The USDA cracks!

Vegetarian Times, August, 1998 by Cristin Marandino

Last December, the United States Department of Agriculture (USDA) ignited a firestorm of controversy when it released its proposed National Organic Standards. Given that fewer than half the states enforced regulations governing what the term "organic" meant, the proposal was the USDA's attempt to ensure that organic products nationwide met consumer expectations of safety and nutrition.

At first glance, the proposal looked good. It banned pesticides from raw organic products; it mandated that processed foods contain 95 percent organic ingredients; and it required labels to state whether a product contained less than 95 percent organic ingredients. But upon closer inspection, the proposal was found to be seriously flawed for ignoring what's now known as "the big three": irradiation, genetic engineering and the use of sludge (biosolids) as fertilizer. Thankfully however, before it was considered final, USDA secretary Dan Glickman invited the public to comment.

At press time, the agency had received more than 200,000 comments urging it to redraft the proposal. USDA officials took notice. As a result, a revision will be published in the Federal Register and be available for public comment later this year. Although Glickman did not go into details for the reasons behind the redraft, he did concede that the organic food industry should not permit these controversial processes. He explained that the proposal would be revised to exclude "the big three" from organic practice. "Biotechnology, irradiation and biosolids are safe and have important roles to play in agriculture," he said in a prepared statement. "But they neither fit the current organic practices nor meet the consumer expectations about organics, as the comments made clear."

"This is great news for consumers," says Katherine DiMatteo, executive director of the Organic Trade Association (OTA), the Greenfield, Mass.-based organization that represents nearly 800 organic growers and businesses. "We're elated that the USDA recognized that the only acceptable federal standard for organic must meet or exceed current industry standards."

We may no longer have to worry about our veggies being zapped, cloned or grown in fecal matter, but the OTA and others are still campaigning for additional issues. Among them: stringent guidelines for animal feed and treatment, lowered certification fees for farmers and the ability for state authorities to impose stricter standards than those set by the USDA. Says DiMatteo, "We will continue to lobby the USDA, Congress and the White House to maintain the organic standards already established by the industry and its farmers."

For more information, contact the OTA at (413)'774-5484 or see "Food Fight," Vegetarian Times, April 1998.