Room for a view

Coming to Terms with
Organic Food

by Lorna Tychstup

organic 1. Of, pertaining to, or affecting an organ of the body; 2. Of, pertaining to, or derived from living organisms; 3. a. Using or grown with fertilizers and mulches, consisting only of animal or vegetable, with no use of chemical fertilizers or pesticides; b. Free from chemical injections or additives; c. simple, basic, close to nature.
The American Heritage Dictionary—New College Edition (1980)

 On December 7, 1997, the United States Department of Agriculture (USDA) released its proposal for national standards that would define, exactly, what organic agriculture would mean in the United States.
Known as the National Organic Rule, this proposal listed a clear set of standards that farmers and processors would have to follow in order for their products to be certified and labeled “organic”: a Ten Commandments of sorts that would protect those consumers interested in eating healthy and chemical-free food as well as legitimate producers of organic food. This followed the intent of the Organic Food Production Act of 1990, which was initiated to create such a national definition and set of standards, as well as to ensure consumer protection. Under this congressional act, the USDA appointed a National Organic Standards Board made up of organic farmers, consumers, health advocates and scientists: real people—not political bureaucrats—who came up with realistic standards consistent with real organic practices.
When the proposed Rule was released by the USDA that December, organic foods proponents were horrified. Virtually ignoring many of the standards recommended by the appointed national board, the proposed Rule conflicted with tougher European and Japanese standards and put the livelihoods of smaller farmers and certifiers at risk. As importantly, it also allowed the “Certified Organic” label to be placed on products grown from sewage sludge (biosolids) fertilizer and chemically treated seeds; products injected with synthetic substances, antibiotics and hormones, and genetically modified organisms (see “Gene Genie” by Jim Gordon, page 10 for an extended treatment of the genetically modified food issue); irradiated food (using depleted uranium from nuclear power plants); and meat and poultry from animals that had been confined. (In conventional agricultural methods, the growing trend has seen animals confined indoors for their entire lives. Animals organically raised spend most of their time in outdoor pastures, which organic farmers believe produces a healthier animal, as well as reducing pest and disease problems.)
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