Food corporations are just like all other corporations, their goals are profit and growth. The reason food corporations are interested in organics is because it means growth. For conventionally raised foods, the growth rate is 1-2% per year, but since 1990, organics have grown 20% annually. And even more attractive than the growth opportunity is the fact that people are willing to pay more for organics.
But if organics are so lucrative for food companies, why are there so few organics in grocery stores? Because organics are as much about politics as they are about farming practices.
The USDA Organic seal indicates that producers followed a stringent set of rules and, most importantly, lets you know that the growers were inspected. (Conventional food producers are not.) But, like any rules, there is room for interpretation and this interpretation puts the USDA, the organization in charge of the organic program, in flagrant conflict of interest – its principle charter is to promote conventional agriculture.
Opponents of organics (and there are many) work hard to make you doubt the reliability of organic certification, to weaken the Organic Standards, and to make you wonder whether organics really are better than conventionally grown foods.
Reliability of the label
The Certified Organic seal is just about the only legit food seal (as opposed to “Free Range”, “Natural”, or “Cage Free” labels, which have absolutely no standards or inspections, and thus, no meaning).
To be certified USDA Organic, the food producers did not use any synthetic pesticides, herbicides, or fertilizers; they did not plant genetically modified seeds, use fertilizer derived from sewage sludge, or treat the seeds or foods with irradiation; they kept records of everything they did, showed the paperwork, and showed everything on their farms to inspectors from a USDA-accredited certification agency, for both announced and unannounced inspection.
The Organic Standards call for hefty fines for violators, but since the standards went into effect in 2002, there are no reported fines. Fred Ehlert of Quality Assurance International (one of the largest companies doing USDA-accredited organic certifications) stated that “organic producers care about what they are doing and go to substantial trouble and expense to grow foods without pesticides, to keep records, and to pay for inspections and certification.” He adds, “the only thing we are selling is credibility.”
Political appointees at the USDA are always looking for loopholes in the organic regulations to favor convntional growers. (If Organic Sandards are weakened, you will really have something to doubt about purchasing them.) For example, before issuing the Organic Standards, the USDA said it would be ok for farmers to use genetically modified seeds, irradiation, and sewage sludge, and still call their product organic. After a barrage of 275,000 angry letters, they dropped this idea.
With vigilance like this, the Certified Organic label remains trustworthy.
Are organics better?
The idea that organics might be better for you and for the planet very much annoys critics. Imagine what is at stake if organics continue to grow. All of the conventional food producers, chemical fertilizer producers, herbicide producers, and pesticide producers would suffer. Conventional growers are eager to make sure that nothing even slightly indicates that organics might be better. This helps explain why the USDA is so grudging about organics.
One criticism of organics is that productivity drops without the use of pesticides and fertilizers. It was found that farmers who convert from conventional to organic report only small declines in yields. They also report that the loss in income due to lower yields are offset by the savings in fuel costs. Studies found that organic farms are equally profitable, are nearly as productive, they leave the soil in much better shape, and use energy more efficiently. The difference in productivity is small, but the payoffs are large.
If crops are grown without pesticides, it seems obvious that there will be less pesticides in the soil, in water, and in our bodies. Plenty of research confirms this. If you’re thinking “So what?” or “Pesticides are safe,” consider the harm they cause to farmworkers and “nontarget” wildlife, and the fact that they kill pests.
Critics also say that organics are more dangerous because they are grown with composted manure, instead of chemical fertilizers, and therefore come in contact with more microbes and bacteria. But this argument does not hold. In order to be certified organic, farmers have to follow strict rules about the use of manure to make sure harmful microbes are destroyed. And they are inspected on this. Conventional growers do not have to follow these rules, nor are they inspected.
Now for the big quesiton – are organics more nutritious? If organics are grown in better soil, you’d expect them to be more nutritious. You would be right. The mineral content in plant food is directly related to how much is in the soil. Research has shown higher vitamin levels and antioxidant substances in organic produce. There is no reason organic foods would have fewer nutrients than conventional food, and there are several reasons why they would have more.
But the important thing is this: If you eat any fruits and vegetables, you’re eating nutrients that can not be obtained from any other source. Produce is loaded with healthy substances. Fruits and veggies are the only source of Vitamin C, folate, and beta-carotene. They provide half the fiber in American diets (the other half is from grains) and they contain phytonutrients which protect against disease.
So, is organic better? Of course it is! But not necessarily for nutritional reasons. Joan Gussow, former head of the nutrition department at Columbia University stated it well: “Shouldn’t we hope that people will choose organic foods on grounds more reliable than whether they contain a little more carotene or zinc? Isn’t the most important story that organic production conserves natural resources, solves rather than creates environmental problems, and reduces the pollution of air, water, soil… and food?”
There are many good reasons to buy organics, and I do.
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Breakfast: Cereal with rice milk
Lunch: Sandwich with a Morning Star Chik Patty
Dinner: Pasta and salad
