Organic farmers fight ruling - Organic Trade Association

Organic farmers fight ruling

Court ordered tighter limits on synthetics in USDA-approved food
By Andrew Martin
Chicago Tribune--Washington Bureau

October 26, 2005

WASHINGTON -- The organic food industry is trying to get Congress to undo a court decision that it believes will threaten its breakneck growth.

The Organic Trade Association, which represents organic manufacturers big and small, has asked Congress to approve legislation that would allow small amounts of non-organic ingredients, such as vitamins, baking powder and bleach, in food with a U.S. Department of Agriculture organic seal.

If approved by Congress, the law would essentially upend a court ruling earlier this year in which an organic blueberry farmer from Maine, Arthur Harvey, successfully argued that federal organic regulations had become far more lax than the original 1990 legislation intended and should therefore be tightened.

The organic association's proposal, which was included in an Agriculture Department spending bill now before Congress, has touched off a lively debate in the organic community about what should count as organic.

The Organic Trade Association painted a grim picture if the Harvey rules are implemented, estimating that 25 percent of organic manufacturers would leave the business, with about $758 million a year in lost sales, while 20 percent of organic farmers would abandon organic methods of farming. The June order gave the department a year to implement the rules.

`Far reaching' rules

"That means that many of the products that are available may not be on the shelf at all, or with a different label," said Katherine DiMatteo, the association's executive director. "It's quite far reaching."

"These are benign ingredients and processing aids that people would find in their own homes to make things with," she said, adding that the non-organic ingredients used in organic products undergo a strict review before they can be used.

But critics argue that the organic industry, which now includes such major corporations as Dean Foods and General Mills, simply wants to bend the rules to sustain its growth, about 20 percent a year in recent years.

"Instead of manufacturers being willing to live up to the standards, they want to dumb it down and get the label," said Joseph Mendelson, legal director of the non-profit Center for Food Safety, who complained that the industry is trying to jam a "back-door amendment" through Congress without any public input. "At the end of the day, I don't think consumers want synthetic preservatives in their organic food."

Urvashi Rangan, senior scientist for Consumers Union, a consumer advocacy group that sides with Harvey, said, "This is not just an argument about baking powder. This is about a door being left open for the industry to petition to use alternative ingredients. If the industry gets its way, it will create a disincentive for producers to go the extra mile and source organically."

Much of the dispute stems from the fact that the Organic Foods Production Act was written when the organic industry consisted primarily of farmers who grew organic fruits and vegetables. But as the number of organic manufacturers and organic products increased, so did the complexity of regulating the industry because processed foods often require additives that either aren't available organically or are in short supply.

The law allows products that are 95 percent organic to carry the USDA organic seal, while products with at least 70 percent organic ingredients can advertise that they are made with organic ingredients. The Agriculture Department allows manufacturers to use up to 5 percent non-organic or synthetic ingredients and still receive the organic label, provided organic ingredients aren't available.

Court: No synthetics, period

But a federal appellate court ruled in June that synthetic products couldn't be used at all in products with the organic label; companies often use such products as thickening agents or to give their products consistency. The court also ruled that the Agriculture Department could not give a blanket exemption to non-organic agriculture products, such as spices and oils, unless they were approved during a public process.

The court further ruled that dairy farmers must feed their cows 100 percent organic feed in the transition year before their milk could be sold as organic; currently, the USDA allows farmers to feed them 80 percent organic feed, and 20 percent conventional feed.

"We're going in opposite directions," Harvey said. "What it boils down to is whether members of Congress are willing to go with the industry or listen to consumers."

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