine, and had adopted simple
gardening techniques that exalted the compost heap and minimized
chemical additives. For my grandfather, the best food around
was “organic,” and his source for such food was Walnut Acres
Organic Farm in Pennsylvania, one of the few places one could
purchase a variety of organic food back in those distant days.
It was delivered to his mailbox. Things have changed a lot
since I first heard him speak that word, “organic.”
Organic food, a minuscule part of the U.S. food economy back
in the mid-’60s, is now a rapidly expanding market. U.S. sales
of organic foods now approach $10 billion. This market has
been growing at a rate of more than 20 percent annually, with
no slowdown in sight. While my grandfather had limited options
for obtaining organic food, today there is a multitude of
products available from a burgeoning number of producers.
Once the select terrain of small-scale farmers, organic farming
has been invaded by a number of agribusiness operations lured
by the smell of potential profit. With so many new entrants
sprouting up in the organic market touting a range of definitions
for the word, a serious question needed to be raised: What
is organic?
In an attempt to sort out what is and what is not organic,
the U.S. Department of Agriculture has gone through a 12-year
review process aimed at clarifying the term’s use in the marketplace.
Under the Organic Food Production Act of 1990, the USDA was
directed to: 1) establish national standards for the marketing
of organic products, 2) assure that these standards are consistently
applied, and 3) facilitate the production of organically produced
foods. On the day of the winter solstice in 2000, the USDA
published national organic-food standards that went into effect
in April 2001 and were to be fully implemented by Oct. 21,
2002. All this should help consumers become a bit more organic-savvy
and (hopefully) make wiser decisions about the food they purchase
and eat.
Under the USDA’s regulations, there are four categories of
organic labeling. If a product’s total content is certified
as organic, it can carry the label “100-percent organic.”
If at least 95 percent of the products contents are organic,
it can use the label “organic.” Products that are at least
95 percent organic have the option of displaying the USDA’s
new green-and-white organic stamp. Products that contain at
least 70 percent organic contents can say “Made with organic
ingredients,” while those items with less than 70 percent
may identify organic contents only through listings of ingredients.
Carrying these labels requires that the organic contents are
certified as such by a USDA-accredited state agency or private
organization if product sales rise to at least $5,000 annually.
Those selling below this figure must still comply with the
regulations, though they are not subject to the certification
process. The Northeast Organic Farming Association of New
York is the only group in this state currently approved by
the USDA to certify organic products.
To be accredited as an organic farm, growers have to show
evidence that they have not used synthetic fertilizers, pesticides,
herbicides, genetically modified organisms, sewage sludge,
fungicides or growth regulators on their land for at least
three years. Organic livestock has to be shown to have been
raised on organic feed and have access to pasture, while not
being exposed to antibiotics, irradiation, growth hormones
or feed containing animal byproducts. Some small-scale farms
have indicated they will not seek certification due to the
costs involved, but the USDA has recently made funds available
for covering part of these costs.
For companies involved in the manufacturing and distribution
of organic products, the regulations require the certification
of their organic raw materials and set standards regarding
processing, packaging, storage and transportation. Food retailers
can sell items as organic only if there is a valid certification
that documents the product as organic and that these products
have not been packaged in materials, containers or bins contaminated
with fumigants, preservatives or synthetic fungicides.
But organic agriculture involves more than complying with
USDA regulations. It involves a perspective on food production
that is tied directly to the health of the soil and its supporting
environment. The impacts of organic farming go beyond the
production of good food. The National Organic Standards Board
(appointed by the USDA, the NOSB was a major contributor to
the new standards), adopted a definition of organic agriculture
as “an ecological production management system that promotes
and enhances biodiversity, biological cycles and soil biological
activity . . . based on minimal use of off-farm inputs and
on management practices that restore, maintain and enhance
ecological harmony.”
Research indicates that organic farming methods help reduce
greenhouse gas emissions by increasing carbon storage capacity
in the soil. These farming practices have also been found
to reduce the environmental burden of pesticides, herbicides
and other pollutants that contaminate the air, water and soil.
Some argue that organic farming may offer one of the last
refuges for the survival of the family farm, though agribusiness
behemoths like Archer Daniels Midland are making moves on
the market.
To find out more about the new USDA regulations on organics,
check out the National Organic Program at www.ams.USDA.gov/nop
or visit the Organic Trade Association at www.ota.com. Support
your local organic farmers and eat well!
—Tom
Nattell
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