Is it Organic?

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May 21, 2004 | Back Issues

Bush Officials Weaken Organic Food Standards: Public Shut Out

The Bush Administration is giving Americans new reason to watch what

they eat. Over the course of 10 days last month, the U.S. Department

of Agriculture (USDA) issued three " guidances " and one directive --

all legally binding interpretations of law -- that threaten to

seriously dilute the meaning of the word organic and discredit the

department's National Organic Program.

The changes -- which would allow the use of antibiotics on organic

dairy cows, as well as synthetic pesticides on organic farms, and

more -- were made with zero input from the public or the National

Organic Standards Board (NOSB), the advisory group that worked for

more than a decade to help craft the first federal organic

standards, put in place in October 2002.

The USDA insists the changes are harmless: " The directives have not

changed anything. They are just clarifications of what is in the

regulations that were written by the National Organic Standards

Board, " stated USDA spokesperson Joan Shaffer. " They just explain

what's enforceable. There is no difference [between the

clarifications and the original regulations] -- it's just another

way of explaining it. "

But Jim Riddle, vice chair of the NOSB and endowed chair in

agricultural systems at the University of Minnesota, argues that

what the USDA is trying to pass off as a clarification of

regulations is in fact a substantial change: " These are the sorts of

changes for which the department is supposed to do a formal new

rulemaking process, with posting in the federal register, feedback

from our advisory board, and a public-comment period. And yet there

is no such process denoted anywhere. "

Organic activists suspect that industry pressure drove the policy

shifts. They point out that the USDA leadership has long-standing

industry sympathies: Agriculture Secretary Ann Veneman served on the

board of directors of a biotech company; both her chief of staff and

her director of communications were plucked right out of the

National Cattlemen's Beef Association.

One practice favored by large agribusiness is the use of antibiotics

on cows. A USDA guidance issued on April 14 will allow just that on

organic dairy farms -- a dramatic reversal of 2002 rules. [1] Under

the new guidelines, sickly dairy cows can be treated not just with

antibiotics but with numerous others drugs and still have their milk

qualify as organic, so long as 12 months pass between the time the

treatments are administered and the time the milk is sold.

" This new directive makes a mockery of organic standards, " said

Wood, a recent member of the FDA's Veterinary Medicine

Advisory Committee and executive director of Food Animal Concerns

Trust.

Another new guidance put out on the same day would allow cattle

farmers to feed their heifers non-organic fishmeal that could be

riddled with synthetic preservatives, mercury, and PCBs, and still

sell their beef as organic.

And the following week, on April 23, the USDA took the startling

step of issuing a legal directive that opens the door for use of

some synthetic pesticides on organic farms.

Last but certainly not least, another guidance released on April 14

narrows the scope of the federal organic certification program to

crops, livestock, and the products derived from them, meaning that

national organic standards will not be developed for fish,

nutritional supplements, pet food, fertilizers, cosmetics, or

personal-care products.

Despite the USDA's demurrals, activists view the department's

changes as a serious threat to hard-won standards for organic

products. The National Campaign for Sustainable Agriculture and

other groups are investigating possible industry influence into the

USDA's process, and some environmental groups are preparing to take

legal action.

###

This story was jointly produced by BushGreenwatch and Grist

Magazine. For more on this story, visit Grist Magazine.

###

SOURCES:

[1] Antibiotic Guidance Statement, USDA, Apr. 14, 2004.

[2] Fishmeal Guidance Statement, USDA, Apr. 14, 2004.

[3] Pesticide Compliance, USDA, Apr. 23, 2004.

[4] Scope Guidance Statement, USDA, Apr. 14, 2004.

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