Organic Feuds

Now that you can find organic everything from frozen burritos to soap to farmed shrimp, this fast-expanding industry is showing some growing pains. Recently, the organic family feuded over legislation that, some argued, would dilute the standards that consumers have come to trust.

A rider to the 2006 Agriculture Appropriations Bill, signed into law on November 11, 2005, permits the use of synthetic substances in processing organic food and allows non-organic ingredients to be substituted for organic in some cases. According to opponents, this amendment to the Organic Food Production Act of 1990 will result in the introduction of more synthetic substances than the 38 currently permitted. These include ethylene for ripening bananas, lime used in tortillas and vitamins A and D in milk. Except for artificial colors or flavors, these synthetics do not have to be disclosed on ingredient lists. Jim Riddle, former chair of the National Organic Standards Board, says that the amendment "opens the door to processing aids and other food contact substances. That includes boiler additives (anti-corrosives), some of which transfer to steam and can enter food." But according to Katherine DiMatteo, executive director of the Organic Trade Association, the amendment is only intended to preserve the status quo following a January U.S. appellate court decision that synthetics and non-organic ingredients could not be used in any foods carrying the USDA organic label.

Joseph Mendelson, legal director of the Center for Food Safety, worries that the amendment would "create a loophole for non-organic ingredients to be substituted" when processors complain that they can't find organic ingredients. "We really want to protect the small suppliers like organic lemongrass growers," Mendelson adds.

The amendment also raises two concerns about converting conventionally raised dairy cows to organic. The new rules require that, for one year, any feed (grain) given to cattle above and beyond pasture grass be 100 percent organic. But this raises the costs of conversion, which until now permitted 20 percent conventional feed. This may keep small farmers "out of going organic because they won't be able to pay for the organic soy and corn needed to supplement grass from the pasture," says Travis Forgues, a farmer with Organic Valley. In addition, the conversion process allows for conventional cattle to be brought into organic herds continuously, rather than creating a self-sustaining herd of organic cattle from birth. "Factory-style organic dairy operations are buying calves from conventional operations where they were weaned on blood and fed slaughterhouse wastes and antibiotics and growth hormones [or rBGH]," says Ronnie Cummins, national director of the Organic Consumers Association.

Although the organic industry pushed for the amendments, consumers may lose confidence. "The irony is that the segment of the public buying organic foods is composed of very sophisticated consumers, and watering down is likely to harm the organic industry in the end," notes Fred Kirschenmann, Ph.D., director of the Leopold Center for Sustainable Agriculture at Iowa State University. Urvashi Rangan, Ph.D., director of the Eco-Labeling Project for Consumers Union, advises consumers to look for food items labeled "100 percent organic" and "Contains No Synthetic Ingredients," and to eat whole rather than processed foods.