Agriculture Reference
In-Depth Information
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many small to medium-sized family farms. A key component of the organic
agricultural system is certification, as this provides the proof that organic
farming methods are unique and produce distinct crops.
O
RGANIC CERTIFICATION AND NATIONAL STANDARDS
Organic certification in theUnited States is carried out by state and indepen-
dent agencies that act to collect paperwork, inspect, and grant certification
to each organic farm and processor. In the past, each agency could have
somewhat different standards (Fetter and Caswell 2002), so most farmers
who sold their products nationally or internationally sought out the best
known certifiers, as this provided them with increased credibility. Thus
consumers in Kansas or Maine would still be accustomed to seeing CCOF
(California Certified Organic Farmers - the oldest certifying agency) or
Oregon Tilth certifications on their products - not that all ingredients were
grown in Oregon or California, but rather that these certifications had
gained respect and their labels were well known. But obviously, this was
somewhat of a hodgepodge system of certification, with thirteen states and
some forty-two private agencies active in organic certification in the United
States (Duram 1998a). People realized that national standards should be
established and recognized across the country and throughout the world.
So began the complicated relationship between the USDA and national
organic standards. It has been a long process; the 1990 Farm Bill initiated
the establishment of a USDA organic farming office to draft standards with
the assistance of an advisory board (NOSB), but it wasn't until the mid-1990s
that a draft document was published.
Secretary of Agriculture DanGlickmanwalked a fine line - the USDA fears
that endorsing organic production will signal problems with conventional
agriculture that they are not willing to admit. So, on the one hand, Glickman
noted, “It's time to take the next steps to fully embrace organic agriculture
and give it a more prominent role in the farm policy of the 21st century”
(Glickman 2000). But he also stated, “The USDA is not in the business
of choosing sides, of stating preferences for one kind of food, one set of
ingredients or one means of production over any other” (Kaufman 2000).
In addition to this complicated introduction, the proposed standards had
many other problems. Although Glickman noted, “These are the strictest,
most comprehensive organic standards in the world” (Kaufman 2000), oth-
ers begged to differ. These draft standards caused an uproar in the organic
and natural foods community - the proposed standards were too weak
and seemed influenced by industrial agricultural interests. Specifically, the
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