Consumer Reports magazine found that there are at least two good reasons
for consumers to buy organic food: One is for personal benefit and the
other contributes to our collective well-being. The results of this study
were published in a January, 1998 article entitled "Greener Greens? The
Truth about Organic Food."
Consumer Reports researchers tested thousands of pounds of produce for
pesticide residues and for taste. Their report concluded that, "Organic
food guarantees you a diet as low in pesticide residues as possible," and
that, "on a public scale, organic agricultural practices are much less
harmful to the environment than conventional chemical agriculture." They
found that "organic foods had consistently minimal or nonexistent pesticide
residue;" that "organic fruits and vegetables [were] as attractive and
tasty as their conventional counterparts," and that "buying organic food
promotes farming practices that really are more sustainable and better for
the environment, [that is,] less likely to degrade soil, impair ecosystems,
foul drinking water, or poison farmworkers."
Almost 20 years ago, the United States Department of Agriculture (USDA)
researched organic farming. Its report found that organic methods worked
well on large and small farms, and that they successfully addressed many of
the serious environmental problems caused by agriculture. (Since then,
unfortunately, the USDA has spent much less than one percent of its
research budget on focused organic research.)
So, there is good evidence that organic food is safer for those who grow
food, for those who eat food, and for the environment.
However, when Secretary of Agriculture, Dan Glickman. unveiled his agency's
proposed rules for organic food last December, he said, "I want to make it
clear that these rules are not about creating a category of agriculture
that is safer than any other."
It is no wonder that these rules have caused so much heartbreak and disgust
among organic farmers and consumers. After all, it is USDA's continued
insistence that toxic pesticides, enormous concentrations of animals,
routine antibiotic-use, dependence on cheap energy, genetic engineering and
concentrated corporate control are safe that has encouraged people to turn
to organic food. In order to protect and enrich corporate agribusiness,
the USDA still insists that its system is safe. To say that avoiding
pesticides is safer would be akin to admitting that pesticide-use is less
safe.
Now, the USDA even believes that conventional agricultural practices,
including sewage sludge-use, irradiation, genetic engineering and
large-scale animal confinement are safe enough to be called organic. All
that's necessary is to use the appropriate terminology and follow all the
complicated rules. This is not too surprising because, as noted in
London's Guardian newspaper, the USDA acts as if it were the Washington
subsidiary of global agribusiness.
However, for a wide variety of personal, social and environmental reasons,
more and more people do want to eat food which is safer for the eater, for
the grower and for the Earth- food that is safer for communities and better
for our future. It is obvious that no standards promoted by the USDA could
really accomplish this. Despite some good employees and intentions, the
USDA is too mired in the long-distance, corporate-controlled, global food
system to support a form of agriculture that challenges corporate
domination.
The principles and practices of certified organic agriculture are critical
to any sustainable future. However, by themselves, they won't produce a
food system that is safe for the Earth and its inhabitants. We need to
build upon the local, participatory agriculture which is evolving in
gardens, small farms, and cities all over the planet. This is vital in
order to gain and maintain the knowledge, skills and genetic resources
essential to feeding ourselves without causing irreparable damage to social
and eco-systems. It is also the only way we can have any control over our
food system.
Next Thursday marks the end of the comment period for USDA's proposed rule
for organic agriculture. Express your concerns and make comments. For
more information, call 1-800-357-2211 or go to www.saveorganic.org. Be
sure to include the docket number and cite specific sections when you
respond.
Of course, your involvement in growing food, in buying directly from
farmers and in learning to eat locally is a powerful strategy for creating
social change and a safe, sustainable food system.
This is Bill Duesing, Living on the Earth
(C)1998, Bill Duesing, Solar Farm Education, Box 135, Stevenson, CT 06491
Bill and Suzanne Duesing operate the Old Solar Farm (raising NOFA/CT
certified organic vegetables) and Solar Farm Education (working on urban
agriculture projects in southern Connecticut and producing "The Politics of
Food" and "Living on the Earth" radio programs). Their collection of essays
Living on the Earth: Eclectic Essays for a Sustainable and Joyful Future
is available from Bill Duesing, Box 135, Stevenson, CT 06491 for $14
postpaid. These essays first appeared on WSHU, public radio from
Fairfield, CT. New essays are posted weekly at http://www.wshu.org/duesing
and those since November 1995 are available there.
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