Organic Foods Travel a Rocky Road

The organic community tends to rally to protect its franchise. A class action lawsuit was filed by consumers and organic advocates in 2007 against Aurora Dairy Corp., the nation’s largest provider of store-brand organic milk, claiming the company had deceptively labeled its products as coming from small farms with open pastures. The suit was filed after The Cornucopia Institute, a Wisconsin-based farm policy research group, claimed that much of Aurora’s milk comes from industrial-scale operations in Texas and not from smaller organic farms in Colorado. Aurora has denied the claims, and the case is pending.

For many growers, the future of organic foods in the U.S. may hinge on legal and other efforts to halt the planting and use of genetically engineered (GE) crops, especially alfalfa and sugar beets, on grounds that pollen drift can contaminate organic and other non-GE crops. In June, the U.S. Supreme Court upheld a lower court ruling that barred the sale and planting of Monsanto Co.’s GE Roundup Ready alfalfa seeds until and unless the USDA has deregulated the product, a process that will require the agency to complete an environmental impact assessment.

The issue is more than philosophical: If organic crops become contaminated by GE plants, they often cannot be sold as organic on the domestic market or even exported as conventional crops to foreign countries, many of which have strict requirements regarding genetically modified organisms (GMOs). “This is a large, unresolved issue,” Riddle said, because even though the source of contamination can be traced genetically, the manufacturer/ patent holder is not held liable for financial damages.

“This issue is hurting and affecting all farmers,” said Michael Sligh, a founding member of the National Organic Coalition, an advocacy group in Pine Bush, N.Y. “This must not be misunderstood as a fight between farmers, or between environmentalists versus farmers, but as an urgent need for overall market clarity and policy fairness,” Sligh told a congressional panel. “It is one of corporate responsibility and the need for real governmental oversight.” Preliminary discussions are reportedly underway concerning a possible coexistence framework that would compensate farmers for GE-related crop losses.

In June, 56 members of the House and Senate from both parties urged the USDA not to deregulate Monsanto’s GE alfalfa. “Organic feed is already expensive and in short supply,” the legislators wrote, arguing that if organic alfalfa becomes contaminated, it will greatly compound the feed shortage and increase operating costs for organic dairy farms. USDA officials say no decision will be made until after they complete an environmental assessment some time next year.

Agres is a freelance writer based in Laurel, Md. Reach him at [email protected].

The Long Road to Organic Standards

The organic movement in America is often traced back to the 1940s, when groups such as the Rodale Institute in Kutztown, Pa., began experimenting with composting to enhance soil fertility without chemicals. In the 1960s and ’70s, as public awareness about the dangers of chemical pesticides grew through the publication of Rachel Carson’s Silent Spring and other books and articles, some farmers in the Northeast, upper Midwest, and California coast began conducting field trials using organic growing methods.

As organic practices spread, local and regional organizations were formed to share knowledge and techniques and attempt to set standards. But the road was rocky. “The early 1980s had seen plenty of conflicting standards, specious ‘organic’ claims, outright fraud, and resulting consumer mistrust,” U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) Deputy Secretary Kathleen A. Merrigan told the Senate Agriculture, Nutrition, and Forestry Committee in a hearing in September.