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Non-Organic Organic Food
When it comes to a healthy diet, I am not a purist. Too late for that because I grew up eating such culinary concoctions as toasted sandwiches constructed of Spam, white bread and that oddly orange, oddly spongy cheeselike stuff known as Velveeta.
As an adult, I even have been irresponsible enough to serve as a taster, judge and promoter of Spam creations that were served at a now-defunct annual event held in my town of Austin, Texas. Called "Spamarama," the festival featured unspeakable and (often unswallowable) dishes made from the gelatinous, pink potted meat, including — get ready to gag — Spam ice cream.
So I am not quick to criticize every little diversion from 100 percent wholesomeness. For example, even though I've been an early and ardent advocate of organic production, I recognize that there are certain times when processors of organic foods (from beer to cheese) are unable to get essential ingredients that are produced organically. Thus, non-organic hops sometimes are allowed in organic beer. Indeed, the original law creating the U.S. Department of Agriculture's "certified organic" program recognizes such realities, allowing up to 5 percent of a certified product to consist of non-organic ingredients.
This exemption, however, was not intended to be a free-for-all loophole for dilution of the USDA's organic standard. Two strong caveats were attached to that 5 percent allowance. First, any non-organic substance has to be approved by the National Organic Standards Board. Second, the explicit intent of the law was for producers and processors to be in active pursuit of all organic ingredients, moving away from synthetic and non-organic substances as quickly as the real things could be found.
Enter from stage right: corporate agribusiness and Barbara Robinson. With the phenomenal growth in consumer demand for organic products, such giants as Kraft and Dean Foods have rushed to capture this multibillion-dollar market, except they don't want to play by the rules.
Consulting regularly with the corporate powers, Robinson has brought synthetic after synthetic under the organic label. At the start of the certification program, 77 non-organic ingredients were on the allowable list, which was supposed to shrink as time passed. Today 245 ingredients are listed.
Likewise, the program was supposed to set uniform standards for how organic foods are produced. Yet 65 of the standards recommended by the board since 2002 simply have been ignored by the administrator. For example, the board proposed specific rules to ensure that organic dairy farmers provide "access to pasture" for their cows, but Robinson's team has refused to implement the proposal. Thus, a giant milk purveyor such as Dean Foods (Horizon dairy products) is allowed to sell "organic" milk from cows that are confined in factory conditions rather than allowed to graze in open pastures. By failing to set rules that apply to everyone, the USDA is permitting private, for-profit organic certification firms to create their own standards, which means corporate interests can shop around for the most lenient certifiers.
You might think that the USDA would see the organic labeling program as a way to earn consumer trust in the integrity of these products. But, no. Robinson told The Washington Post that the label's main purpose is to "grow the industry." A consultant to Kraft Foods eagerly added his amen to her loosey-goosey regulatory ethic. "We don't want to eliminate anyone who wants to be a part of the organic community," he explained.
What a neat idea! We can expand organic production simply by eliminating that bothersome "organic" adjective. Who knows; Spam might qualify for the label now.
Here's a better idea: Let's eliminate Robinson and all of the corporate pretenders. To tell new Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack to do both, call his office: 202-720-3631.
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63 Comments so far
Show AllEverything Obama has done so far is focussed on growing one industry or another. Why should food be any different?
Oh man, not Horizon.....it tastes soooo good! I guess if you want it done right you gotta do it yourself, or in this case,
grow your own.
Organic Valley is still a national co-op of family dairies, but I've never seen their label on milk. They offer cheese, cream, cottage cheese and sour cream.
Good news: Organic Valley does sell milk - 1%, 2%, whole.
Everything, the USDA oversight, the NOSB, everything conspires to allow big business to ruin the spirit and the value of organic farming and food production. As soon as Dean Foods bought Horizon they began ruining a good organic dairy company. You can buy a "USDA Organic" candy bar and read on the label a long list of mystery ingredients.
I disagree with Hightower that we can allow the 5 percent intrusion of non-organic ingredients. Who ever said we needed to make it convenient for big agribusiness to cash in on the conscious and hopeful shopping habits of organic consumers?
The thing to do is look for the labels of companies that are still earnestly trying to produce pure, organic, wholesome goods. The website I read daily is www.organicconsumers.org. Every couple of years they update their lists of big business organic and family and co-op organic.
Here are the links to the current lists:
Big agribusiness "organic": http://www.organicconsumers.org/Organic/OrganicChartAug06.pdf
Store "private label" organic (which you have to watch closely because it is often supplied by big business organic): http://www.organicconsumers.org/Organic/OrganicPLabelJul07.pdf
This is the list that I think of as the real thing: http://www.organicconsumers.org/Organic/OrganicIndJul07.pdf
One still has to be vigilant. Mergers and acquisitions happen every day.
"Every couple of years they update their lists of big business organic and family and co-op organic."
Why bother to keep a list of "big business organic"?? Why acknowledge big bunsinesses at all? Do we really have the time/energy to jump through their hoops, dodge their projectiles, and clean up their messes? Conservation of energy, key to sustainability, starts with boycott of the most dubious, dangerous, and destructive. Big businesses are fundamentally incapable of satisfying human needs.
Perhaps I didn't make it clear that organic consumers association keeps that list as a reference for people who want to avoid the big business model of organic production, with its cheats, and probably its bribes to the USDA, by boycotting those lines of goods. That's why I look at it.
Shop farmers markets and do not purchase any food advertised on T.V. and best of all, have your own garden and eat very little meat.
I've started doing the first one...working on the second and third.
We have organic, pasture-raised meat at our farmer's market. There's nothing wrong with meat, the problem is industrial meat. Please, make that distinction.
I agree, but I am considering going completely vegetarian, except for milk/cheese/yogurt and eggs. I guess right now since my income is so limited, that'll depend on which is less expensive.
Good point, but very few people have access to non-industrial meat, so they are better off eating vegan or vegetarian.
The problem with meat goes beyond industrial meat. Already 1/3 of the contiguous US land area is dedicated to livestock grazing, severely straining the ecosystems. If all of the industrial animals were turned loose on the range the area would probably increase to 2/3. But the problem isn't really with meat. The problem is the elites who set public policy, and the people who accept it. US policy has been to maximize economic growth at any cost, which meant encouraging population growth and meat production, which costs between five and ten times the cost of plant production. A responsible public policy would discourage population growth and discourage meat consumption. We have huge disease epidemics thank to the US government promoting growth-maximizing artery-clogging meat and refined junk food. 2/3 of species are slated for extinction within 50 years thanks to the "leadership" of the US government promoting population growth, meat consumption, and all the rest of the petro-gluttony. 1.5 million Iraqis are dead thanks to the US government promoting population growth, meat consumption, and all the rest of the petro-gluttony, which "justify" its imperial rampages. Who is pressuring India and China to reign in their rampant consumption growth? Not the US government. Who is responsible for reigning in this godzilla monster, the US government? The USan people. It comes back to us. Can we achieve an accurate perspective already?
Old courtroom maxim:
"When the law is against you, argue the facts. When the facts are against you, argue the law."
With consumers increasingly voting organic with their dollars, Big Ag applied that maxim to its marketing strategy, and is arguing both.
Of course, if you can afford to buy a few key politicians, you may find it unnecessary to argue at all.
I am reminded of the shiploads of grain we used to send to Russia in the late 50's and early 60's. By contract, the suppliers were allowed a certain percentage of foreign objects in the grain. Lo and behold, they found that some of the grain was being supplied with less than that percentage! So the logical thing for a businessman to do was to shovel in garbage to reach that percentage.
Sounds like the same thing is happening with the orgainic rules.
"Standard" food has contamination rules as well. For example, you are allowed 2 rat hairs in each 8 oz of chocolate. So if you buy one of those big bars of chocolate and you don't get your two rat hairs, you are being cheated! Consumers need to demand their fair allotment of rat hairs.
Knowledge is a double edged sword. I love a bit of dark chocolate with my coffee. Thank you so very much, bystander (spoken through gritted teeth).
That's funny bystander, and true in a different way. What happens when you make allowances, is that CEO's think they're leaving money on the table if they don't put the maximum allowed amount of rat hair filler in the product.
Mr. Hightower, I admire a lot of what you said and I feel sad that you too were a victim of Big Food and wished you had a chance to go back and correct that mistake at a younger age like I did. However, Vilsack is a well-known Big Agri puppet perfect for Obama's pick. I don't know about you but I think that we should all just try to be good food outlaws and push for our local markets and break all the laws which resulted in bad foods crushing out the competition from the good.
Another thing. I know you're from Austin, TX and yes the rest of the state is not as progressive. However, everytime I hear someone tell me that TX must secede, I almost feel like screaming. Yes, I know that rural TX is filled with rightwing clowns but my aunt out in Lubbock shared me some news letters from her community and surrounding communities out in the rurals about people trying to stand up for better gardening and putting an end to hostile corporate takeovers. They too want to grow and sell organic food at least locally and possibly regionally but Washington keeps subsidizing Big Agri while simultaneously persecuting small farmers all in the name of the whole-sale volume sale madness. This has to stop.
Maybe if they secede, their new country won't allow corporate personhood :-)
Secede? Oh not they don't ! They'd have nowhere to go. Texas depends on the US and the US depends on Texas as well.
Well, hell just might take them, if Texas asks nicely.
Oh come now. TX isn't completely bad. Bad politicians? What state doesn't have 'em? There are states like WY, ID, and UT which make even the most conservative places in TX liberal. My niece JenniferBedingfield who introduced me to this site and a few others a few days ago for me to check out has some fondness for TX. I used to live in Lubbock myself before moving to Kansas City. My older parents are still there and the place isn't too bad though I wished North Texas would quit looking to Oklahoma to tell them how to behave. Hang in there. TX isn't as red as it used to be although I wish Obama wouldn't allow a good opportunity to turn in blue by 2012 to slip. I'm still a bit patient about Obama even if I did get laid off even if I am disappointed with him on some things.
Well it's always good to see new people on here :-)
And yes, my comment was mostly directed at the nuttiness of Gov. Perry. He's just a bit crazy.
And turning a state blue is really only a good thing if the blue candidate is good...and as much as I have defended Obama on this site, I no longer believe he will bring about any substantive change. The only four things I still appreciate about him are his budget allocations to education, scientific research, infrastructure, and other investments in our future; the Lily Ledbetter Fair Pay Act (I suppose I should get more details on that one too), the stimulus, even if it was too small and had far too much tax cuts in it, and appointing Van Jones to his administration, he rocks. That's about it right now...he's given up on EFCA, he's given up on real healthcare reform (either single-payer or a large-scale government program, the 'public option'), and he's not doing squat to help in AfPak...hell he's making it worse.
I don't think that Af/Pak will do Obama in. There are plenty more moderates and conservatives who might support him for it even if I'm not one of them. I still hold hope that he'll get some healthcare reform in even if it is measly. My only concern is that of Obama allowing the package to be worse than the current system.
Yes, it seems to be that Obama only wants something he can call bipartisan instead of something that works and solves our problems. It's so pathetic, I never thought he'd be such a pussy.
Even with that, Town Hall is protesting that as if it's some major thing. The other day I told my niece about multiple payer in detail when she emailed me questions about it since I had a lot of knowledge about the German health care system. The least he could do is push for taking profiteering out of control out of the system and we would have the same multiple payer system as that of Germany. I do support single payer too but there are plenty of great ideas out there. I don't want to be too harsh on Obama but I just wished Obama would try them all.
Like I mentioned once before, I have no problem with health insurance companies, if they focus on actually covering healthcare costs for their subscribers, not mind-boggling compensation and dividends to stockholders, aka profit. But I doubt that will happen in this country, so I am for single-payer.
According to a recent Rachel Maddow show, there are now equal numbers of Democrats and Republicans in Texas.
Are any of them progressive at all? If not, it really doesn't matter.
Democrats in Texas have always been mixed. It's really an even mixture of liberals, moderates, and conservatives. They need to get together on important matters such as farming and trade and drop their talk on guns and abortion. Otherwise, they'll stay divided and in the minority.
when the bush regime handed out its sop manuals the words
integrity and and honesty were missing.words like destroy
weaken were capitalized and hi lited just so nobody could
say they missed these!if we made the people who committed
these egregious acts to drink or consume the additives
that they considered so callously agreed to add for the
benefit of big biz. this will accomplish 2 things 1st
others will be aware of the consequences of their actions
and 2 save the fda research money by monitoring
the problems that beset these clowns as a result of those
ingestions.maybe to much of a known dna damaging chemical
will result in a third eye in the middle of their back.
this would be a free card for scientists who normally
would be bound by ethics rules themselves!
Either stupid conservatives don't realize that we will buy imported organic food from countries whose standards we trust, or they realize it and as always are thinking about short term profits at everyone else's expense until then.
One thing you should realize about imported fresh organic foods:
The holds of the ships carrying the foods are bombed with pesticide (with the food there) to ensure no bugs get into our country.
The foods are still GROWN organically, but they are subject to this treatment. I do not know how much pesticide that they absorb, but it is one more reason to buy local organic produce.
Canned organic food of course would not have this problem.
Ewwww!
But canned organic food has it's own problems as well. Namely, not being fresh and housed in a BPA-layer-containing can.
And by local you don't mean at Publix.
Hah, I used to work at Publix. Boy do I miss those fresh chicken tenders...delis up in DC don't make them fresh.
It's even worse, really. Take dairy for example, Horizon even Organic Valley and other names we grew to 'trust' because they were pioneers in organics and supporting independent small dairy farmers are now playing the capitalist favorite game, ie, Monopoly. They have driven the price of milk so low that small dairies are dying like flies. Soon only a few huge industrialized dairies will be producing all your ultrapasteurized food-like dairy substances, certified 'organic' of course. bleck.
Actually it isn't the big players who have driven the milk prices to the producer down below the cost of production for anyone, big or little. It's the amount of production and the fact that we have a small group of processors and retailers who are able to take advantage of their close to monopolistic control of the market.
Here are some interesting facts for you. Data from the USDA and Bureau of Labor Statistics.
Since Jan 2008 the class I base price to the farmer has fallen slightly more than 50%. The price of 2% milk in the store has fallen about 12%. Since Jan 2008 the cash price of 40 lbs of cheddar, which is part of the formula that sets the farmer's price, has fallen about 38%. The retail price of natural cheddar is up about 2%.
Lots of dairy farms are going under. The buy-out program where owners bid on how little they will be willing to sell ALL their cattle for slaughter and leave the business, and is financed by a write-off charged to each milk producer, has just set a record.
And as for the business with Horizon not letting their cattle graze, the data has shown that milk from grazing cattle regardless of their "organic" status is superior to milk from non-grazing cattle, even if they are "organic." The levels of a particular unsaturated fatty acid, whose name escapes me at the moment, are much higher in the former than the latter.
Please don't equate Organic Valley with Horizon. Organic Valley is one of the real organic producers who are struggling against the predatory pricing of organic cheats like Horizon, who use the organic label while cutting corners and even skipping the processes of true organic milk production.
Who is surprised that elites are exploiting demand for organics? Who can make a case that we should trust elites? Who can make a case that we need elites? All indicators say we don't need 'em. Farmer's market food provides at least three times the value of elite petro-organics.
"Elite" organics? Who are you, Rush Limbaugh? That's corporate oligarch propaganda.
If my local farmer uses pesticides, growth hormones and animal "byproducts," I'm not going to eat his food. I don't care if he sells from a roadside stand or farmer's market. Nor do I care if he tries to smear producers of high-quality food as "elites."
There is the most wonderful organic farmer, J.J. Perry Farms, near where I live, but unfortunately his place is open for only half the year. The other half we have to depend on Whole Foods, something I really hate to do. Also, they only sell fruits and vegetables, and sometimes eggs. And there seems no possibility of finding small scale organic butchers nearby. That's what I'd really like - local organic meat.
I dont want to sound naive but it is good thing if we can gain some control over our lives and the choice of food we eat. I live near a city so it would be hard for me to raise my own livestock, well maybe chickens but it would be hard to keep them quiet. But anyway I did manage to grow some lettuce, beans, some tomatoes, carrots, a couple of cucumbers and some pumpkins, all from seed on a garden only 8' wide by 50' long. I never considered any fertilizers or insecticides just let nature do its thing. I was worried that there would be no honeybees but flowers pollinated just the same. I was worried about squirrels and other rodents eating up everything but that didnt happen. My wife was so impressed we are really getting serious about planning and timing the planting times better next year. We give any excess produce to our neighbors. If I could do it so can others. What kind of impact would this have if everyone could grow something they could use to feed themselves and their families?
Good for you. I've been farming and gardening for years and always learning new stuff and finding great new taste treats. Have fun.
Awesome. At most I have a 4' by 4' area available to me, but I don't trust the soil in the backyard here. It might be better for me to grow some foot in pots, sitting on the back porch. I'm thinking of tomatoes, hot peppers, and herbs so I can make my own salsa, and bell peppers, if a plant that grows them is small enough, because I use those in my stir fries.
Wonderful, this is the the stuff of real change. simple yet profound, joyful and uncomplicated. this type of attitude has far more of an impact than most can imagine. forget govt. regulation, it is totally corrupt and devoid of joyful self regulated living.
Are wood chips organic?
They can be. Just like arsenic.
Happy to hear people are growing their own. Me too (on a very small scale). For those with a small yard or a balcony and/or poor soil, check out the book (in paperback) "The All New Square Foot Gardening" by Mel Bartholomew. You don't need dirt (believe it or not) or fertilizer - just equal parts of peat moss, compost (organic, if you please), and vermiculite in a garden box. It's pretty easy. I've grown, in Florida, tomatoes, peppers, cucumber, scallions, potatoes, onions, eggplant, green beans, melon, strawberries, corn (still working on that - they're tiny), broccoli, cauliflower, lettuce and herbs, all in a couple of 4 x 4 boxes. It's a lot of fun, and it feels great not to have to go to the store and also to know where it's coming from. Happy to stick it to Big Ag (and to buy locally what I can't grow).
I use Topsy Turvey to grow my limited supply of veggies at the balcony of my condo. Thanks for the extra tips. :)