This compilation of information is Copyright 2005 by http://www.organicgreens.us and Loring Windblad. This article may be freely copied and used on other web sites only if it is copied complete with all links and text, including this header, intact and unchanged except for minor improvements such as misspellings and typos.I stopped by
local Safeway store yesterday (23 Mar 05) and among other items picked up a quart of milk. I couldn’t help noticing a new item on shelf – “organic” skim milk in 2-quart bottles. Regular price for regular skim milk $3.19 and new “organic’ skim milk was $4.99. So I carefully checked label. Hah! No information, absolutely nothing, indicating why or how it was organic, whether it was certified or not, what standards it complied with to be “organic” – nada, zilch, a big fat ZERO.
So what we have here is a “claim” of “organic” backed up by nothing! I started wondering and got right onto Internet to do a little research. Here’s what I came up with.
Back in 2000 US Department of Agriculture (USDA) got results of a poll: “A new poll, conducted by International Communications Research (ICR) of Media, PA on behalf of National Center for Public Policy Research, finds U.S. Department of Agriculture's (USDA) proposed rules for labeling organic food products will seriously mislead consumers into thinking products are safer, better in quality or more nutritious.”
So what were results of this survey? The ICR found that “two-thirds of public would be misled by proposed USDA seal on several key issues: ‘68 percent said they would interpret a product labeled ‘USDA Certified Organic’ to be safer to eat than non-organic foods’; ‘67 percent believed ‘USDA Certified Organic’ to be better than non-organic foods; and, ‘62 percent believe "USDA Certified Organic" to be healthier for consumers than non-organic foods’.”
So just what does this mean to me, consumer public. Well, here’s what it said: “According to both USDA and leadership of $6 billion organic industry, organic certification is only an accreditation of production methods used by farmers and not an assurance of food safety, quality, nutrition or health. USDA Secretary Dan Glickman, in announcing proposed rules, stated that USDA organic certification does not mean food labeled organic is ‘superior, safer or more healthy than conventional food’.”
Further, Katherine DiMatteo, Director of Organic Trade Association (OTA), in a recent interview on 20/20, stated that organic products are neither safer nor more nutritious than other foods. She noted particularly that "Organic agriculture is not particularly a food safety claim. That's not what our standards are about."
And, in another national consumer poll results were “seven out of ten (69 percent) said USDA label would imply these products are better for environment and four out of ten (43 percent) believe these would be more nutritious. In fact, label provided no information on either of these qualities.”
WOW! So, then, just what is all hoohaw over “organic” all about? Just what kinds of laws and regulations and/or guidelines on “being organic” are we protected by? As it turns out, not very much. Taken right out of report, we have: “The proposed USDA rules, developed in response to Organic Food Production Act of 1990, are to help consumers distinguish products grown using national standards for organic production methods. Today, no national standards exist, and, according to Organic Trade Association, as much as 50 percent of all foods sold as organic lack any certification on which consumers can rely to inform their purchase choice.”
