Re: New Definitions For Organic
Robert Moore, Jr (bomo.1@worldnet.att.net)
Mon, 23 Feb 1998 09:57:14 -0500
I think that it was a very good point about food quality being within any
definition of organic food production. Often the discussion centers around
debates about input types, but really we are talking about insuring the
quality of a food product through careful and specific growing practices.
Doesn't it seem that sometimes the discussions imply that if we don't use
synthetic inputs our organic product will automatically be quality? I know
that within a business the balance between quality and value are always in
consideration as producers seek to maintain their own financial solubility
while still providing a quality product. I think that food quality is very
closely related to the resulting food safety. Food safety issues are
becoming more and more important to the public and are showing up in the
media all the time. The Odwalla fruit drink outbreak comes to mind as a
poignant example that the New York Times did as part of a series on the
subject. As their sales grew, they sacrificed some of their quality
standards which resulted in a serious breech of food safety and risked the
lives of people who drank that product believing that it held a high
standard of quality. I am worried that any organic legislation could be
superceded by a perceived risk to food safety as organic food production
continues to increase, and reported dangers relating to food born illnesses
increase. Does anyone have any thoughts about insuring food safety issues
as it pertains to the production of quality organic products?
Sincerely,
Robert Moore,Jr.
---------------
<< <I like : The Codex Proposed Draft Guidelines for the Production,
Processing, Labeling and Marketing of Organically Produced
Foods, Alinorm 97/22A, define organic agriculture as: "A holistic
production
management system which promotes and
enhances agroecosystem health, including biodiversity, biological cycles,
and
soil biological activity. It emphasizes the
use of management practices in preference to the use of off-farm inputs.
This
is accomplished by using, where possible,
cultural, biological and mechanical methods, as opposed to using synthetic
materials, to fulfil any specific function
within the system. >>>
<<My question is: is this definition actionable? The proposed definition
that I
posted is based on a standard for crop/livestock quality. There is no way
that
you can meet this standard unless you are using the methods defined above.
Rather than debate the acceptable inputs and methods that may or may not
meet
organic farming standards, I am proposing that we let the outputs from the
farm determine whether the inputs and methods are compatible with the
definition that you have quoted.>>
To Unsubscribe: Email majordomo@ces.ncsu.edu with "unsubscribe sanet-mg".
To Subscribe to Digest: Email majordomo@ces.ncsu.edu with the command
"subscribe sanet-mg-digest".