>Strong opinions seem to be a regular part of the discussion, but I think they
>can be expressed with more substance than fuzzy attacks against big
>brother; i.e., USDA the Evil Empire.
Not to say that there are not 'sinister forces' at work in high levels of
govt, but it does seem that wrath against the USDA may indeed be misdirected.
In particular,
>The conundrum, it seems, lies somewhere between the 1990 vision of a
>USDA-approved organic program and the 1998 version of how it should
>be implemented.
I think we can narrow the range very significantly:
Although I never saw it, some of those who did say the version of the
proposed organic standards which went to OMB was much different from what
emerged. In particular, OMB seemed to be the source of most objectionable
features of the document.
Blame lays not with the workers at USDA, but with those close to The
Administration. Since Monasanto, ADM, and [the Arkansas chicken factory]
allegedly have very direct access to The Administration, its not a stretch
to imagine that these influences were brought to bear at OMB. Likewise EPA,
etc.
So, lets lay off the conscientious folks at USDA. They labored long and
hard, and they had produced something reportedly acceptable to most of the
organic industry. What they did was corrupted by those higher up, and the
troops are now taking the heat for what they didnt do.
>But it looks like the players are participants at the same
conference----the one
>where lots of people are wearing tennis shoes, cowboy boots, and
jeans----rather
>than that confrontational conference where one side looks like Luke Skywalker
>and the other side looks (and speaks) like Darth Vader.
Lets not, however, forget that our USDA colleagues work in an environment
heavily influenced by big money/power interests (the dard side). Its naive
to expect that companies that have billions riding on genetic engineering,
etc. will not pull strings.
Ed Sparling
Dept of Ag and Resource Econ
B-311 Clark Bldg
Colorado State University
Ft Collins, CO 80523
Phone 970-491-6946
Fax 970-491-2067
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