Living on the Earth, June 2, 2000: The New Organic Standards Need Fixing As organic food enters the mainstream via the USDA's new national standards, many of the organic agricultural principles and food system concerns which were important to its pioneers may end up diluted or even totally ignored. These standards provide the rules by which private and state organizations will certify farms and food as organic. They are somewhat better than the USDA's first attempt back in 1997. However, the new standards contain loopholes which could allow the use of genetic engineering, irradiation, sewage sludge and animal factories. They also will likely harm the small-and medium-sized organic farms and non-profit farmer organizations which began the organic movement. With these standards, about half of the current organic farms in New York and Connecticut will not have to be certified at all because their sales are less than the $5,000 level above which certification is required. This will create unfair and confusing situations at farmer's markets where one farmer has to pay high fees and be inspected while another need only verbally affirm his practices just because of a few-hundred-dollar difference in sales receipts. The standards were supposed to correct this kind of confusion. The new standards should facilitate large-scale, industrial, organic agriculture and exports of organic products. Ecosystems, farm workers and consumers will benefit if more and larger farms use fewer toxic pesticides and chemical fertilizers as a result of these standards. Unfortunately, this success will come at the expense of many of the values that organic pioneers consider critically important. High certification fees and extensive record-keeping requirements will encourage large-scale monocultures. They will discourage the integration of plants and animals and the diversity of crops which are required for a truly ecological agriculture. The standards will do nothing to address the treatment of farmworkers, fossil-energy use, wasteful packaging or the preservation of local farms. The rules for organic compost are unnecessarily strict for small farms and exclude vermiculture, or composting with worms. And, there is no provision for ongoing improvment in the standards. Worse yet, the new standards make organic farmers bear the responsibility for and costs of contamination by pesticides or genetically-engineered pollen drifting from conventional farms. The polluters get away free and the harmed have to pay and pay. The USDA is accepting comments on these standards until June 12, one week from next Monday. If you care about these issues, now is the time to send your comments to the USDA. Look below for links to the USDA and other organizations which can provide more information. Your comments are important. This is Bill Duesing, Living on the Earth (C)2000, Bill Duesing, Solar Farm Education, Box 135, Stevenson, CT 06491 >From the SANET-mg list (http://www.sare.org/san/htdocs/hypermail): You can comment in 3 ways (deadline June 12, 2000): via the Internet at: www.ams.usda.gov/nop/, by fax to: 703-365-0760, by postal mail to: Keith Jones, Program Manager, National Organic Program, USDA-AMS-TMP-NOP, Room 2945-So, Ag Stop 0275, P.O. Box 96456, Washington, D.C. 20090-6456. Whichever way you comment, be sure to refer to Docket Number TMD-00-02-PR. For more info and to get involved: Check these for quick guides to the main problems. They have more detailed explanations and language you can cut & paste from: www.purefood.org/newsletter/biod26.cfm (BioDemocracy News #26 April 2000) www.SustainableAgriculture.net/action_needed.htm www.centerforfoodsafety.org/facts&issues/orgrule.html www.purefood.org/Organic/stdprobs.cfm BioDemocracy Campaign/Organic Consumers Association 6114 Highway 61, Little Marais, Minnesota 55614 phone: (218) 226-4164, Fax: (218) 226-4157, email: [EMAIL PROTECTED] web: www.purefood.org To subscribe to the free Organic View electronic newsletter, send an email to: [EMAIL PROTECTED] with the simple message: subscribe National Campaign for Sustainable Agriculture P.O. Box 396, Pine Bush, NY 12566 phone: (914) 744-8448, Fax: (914) 744-8477, email: [EMAIL PROTECTED] web: www.SustainableAgriculture.net The Center for Food Safety 666 Pennsylvania Ave, SE, Suite 302, Washington DC, 20003 Phone: 202-547-9359 Fax: 202-547-9429 E-Mail: [EMAIL PROTECTED] web: www.centerforfoodsafety.org If you're very short on time, download www.centerforfoodsafety.org/OrganicWatch.pdf print it, put your name & address and a stamp on it, and drop it in the mail. Bill and Suzanne Duesing operate the Old Solar Farm (raising NOFA/CT certified organic vegetables) and Solar Farm Education (working on urban agriculture projects in southern Connecticut and producing "Living on the Earth" radio programs). Their collection of essays Living on the Earth: Eclectic Essays for a Sustainable and Joyful Future is available from Bill Duesing, Box 135, Stevenson, CT 06491 for $10 postpaid or from any bookseller. Now in its tenth year, "Living on the Earth" airs at 6:53 Friday mornings on WSHU, 91.1 FM Public Radio, serving Connecticut and Long Island. Essays from 1995 to the present, and an audio version of this week's essay are available at www.wshu.org/duesing. Distribution of these essays is encouraged. Reprinting rights available by request. If you are interested in receiving these weekly essays do nothing more. If you would like not to receive these mailings, please let me know.
