Round One of the National Organic Program Proposed Rules:
Us 1. Them 0.

Round one of the fight to save "organic" from the clutches of agribusiness and its insidious agents was won by the forces of Good. The victory was signaled by Agriculture Secretary Dan Glickman's announcement on May 8 that the US Department of Agriculture (USDA) would re-write the National Organic Program (NOP) proposed rules for organic certification to reflect the concerns of the 200,000 or so people that piped-in about the flawed rules. Most people took issue with the USDA's initial proposal that food grown with sewage sludge, genetically modified, and irradiated would qualify under the national guidelines as "organic."

Sustainable agriculture organizations, organic growers, consumer groups, and organic food-sellers organized their constituencies and took a leading role in educating the public about the proposed rules. Secretary Glickman's quote that the organic standards program was "not a food safety program," and the USDA's leaked memo outlining how they were going to railroad their own advisory board's recommendations helped fuel the fire. About to watch the antithetical "organic" go up in flames, the USDA retreated. But you can bet your bottom dollar it is not yet defeated.

The grassroots campaign that swelled-up to protest the proposed rules must continue to flex its muscle. Round two starts with the second adaptation of the rules, due out by the end of the year. In the meantime, we have a few clues about what will be waiting for us around the corner.

In his May 8 announcement, Glickman made a point of saying "biotechnology, irradiation, and biosolids are safe and have important roles to play in agriculture, but they neither fit current organic practices nor meet current consumer expectations about organics." The key word seems to be "current." Expect a national public relations campaign from industry that stands to benefit from redefining consumer's expectations about organics. Chemical and biotechnology companies, fast re-naming themselves "life science" corporations, will be leading the pack. Nipping at their heels will be waste management companies and corporate farms. Riding roughshod will be the Department of Agriculture and the Environmental Protection Agency, blathering on about how terribly safe irradiation, sludge, chemical inputs, and biotechnology really are.

Monsanto, for one, is buying time to win over public support for genetic modification. The chemical giant has formally requested the USDA delay for three years the inclusion of genetically engineered crops in the National Organic Program. The presumption that they would be included and the request for a stay from one of the worlds biggest cheerleaders for biotechnology should trip some alarms.

Wendell Berry said "it is one of the miracles of science and hygiene that the germs that used to be in our food have been replaced by poisons." If it is up to the USDA and agribusiness, it will be another miracle that what was once natural food production will be transmogrified into a process entirely dependent on manufactured inputs.

Laura Orlando

References:

Secretary Glickman's May 8 announcement.

The USDA's memo on the NOP rules

Monsanto Requests Delay on GE crops in USDA Organic Standards.

The Unsettling of America: Culture & Agriculture. Wendell Berry. Sierra Club Books, 1977, p 41.

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