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  • From: M McGuire <Michael.McGuire AT uvi.edu>
  • To: "Market Farming" <market-farming AT franklin.oit.unc.edu>
  • Subject: raisin' cane w/ the big O
  • Date: Fri, 14 Dec 2001 08:56:22 -0500


I think Mr. Gee's commonts on the use of the term 'organic' and 'pesticide-free' etc. are right on the money. Also, I think before we all start raising our pitchforks, it would behoove us to look at the exact textual source of the assertion that the "USDA now owns the 'O' word for all intents and purposes and the rules prohibit anyone claiming they have a stronger 'O' standard." Let's find the actual regulations and circulate them on this list so we can see what we are dealing with. For example, we saw with the question of seed certification that, like any product from bureaucrats, there is a fair amount of confusion and vagueness in the regulations, and the application in practice of specific regulations may be far from clear-cut. This sort of thing happens all the time when moving from legislation to regulations to application and interpretation. It is not unknown for the final product to be an unrecognizable distortion of the law as originally written or intended, perhaps because special interests got their fingers 'round the legislators or the regulators (ideally both, from the special interests' perspective), or perhaps due simply to typical bureaucratic ineptness or ignorance (not unknown in this country). In fact, if the regulation or its application/interpretation is inconsistent with the spirit or letter of the law, this can be challenged, and I believe the National Organic Standard regulations specifically delineate procedures for calling into question these sorts of issues. If the regulations or even the original legislation are egregiously harmful, other legal recourses are also available to people who organize themselves. Before we accuse "them" or the gummit or the Clintons or the Bushes or Santy Claus of steam-rolling over the Bill of Rights and purporting to enslave our minds and our children, let's get off our laurels and see exactly what we are dealing with. If the regulations are as Draconian as was suggested (and we don't know this is really the case until we look at them), what does the USDA provide for feedback and modification?. Even the director of the USDA admits the national standards are a first approximation towards ensuring that the term 'organic' actually provides useful and accurate information to the consumer, which is one of the principles behind the standards to begin with, and which is something that most of us will agree (remember those peaches) is probably a good idea.

Quite apart the regulatory issues, deciding on what terms to use (ie organic vs biointensive vs pesticide free) is a virtual minefield. As someone suggested earlier, all "organic" production is as much based on chemicals (organic and inorganic) as the most industrial factory farming is based on "organic" chemicals and "natural" processes. Pesticide- or fungicide- or insecticide-free is also rather treacherous, as organic farmers can (and do) legitimately apply pesticides and herbicides and fungicides with gleeful abandon, so long as they use products in certain categories and not those that are restricted. Poison-free or toxin-free is also somewhat slippery, as anything can be toxic if the dose is large enough, and if most of the "natural" control products (such as Bt or neem or whatever) were not toxic to the pests we are trying to manage, we would not be using them. I prefer Mr. Farr's "biointensive". Though perhaps somewhat nebulous, I believe it captures the spirit of farming by working with nature, as opposed to against nature, without dumping us into a semantic pit.

At 03:42 PM 12/13/01 +0000, you wrote:
Robert Farr wrote:

>>I suggest we all use the term, "BioIntensive", with the marketing slug,
>>"Beyond Organic".
>>
>>Any rules against that???

and Marcie Rosenzweig replied:

>Yep, Robert, there is. .

The smart marketer's way around this is to define how you
do things in comparison to the USDA "Organic" standard.

You do not have to claim a "stronger 'O' standard," if you
follow higher standards than the USDA. What you claim is
that your product "exceeds USDA Organic standards."




  • raisin' cane w/ the big O, M McGuire, 12/14/2001

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