Lesson 1: Organics: Some Background
I'm an organic farmer. Actually, my family operates what we call a small market garden that uses organic principles but isn't certified organic. Our garden includes about two acres of vegetables, small fruits such as strawberries and raspberries, and a small orchard of apples, plums and blueberries.
We've been farming organically for sixteen seasons. But we've never chosen to become certified organic. We haven't become certified because the people we buy from know how we farm and they trust us. The label "Certified Organic" acts to create trust between farmers and consumers who are strangers or may never meet each other. Becoming certified organic is somewhat expensive and so we decided to build trust and social capital with our customers and bypass the certification process. Most farmers are unable to do that, in part, because they may sell their products to wholesalers or processors. You can read a more complete description of our farm under "producers" at http://www.wholefarmcoop.com/
History
When we started eating organic food, in the early 1970s, "organic" was an attempt to define an alternative to the industrial style of agriculture. The industrial style had begun to emerge in the 1950's, and had become reliant upon synthetic pesticides. Those of us who grew, and ate, organic food were influenced by events such as the first Earth Day in 1970, social forces such as the "Ecology" movement, and people such as Rachel Carson and J.I. Rodale. Those who led the way were solidly connected to leaders and thinkers who went before them. Rodale, who was one of the first to describe organic as a way of doing agriculture, was deeply influenced by writings on ancient Chinese agriculture.
Over the years farmers and eaters struggled to define what it meant to be "organic". Could anybody claim their crops were organic just because they didn't spray them this year? Was there a social justice dimension to "organic"? Were organic farmers required to farm in a way that prevented soil erosion? As we struggled with issues a number of things happened.
First, third party certifying agencies emerged. You'll see them referred to throughout this course. They are intended to be independent auditors of farmers, processors and handlers who assert their products are organic. Independent certifying agencies such as the Minnesota Organic Growers and Buyers Association (OGBA), the Organic Certification Inspection Organization (OCIA), and the California Certified Organic Farmers sprang up across the country. Although the system of third party auditors inspecting farmers has matured over the years, the concept of independent inspection has remained the same.
The organic certification system has had integrity - according to Carolyn Hetzel, a customer care specialist for the certifying agency Farm Verified Organic - because it creates a paper work trail that leads from the farm field to the final consumer package. In theory, Hetzel contends, a purchaser of an organically certified product can trace the product back to the field where it was grown.
"Each individual product we certify has a product specification sheet," she says. "Even if it's just a dash of pepper we know where that pepper came from. For instance, if it's a tomato ketchup they would have the name of the organic growers they obtained all the ingredients from. They have to state every product that goes into it and who certified it."
Hetzel uses as an example a popcorn that FVO certified organic.
"You can look on the bottom of the container and it has the date it was packed and a lot code," she says. "With that code you can call him and he'll tell you what day he processed it on and for that day he should have records that he processed certain numbered lots. Then he should have all the paper work that will tell you who he sourced them from. You can go to that person and say these two lots were purchased from so and so and then you can go back to the farmer and the farmer can say that lot number came out of field number two on the east side."
The trouble was that each certifying organization created its own set of standards as to what was considered organic. OCIA, for instance, wouldn't agree with OGBA, on what exactly constituted certified organic alfalfa. The result often was that a farmer who was certified organic for milk production by OGBA couldn't buy hay to feed his cows from a neighbor who was certified organic by OCIA.
Since there are thousands of products certified organic, the disagreement among hundreds of third party certifiers created a major head ache for farmers, processors, and consumers. The certifiers, farmers, and processors throughout the industry wanted to harmonize (that's the word that was used) differing standards so the industry could grow. They took a risk and worked to create federal legislation that would allow the United States Department of Agriculture to oversee a set of national organic standards.
The creation of a national set of organic standards, beginning in 1990, took over a decade. During that decade the United States Department of Agriculture's (USDA) National Organic Program worked with the organic industry to harmonize the existing standards of all the third party certification agencies for products that had existing organic standards. They reached agreement on, for instance, minimum certified organic standards for apples and rice. They also established a rough methodology for establishing certification standards for previously uncertified products such as wool.
These standards, which will continue to evolve, are now overseen by the USDA in consultation with the organics industry. The principle industry consulting group is the National Organic Standards Board (NOSB - a group created by the legislation that also mandated the USDA to become the national arbiter of "certified organic"). Third party inspectors now must use the USDA standards as a minimum.
For a more detailed explanation and history go to the Organic Trade Association's web site http://www.ota.com/ and look at the "standards" section.
As "organic" evolved from an idea to a complex set of rules and laws, some smaller farmers, such as myself, stepped away from certification. We knew how we grew our food and so did our customers. We didn't need a third party agency because there was trust between us. But for other farmers, small and large, there was a growing need for certification. Most farmers don't know their customers and there is a need to insure the integrity of the claim "organic". Certification by third party agents is an effective way to assure integrity.
