Agriculture Reference
In-Depth Information
implemented after some modifi cations and amendments since October 2002 (NOP/
USDA 2002b ).
According to the Organic Rule, organic foods are defi ned as the foods produced
without use of genetic engineering, ionizing radiation, and sewage sludge, and only
by using tillage, cultivation practices such as crop rotation, cover crop, and fertiliza-
tion with properly treated crop and animal wastes. The NOSB recognized the impos-
sibility of obtaining all inputs and ingredients produced entirely organic and issued a
list of synthetic substances that are allowed for crops, livestock, and processing.
Organic livestock producers are allowed to use only 100% organic feed, and the
animals must have access to outdoors and pastures. The use of preventive management
practices such as vaccination is allowed, but antibiotics, growth hormones, and other
synthetic drugs are not allowed (NOP/USDA 2002b). The Organic Rule also mentions
that these standards are not intended to ensure safety of organically produced foods.
In the U.S., organic is also referred to as a labeling term and depending on the
content of organic ingredients, a particular food can be labeled differently (NOP/
USDA 2002b). Organic foods labeled as “100 percent organic” must contain all
organically produced ingredients, those labeled as “organic” must contain at least 95%
organically produced ingredients, and those labeled as “made with organic …” must
contain at least 70% organic ingredients. Only those foods labeled as “100 percent
organic” and “organic” are allowed to have the USDA organic seal on their label.
Before the Organic Rule was issued, other countries and the U.S. relied on a system
of third-party certifying agencies to ensure that products sold as “organic” were indeed
using organic practices. The NOSB adopted the same oversight system and the role
of the National Organic Program (NOP) is to license those certifying agencies.
Certifying agencies typically inspect and audit organic producers and processors once
a year. During the inspection, certifi ers verify the use of organic practices and ingre-
dients as well as the existence of record keeping. Conventional producers that want
to adopt organic practices should go through a “transition” period of 3 years before
they can be certifi ed.
The Codex Alimentarius Commission also established a set of guidelines in 1999
to address the issue of uniform standards of production, processing, handling, label-
ing, and global trade of organically produced foods, (Codex Alimentarius Commission
1999 ). The Codex defi nes organic agriculture as “a holistic production management
system which promotes … biodiversity, biological cycles, and soil biological activi-
ties … using cultural, biological and mechanical methods as opposed to synthetic
materials … to … maintain long term soil fertility, recycle wastes of plant and animal
origin, …. ” The Codex Alimentarius also emphasizes that organic agriculture relies
on renewable resources.
Market
Organic agriculture on a commercial scale began in the European Union countries in
the early 1920s, and in the U.S. during the 1940s (Dimitri and Oberholtzer 2005). On
both continents, these early stages of organic agricultural production were largely
supply driven and motivated by farmers' preference to use lesser amounts of chemicals
in food production. Since the 1980s, however, the fast expansion of organic agriculture
was primarily market driven. This fast expansion of market for organic foods started
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