USDA Organic Labels to Appear This Summer

USDA To Begin Labeling Foods as Organic This Summer
April 20

Look for new "USDA Organic" seals to appear on supermarket shelves
this summer. After a decade of controversy, and several revisions, the
U.S. Department of Agriculture has begun implementing new regulations
that establish for the first time national standards for fruits, vegetables, meat
and dairy products sold as "organic."

But neither side of a burgeoning $6 billion organic foods industry is happy
with the outcome, and some organic farmers say lawsuits are expected.
Keith Jones, director of the National Organic Program, a division of the
U.S. Agriculture Department overseeing the new regulations, said consumers
won't notice the impact of the new regulations for many months.

New USDA seals proclaiming some products on supermarket shelves are
"100 percent Organic" won't appear until October 2002. By that date,
"Organic" labels will also appear on foods made with more than 95 percent
organic products, and "Made with Organic" labels for those with less than
95 percent organic content.

"We're giving the industry time to adjust," Jones said of the 18-month delay
before full labeling begins.

Starting last Saturday, he said, the federal regulations mean that all organic
growers and distributors in the United States need only meet the one
national standard, which replaces almost 40 different state and industry
standards for proclaiming foods as "organic."

Bob Scowcroft, executive director of the Organic Farming Research
Foundation in Santa Cruz., Calif., representing 8,300 certified organic
farmers, said the regulations are a victory in a long battle to get recognition
of the fast-growing industry. He said the regulations establish for the first
time a national advisory board to establish standards for the industry, and
will lead to labels that will allow organic farmers to compete with industrial
agribusiness concerns.

Scowcroft said one of the biggest challenges facing organic farmers is
keeping their fields pristine from invasion by genetically altered crops
grown on neighboring farms, and receiving recognition in research grants.
Of almost 89,000 acres of farmland under control of the 69 land-grant
universities in the United States, only 151 acres are certified for organic
farming use, he said.

Some long-standing organic farmers aren't happy with the new federal
regulations, contending they water down existing industry standards, and
open new loopholes that will allow farms that use pesticides into the
program, and permit some genetically modified foods to be marketed as
"organic" products.

"The administration of it is many steps backwards, and the rule itself is
several steps backwards," said Arthur Harvey, operator of a 25-acre
blueberry farm in Canton, Maine, who serves on the quality assurance
committee of the Organic Trade Association, a trade group representing
organic farmers. Harvey said his major objection is that the regulations
will permit farmers who use pesticides or herbicides on their fields to come
in and out of the program.

The federal rule says farmers cannot claim to be using organic techniques
if they use pesticides or herbicides on their fields for three years, but
Harvey said that would not stop farmers from rotating their fields so they
could come in and out of the program. Harvey said that long-lasting
herbicides give farmers a considerable advantage over those who weed
by hand, "and the existing system doesn't allow that."

Although Congress said the regulations could not allow products containing
synthetic materials to be marketed as organic, the federal rules list 35
synthetics or additives like ascorbic acid and food stabilizers that can be
used in products labeled "100 percent organic." Most of the ascorbic acid
used in the fruit industry for canning jams and jellies is genetically
modified chemical.

Kim Willard, a spokesman for the National Food Processors Association,
said his members are concerned that the organic labels will mislead consumers
into believing the organic food is of better quality, more nutritious, and
safer than food produced by traditional means.

Both sides said the new regulation is an improvement from earlier
generations, which would have permitted sewage sludge as fertilizer on
organic farms, and wider use of biotechnology to control pests. The USDA's
initial proposal was met with a chorus of complaints from producers and
consumers.