Catastrophic Failure of Organic Values and Standards in California: Scandal Erupts Over California Growers Use of Prohibited Substances

It appears that for several years, some California growers have benefited from a significant advantage in producing lower cost organic crops—they were using a fertilizer touted as organic but which  in fact contained prohibited substances and sold for a lower price than true organic fertilizers. As a result, for the same several years many consumers purchased fruits and vegetables from organic farms in California that in fact were not organic. This practice violated the core tenet of organic farming and one of its greatest strengths-the lack of synthetic inputs, including petroleum derived and other synthetic fertilizers and a lack of synthetic pesticides and herbicides. In other words, this was a catastrophic failure of the organic system that wholly undermined the core values that consumers have come to trust in purchasing organic products. According to the article written by Jim Downing of the Sacremento Bee (http://www.sacbee.com/288/story/1501772.html) there is no evidence that the farmers themselves knew about the presence of the prohibited substance in the fertilizer. Instead it appears that the company involved engaged in a systematic fraud on farmers, regulators, and ultimately, consumers.  However, the behavior of the regulators involved does not appear consistent with their obligations under the organic regulations. It appears that California, the certifiers involved, and the NOP allowed the farmers to continue farming organically, despite the fact that the land had been contaminated with prohibited substances which the Organic Food Production Act does not allow. Under the Act, the farms should have been decertified because the land has not been free of prohibited substances for three years. A requirement that the regulators have apparently turned a blind eye to, apparently waiving the provision because the farmers were not at fault, an interpretation that is likely to encourage further organic fraud which when discovered will be defended using what will come to be known as the California Defense: ” But I didn’t know that there were prohibited substances being applied to my land!” And, I might add, an interpretation that appears to be at odds with the bright line rule contained both in the Act and the NOP regulations. The saddest fact of all: It took a Public Records Request to unearth the controversy. No regulator came to the public to reveal the truth until the Sacramento Bee broke the story. Make no mistake, there are no winners here: Everyone loses, the farmers who work hard and with integrity to produce organically but are defrauded by their suppliers, the regulators who choose to twist the regulations rather than face the fallout of enforcing them only to have their actions revealed by good journalism, and the public who for years have supported organic agriculture by paying a premium price for a product that was in fact not organic and who placed their trust in a system that may have catastrophically failed them. And what about the other farmers throughout the world who experienced higher costs than their California counterparts, leading to higher prices which made them less competitive against California organic producers?

I would link to examples of the uproar but it appears the news has been met with a deafening silence.

Here’s a link to the Sacramento Bee story: http://www.sacbee.com/288/story/1501772.html

Rethinking Fertilizer on a Fundamental Level: A Greener Revolution

Wired.com has published an interesting article describing how real environmental change will require a rethinking of agricultural fertilizer–not just its use, but is manufacture. Fertilizer is of course an energy intensive product to produce and the Wired contributor argues that any real fundamental shift towards greener agriculture will require both a rethinking of how fertilizer is used but also manufactured.  We still produce fertilizer by the same basic process used in 1909. Despite huge technological advances in farming and resource use, this basic building block of the agricultural system has remained oddy innovation free for generations.  Even though some scientists are hard on the trail of producing nitrogen using cleaner, more sustainable, and possibly cheaper, methods, it is hard to obtain the funding required for the overdue break through.  “So while billions of dollars in venture capital are flowing in to cleantech companies that would only make small differences in the world’s energy balance, research into new fertilizer tech is inexplicably underfunded.” Read the entire article at http://www.wired.com/science/planetearth/news/2008/06/nitrogen?currentPage=2

The problem with organic food.

Abigail Hadad over at the American ( American.com) argues that the “environmental and aesthetic virtues of organic agriculture have been overblown.” Read the entire article at http://www.american.com/archive/2008/june-06-08/the-problem-with-organic-food

Pesticide Use and Brain Damage

American Chronicle carries an article from Sandy Powers, breast cancer survivor, about the use of pesticides, the toll on the human body, and why organics are a, pardon the pun, no-brainer. Read the article at http://www.americanchronicle.com/articles/64600

The money quote:”Environmental Health Perspectives reported that American toddlers eating mostly organic foods have only one-sixth the pesticide residues in their urine of children eating non-organic foods.”

Avalon and Whole Foods sued over the presence of carcinogens in natural and organic products.

Environment News Service is reporting that the Attorney General of California has brought suit after the companies’ products were tested in a study commissioned by the Organic Consumers Association, OCA, and released in March. The study analyzed “natural” and “organic” brand shampoos, body washes, lotions and other personal care products for the presence of 1,4-dioxane.

Results for all products tested is online here. http://www.organicconsumers.org/bodycare/DioxaneResults08.cfm

Read ENS full article here: http://www.ens-newswire.com/ens/jun2008/2008-06-10-093.asp

The Juggernaut that is Greenwashing: How Companies Cash in On the Confluence of a Lack of Meaningful Oversight of Environmental/Natural Label Claims and Consumers’ Growing Environmental Concerns

The Boston Globe is carrying an article by Beth Daley describing the rise of greenwashing, whereby dubious environmental and natural label claims are used to tap into consumers’ green conciousness. The article, titled “Not as Green as They Claim to Be” cites a study by TerraChoice Environmental Marketing that found up to  99 percent of 1,018 green advertising claims could be misleading. The answer: “The government “needs to require anyone making a green claim to provide proof of the accuracy and relevance of the claim.” Well, yeah. Or at least outsource such verification to third party certifiers, such as is done with organic marketing claims.

 

Read the entire article at http://www.boston.com/news/local/articles/2008/05/14/not_as_green_as_they_claim_to_be/

Daily Carbon Sample: Carbon Market Doubles, UN set a Carbon Goal, Trees the Solution for Carbon Problem

Organica presents a trio of stories on the hot topic (no pun intended) of carbon dioxide from various angles. First up is the story from Environmental Protection online, which discusses how quickly the market-based solution of trading in carbon credits is growing and taking hold. Market forces are way out in front of governments on this one. Bottom line: Carbon trading doubled in 2006 and it is expected to continue to grow fitfully as nations attempt to grapple with their Kyoto protocol obligations. Read the story at http://www.eponline.com/articles/62554/. Next up is a story in the Washington Post titled United Nations has a Tree-mendous Goal, which describes a UN Plan that amounts to “each one plant one” as a way to reduce the worldwide impact of carbon dioxide by the equivalent of Russia’s emissions, merely by planting one tree for each person on the planet. The UN has already planted a billion trees and is encouraged by that success. Read the short blurb at http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2008/05/13/AR2008051302532.html. Finally, and to round out our round-up, Science Daily has posted an article describing why the planting of trees, ala the UNEP model, might just be a critical part of any effort to get a handle on the global carbon emissions problem. However, according to the article, for this to work, the wood so produced must be buried and not allowed to compost or be burned and thereby release the carbon back into the natural cycle, rather the wood must be sequestered in some manner such as burying in a manner to prevent decomposition. An interesting article that actually goes through the trouble of thinking all the way through the problem and well worth reading. Check it out at http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2008/05/080513101652.htm.

 

Hunting the Last Wild Tuna: Will our children eat wild fish or only farmed?

The UK’s Guardian is reporting on the dangerous and near total depletion of sustainable wild fish throughout the world. As the article quotes one scientist, we are headed towards a world where the only thing available from the sea is slime and jellyfish.

 

Read the entire article at http://www.guardian.co.uk/environment/2008/may/11/fishing.food/print

Higher Prices for Farmers but Also Higher Costs: Why American Farmers Are Unable to Cash in on the Current Demand for Food

The L.A. Times’ Jerry Hirsch is reporting that costs are rising faster than prices for farmers, and accordingly, the much bally-hooed price increases are doing nothing to ease the plight of farmers, who may be cutting back production rather than scaling up. If this is true, we haven’t seen the worst yet. One quote from the article:

“The cost of farming an acre of corn, for example, has risen almost 47% over the last year, according to Wells Fargo & Co. estimates, outpacing the 35% increase in the price of corn in the same period.”

 

Read the entire article at http://www.latimes.com/business/la-fi-farm13-2008may13,0,38893.story

 

Cornucopia Files Additional Complaint Against Another Dean Dairy: Group claims dairy used by Dean fails organic standards

The Associated Press is reporting that Cornucopia targets Fagundes Brothers Dairy for its latest complaint over lack of enforcement of USDA organic regulations.

 

Read the entire article at http://www.chron.com/disp/story.mpl/ap/business/5773194.html

 

 

Read Cornucopia’s take here: America’s Largest Corporate Dairy Processor Muscles Its Way into Organics