Feds to Say What's 'Organic'

As part of the legacy President Clinton and Vice President Al Gore are leaving after eight years of debating back and forth over what the meaning of the word organic is, the United States Department of Agriculture has, with all that labor, brought forth the bureaucratic standards for how it will affix its "USDA Organic" seal on just the right fruits, vegetables, meat and dairy products.

Par for the course in such rule-makings, this Solomon's decision leaves no one satisfied and as few interests infuriated as politically possible.

Standards for the USDA Organic seal, which will start appearing on products this summer, are subject to change by Congress or the incoming administration of George W. Bush and Dick Cheney, should they choose to wade into the controversy, which enjoys all the complexity of a ballot full of chads.

According to a story in Thursday's issue of the Washington Post that never does spell out in specific layman and laywoman shoppers' language what is now to constitute politically correct organic food:

The official USDA-sanctioned version adopts many positions promoted by the organic-food industry, which constitutes all of 2 percent of the nation's food sales.

"I am proud to say these are the strictest, most-comprehensive organic standards in the world," said Agriculture Secretary Dan Glickman.

Then he went to some pains to stress that the new organic seal does not necessarily mean that those foods are either safer or more nutritious than non-organically produced products.

In fact, Katherine DiMatteo, executive director of the Organic Trade Association, stipulated that the organic label should not be interpreted as certifying a safer product, although consumers will no doubt believe it does.

But she said that because of the specific practices that organic farming employs, it can fairly claim to produce food in a way that is safer for the environment.

This is a sticking point with the non-organic Grocery Manufacturers of America, whose vice president for science and regulatory policy, Susan Ferenc, said:

"If there is evidence that consumers believe it means they are buying a safer product, then we want the USDA to pull the seal because the seal has nothing to do with food safety."

To which the Organic Trade Association rejoined, "There are no pesticides or low-level antibiotics in organic farming, [which] does not harm the environment like some conventional farming.

"We think there is a safety and health benefit to that."

To which the agriculture secretary added, "The organic label is a marketing tool. 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."

If they want to qualify for the organic seal, farmers and meat-producers must adhere to detailed blueprints for how crops are planted and grown, how animals are raised and how waste is treated.

The guidelines stress growing crops in a "sustainable" way to conserve soil and encourage biodiversity and raising animals outdoors whenever possible, with access to pastures to ensure their welfare.

An earlier draft of the regulations would have permitted conventional farming practices, such as spreading sewage sludge as fertilizer and using pesticides and biotechnology to control weeds and pests.

But that got written out of the final version because organic producers and consumers set up such a howl.