Steve Moore wrote:
> One of the most incredible aspects of the current situation is that a
> significant segment of the"organic trade" asked for USDA's
> involvement. A great deal of energy was put into getting congress to
> even pass the OFPA and then to get USDA to take on this task. Those
> of us who cried out against this folly were simply ignored. I for one
> naively hoped that it would all go away like some bad nightmare.
> Unfortunately, that is not the nature of government beauracracies. The
> whole concept of OFPA has been wrong from the beginning, but I am very
> skeptical that the "genie" can be put back in the bottle.
> Steve Moore
First of all, let's say that the battle's still there to be waged.
There are a lot of valid reasons that support amending OFPA. And as
previously stated, the USDA has no real ax to grind. The USDA's being
manipulated by private interests masquerading as organic old timers,
and some of them in fact are. The problem is, their interest
lies in exploiting OFPA for personal gain at the expense of many
others. And this isn't simply my opinion. I can name names and this
one person in particular came down here looking for a way to corner the
market from this end of things, with no real interest in promoting
sustainable agriculture, organizing farmers or making any real
investment of time or money in infrastructure or anything else.
The USDA doesn't need law suits, and it's involvement is not per se
bad. What's bad is the WAY they are involved, policing the gospel
according to OFPA, which divorces a natural act from it's very nature.
Legislating consistent, minimal national standards for organic foods is
not bad. And penalties can be designated for products that are sold as
organic without fulfilling those standards, without driving the costs of
farming organically up by requiring certification, which is best left to
be dealt with by the buyer and seller.
Certifiers can be obligated to register with the USDA and meet certain
criteria, but growing food itself is a biological process and words
simply can't be reserved for only certified, government approved goods.
This isn't like allowing a car on the road after it meets emissions
requirements. We're talking about natural processes here. The nature of
organic foods is simply NOT rooted in OFPA or the salt of the earth
organic good ole boys. IT'S INTRINSIC. This is a fucking philosophic
issue (metaphysical actually, which means I can use that word this one
time) and I can't understand why more people don't give it more
importance. [Is life really that anal compulsive now in the U.S? Are
people really that cowed, that disassociated, disinterested or that
afraid to intervene, to get involved? The only issue that seems to get
people stirred up is the Frankenstein (GE) one. Does that come from
watching so much TV? (The Adams family is broadcast in Mexico too but
I've yet to watch it). I really do sense a kind of herd mentality and
it's a bit depressing. End of harangue, end of digression]. My purpose
here is to determine whether any basis exists (in terms of people, of
numbers; not in terms legality nor of logic) for developing a kind of
manifest that people who are sympathetic could draw on to make known
their positions to the "proper" authorities.
There's little interchange occurring here, and little being said about
anyone's plans to following through on this matter. I myself have other
things to do but I consider the issue to be an important one and believe
furthermore that the injustices are real and meaty enough to be
demonstrated, and that therefore, the battle can be won, if enough (and
not that many really) people, but the RIGHT people (congruent people),
decide to get involved.
What's bad is making certification obligatory, because of the above and
other reasons that have been discussed (at least on sanet) before and
can be refined and compiled if anyone intends to make use of it; that
is, wants to collaborate. This means I need a response, need to be
reassured by those who have previously responded, in order to invest
more time in this. Although maybe I have to do this anyway, for my own
reasons, which I can share when they're done.
Another reason that compulsory certification is bad, is because it DOES
tend to turn people into dependent, myopic, non prescient (unconscious),
intellectually lazy creatures who gravitate around labels and don't get
through to reality. And that my friends, is precisely where your
exploiters want you to be. And if that's where YOU too want to
be, well then I'm out of luck, aren't I!
One more thing: Let's just say that the war is over and the genie CAN'T
be put back in the bottle. Organic certification remains compulsory and
the word organic is outlawed for use with anything else. (Let's just
say that, because I don't believe that, OFPA or no OFPA - and I've been
successfully fighting these kind of things all my life - head on, but on
my own. I guess the internet is changing that. There's something else
though, there's a need to share it maybe, to plant seeds, to propagate
it). So if that happens, who else is going to support alternative
labels, and how many are going to stick with a compromised, excessively
controlled and unjustly exploited exclusively "organic" label. I'm
particularly concerned about the co-ops doing that. I would think that
those who support cooperation, human values, social consciousness and
ecology in general, are not going to get hung up on an obtuse marketing
ploy on the part of a few (even if they are long haired) turncoats and
mercenaries - scabs, of you like! But I'm not sure. I've seen a
little of that potted plant syndrome, groupie (or lemming?) mentality at
work even there. Healthy, uncontaminated, whole food that doesn't
exploit farm workers nor farmers is where it's at, and "organic" never
HAS addressed all of those issues anyway, even BEFORE the ogre (troll?)
made off with (raptured) the word.
What about the socially responsible business crowd? Any feelings on
this issue?
Does it fit in any of your agendas?
--Douglas M. Hinds, Director General Centro para el Desarrollo Comunitario y Rural A.C. (CeDeCoR) (Center for Community and Rural Development) - (non profit) Cd. Guzman, Jalisco 49000 MEXICO Tel. & Fax: 011 523 412 6308 (direct) e-mail: cedecor@ipnet.com.mx, dmhinds@acnet.net, dhinds@ucol.mx
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