Nation gets organic food standards

FROM THE ARCHIVE

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DECEMBER 21, 2000

Ten years after first being directed to do so, the United States Department of Agriculture on Wednesday released the first national standards for growing and processing organic foods.

"I am proud to say these are the strictest, most comprehensive organic standards in the world," said Secretary Dan Glickman at a Washington, DC, food store yesterday.

The development of the standards didn't come without heavy protests, mainly from the organic food industry. Hoping to ensure the quality of their products, which are grown without the use of pesticides, fertilizers, growth hormones, or genetic engineering, the organic food industry protested a set of rules proposed in 1997.

Those rules allowed irradiated crops to be considered organic. And years before StarLink became a national farmer's crisis, the rules allowed genetically modified crops to fall under the label.

The rules proposed yesterday alleviate the main protests of the small, but growing, $6 billion-a-year industry. They establish a national definition of "organic," preventing genetically modified, irradiated, or products fertilized with sewage sludge from being labeled as such.

They are also intended to ensure consumer confidence in organic foods. At the same time, Glickman pointed out that the foods bearing the organic label don't automatically qualify them as safer or healthier.

"The organic label is a marketing tool. It is not a statement about food safety," said Glickman. "Nor is 'organic' a value judgment about nutrition or quality."

Nevertheless, Glickman proclaimed the standards a win for both farmers and consumers. He noted that 275,603 public comments were received when the first rules were proposed in 1997, leading to changes which have been embraced by the organic industry.

"Until now, there had been little uniformity in standards and, therefore, no guarantee that 'organic' meant the same thing from state to state, or even locally from certifier to certifier," said Larry Butler, an organic farm owner in Texas. Butler is one of 12,000 organic farmers nationwide.

Except for small farmers who sell less than $5,000 in products per year, organic farmers will have to be certified under the new standards within 18 months. Consumers can expect to see organic labeling by the summer of 2001, with full implementation by the middle of 2002, says the USDA.

Relevant Links:
National Organic Program, USDA - www.ams.usda.gov/nop