Re: sanet-mg-digest V1 #33 -Reply
Bob MacGregor (RDMACGREGOR@gov.pe.ca)
Tue, 28 Oct 1997 09:16:54 -0400
Debbie Teeter is right on.
I have been wondering why USDA has to preempt all uses of "organic"
and "natural" when all they really have to nationalize is the term "certified
organic" to accomplish their goal of guaranteeing consumers are getting
what they think they are getting. This would avoid cutting off the large
number of non-certified local suppliers (whose clientele trust them even
if they aren't certified). The issue of the consumer being able to
discriminate among the terms is one of education; it isn't a hard concept
to grasp that certified growers have passed some official test of their
practices and the others haven't. In the farmer's market, I can buy from
any local organic grower and trust them even if they aren't certified. In
the supermarket, I'll be more likely to go for certified organic produce,
since I have no personal knowledge or connection with the producers.
I also agree, partly, with the comment about looks and price. Most
consumers trust their food; they buy by price and appearance -- if
organic food doesn't look as good and/or costs a lot more, then only
die-hard "greens" will be paying the premium. The main caveat here is
that chemically-produced food doesn't have all the external impacts/cost
of the production methods included in the price that consumers pay.
That is, conventional produce is underpriced relative to its true social
cost of production --- the citizenry absorbs the cost in taxes and
environmental and health deterioration rather than paying it in the market.
BOB
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