Organic: Mountains or Mole Hills?

It seems like organic food is on a winning streak with the recent signing of a full organic equivalency agreement between the USDA/NOP and the Canada/CFIA. This is the first ever such full equivalency agreement between any two nations to date. When I say “full equivalency agreement” I’m referring to the fact that the agreement is reciprocal. Double certification for products going between the countries is not necessary, as each certification is recognized by the other.

Before the hullabaloo of watering down the standards to the lowest common denominator are voiced, let me add that, each nation insisted on some exceptions for which compliance will need to be proven. This means each nation retains a higher standard for their own organic consumers. The US requires animals to be free of antibiotic treatments (Canada allows some exceptions). Canada does not accept the use of Sodium Nitrate as a fertilizer on soil used for growing organic food destined for the Canadian market. (US allows some limited use of SN). Canada also does not allow hydroponic or aeroponic production methods, and animals must be given specific minimum housing and pasture space per animal.

Equivalency with exceptions may be the best of both worlds, saving farmers certification cost, and maintaining high standards for consumer protection.

Canada’s own national organic program that was brought into full effect on June 30, 2009 was another milestone giving organic enthusiasts reason for celebration.

Of course all is not well and the recent article in the Washington Post on July 3rd; Purity of Federal ‘Organic’ Label Is Questioned, leaves ample hints as to what may not be functioning perfectly yet. The article brings up alleged discrepancies ranging from synthetics used in the manufacture of baby food to lack of enforcement by regulators. Responses to the article are starting to come in, and in the lead is the Organic Trade Association, claiming that the article is misguided. Sam Fromartz jumped in as well, and now we are all sitting on pins and needles waiting for what the non- industrial/family/local/ Food Guru, Michael Pollan will say!

Hot debate on issues of integrity in the organic movement is nothing new, and not likely to be something that will be resolved to everyone’s satisfaction anytime soon. As a matter of fact I think this feature of the industry (if we can call it that) is part and parcel of the success of the movement. After all, organic was started by folks who wouldn’t keep quiet, and they not only promoted discussion on what they felt was not all right, but they developed an alternative, now known as organic. It should come as no surprise that the debates go on. The difference is that now there is an audience. What was hotly debated across kitchen tables and in community halls is now reaching Washington Post’s entire distribution, and government officials and regulatory agencies and individual companies are being named and are under fire.

By far the weakest link in the organic movement is marketing the organic message, and although some good marketing efforts have been made by organizations and companies, the fact remains that the movement’s keen interest in organic integrity is always lurking shallow below the surface, ready to leap into action. Some have come to think of this as a monster, always threatening to leap and sacrifice the entire organic movement in exchange for another puritan victory. Developing a simple, positive and consistent marketing message with this integrity hound on the loose, can be a tricky business.
Let’s face it though; we have a double digit growth industry simply because of our dogged attention to organic integrity. I doubt any amount of slick marketing could have pulled off the growth of the last 10 years. Maybe we not only can live with the monster, but maybe we even need it to be there?

For those who don’t follow every nitty-gritty detail of the debate, may wonder if they are being had, and that organic is nothing more than a scam. Baby food sounds like synthetic stews, cheese has wood starch, and chilling with a beer could be the same as supporting chemical giants (non organic hops).

So who do we listen to? Do we have a problem the size of a mountain or a mole hill?

Looking back we know that initially organic is the application of a solution to a perceived problem. The problem gained widespread recognition with Rachael Carson’s 1962 book; Silent Spring, taking a deep and brave look at the persistence of pesticides. The early organic pioneers refined the organic growing and processing methods to a consistent, repeatable system, which then became the basis for the USDA/NOP and the new Canadian Organic Standard of today. Some of the problems organic provides answers for are; groundwater pollution from chemical fertilizers, pesticide residues getting into streams and leaving residues on food, and topsoil erosion due to “dead soil” from overuse of chemical fertilizer. Now science has verified that many pesticides are carcinogenic, and tests have shown residues to be present in the urine of children who eat non-organic products. Have the problems increased or decreased? Everywhere we turn we find synthetic toxic substances, genetic engineering, dependence on fossil fuels, more greenhouse gasses, loss of topsoil, nutrient deficiency, and increasingly a need for costly healthcare.

Those problems are looking like a growing mountain, not a mole hill.

I say we need to continue to improve on the details of the organic certification systems, even while hotly debating (in typical organic all-out-squalor style), while continuing to use the organic system that addresses these momentous problems.

In a quirky way organic success is fuelled by the problems of today, which don’t seem to be going away anytime soon.

I want solutions that will benefit me and my children and their children, and if consumers of food agree with me - well that settles it, organic is here to stay.

Washington Post article
OTA response
Sam Fromartz comment
  

Dag Falck is the Organic Program Manager at Nature’s Path Organic Foods.