Comments on Comments -Reply
Grace J Gershuny (Grace_J.Gershuny@usda.gov)
Sun, 22 Mar 1998 22:29:00 -0500
One of the ironies of the unstated assumptions running throughout many
comments is stated by this commenter: The desire for national organic
standards is countered by the presumption that USDA is not willing or
able to implement them because of its historic opposition to organic
agriculture. The commenter then goes on to praise the
conservation-oriented agencies, despite USDA's history of also
supporting commodity subsidy programs that discourage soil
conservation (the infamous "hedgerow to hedgerow" policies for
example). The fact is that the administration of USDA now publicly
supports implementation of national organic standards that, in the words
of the Secretary, "the whole community can embrace." With the amount
of publicity being generated by the proposed rules, the political fallout of
reversing this position would seem to be too large to ignore.
Grace Gershuny
USDA, National Organic Program Staff
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