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Organic
Food Fight |
Posted:
2.08.06
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As organic foods grow in popularity, members of the big food
manufacturers are eager to get in on the action. But in doing
so, some companies have pushed to lower organic standards.
Printer-friendly versions: PDF
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Organic food has traditionally been associated with a certain
subculture: granola, health food and Birkenstocks. But lately
organic foods have been moving more into the mainstream.
In an industry where typical growth is around 1-2 percent, organics
have recently seen growth in the 20 percent range.
Some small organic companies have been bought by big "agribusiness"
companies, and supermarkets like Giant have begun to market organic
foods under their own store brands.
The most popular organic foods supermarket, Whole Foods, has
grown into a megastore with $4.7 billion in sales last year.
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What is organic? |
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Organic farming developed in response to the industrialization
of agriculture, beginning in the early 20th century.
 As
people began to see the effects of widespread fertilizer and pesticide
use on rivers and other animal species, they began to worry about
how those chemicals affected human health.
In 2002, the U.S. Department of Agriculture first defined national
standards for foods labeled as "USDA Organic." They
could contain only organic ingredients, meaning grown without
any synthetic chemicals, including pesticides, herbicides, or
fertilizers.
Organic foods also could not contain genetically modified organisms
(GMOs), crops whose genes had been manipulated in laboratories
to produce desired traits.
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Do strict
standards limit organic foods? |
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These strict standards made growing organic crops labor-intensive
and expensive.
Food industry lobbying groups, such as the Organic Trade Association,
say that if standards are so strict, organics will remain an expensive
niche item, available only to those who can afford them.
Relaxing the rules would allow for more widespread adoption of
organic methods, which in the long run will mean more organic
production overall, they argue.
"Regardless of the amount of organic ingredients within
the products, every organic choice encourages farming methods
that build healthy soil and a healthy environment," said
Katherine DiMatteo, former executive director of the Organic Trade
Association.
The OTA says that there are three labeling categories that give
consumers greater choices.
 But
purists like the Organic Consumers Association maintain that the
organic label should indicate 100 percent organic, and that opening
the door to even a little standards adjustment would invite corporations
to write their own rules.
"Consumer spending on organic has grown so much that we've
attracted big players who want to bend the rules so that they
can brand their products as organic without incurring the expenses
involved in truly living up to organic standards," said Ronnie
Cummins, national director of the Organic Consumers Association.
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Changing
rules |
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In 2002, the National Organic Standards Board allowed  certain
synthetic substances to be included in foods labeled organic.
Those substances included harmless non-organic ingredients such
as baking soda and powder, a naturally occurring mineral that
is processed into a white powder for baking, or pectin, a natural
gelling agent found in some fruits.
But last year a federal judge ruled in a lawsuit that the organic
label should only be allowed on foods with no synthetics whatsoever.
That was followed by a move by the Organic Trade Association to
push Congress to return the standards to what they were in 2002.
Currently, there are three different labels associated with organic
foods.
The "100 Percent Organic" label allows only organic
ingredients and organic processing aids.
 The
"Organic" label allows only foods containing 95 percent
or more organic ingredients and only a limited number of strictly
regulated non-organic ingredients.
Finally, food labeled "Made with Organic" must contain
70 percent or more organic ingredients.
Organic farmer Steve Sprinkel says the issue of organic purity
applies mostly to processed organic "convenience foods."
"Consumers can send a message by buying 100 percent organic,
as labeled," he said on the radio program, "Beyond Organic."
"And they can also make an effort to buy more fresh products
… and not depend on all these [processed] products."
--
Compiled by Emily Birr for NewsHour Extra
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