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Science
Friday > Archives
> 1998
> May
> May 29, 1998:
Hour One: What is "organic?"
| In December, the the Department of Agriculture announced that it plans to regulate the ever-growing organic foods industry much more closely than it has in the past. Standards for organic foods currently vary widely from state to state. The proposed regulations would set a minimum standard nationwide that would determine what products can be called "organic," and would set fines and other penalties for mislabelling of foods.
"They've shown that they will pay a premium for organic food," Secretary of Agriculture Dan Glickman said."National standards are our way of ensuring that consumers get what they pay for." | 
Cotton farmer, North Carolina, 1940,
by W.H. Shaffer. (Courtesy National
Agricultural Library Special Collections) | But many organic food growers and consumers were unhappy with the proposed standards. The USDA's proposed rule said nothing about three contentious issues in farming today - the use of genetic engineering, irradiation, and sewage-sludge fertilizers. Without mention of those issues in the proposed rule, organic advocates feared, foods could be labelled as "organic" even after being subjected to many indignities that, they say, Mother Nature never intended.
After receiving over 200,000 comments about the proposed rule, the Department of Agriculture withdrew its proposal, which will be revised and reissued later. Organic food producers hailed the change, saying that it would ensure that the quality and safety of organically grown foods was maintained.
But is organic food necessarily better? Is it healthier or safer than
food produced with fertilizers, pesticides, or other chemicals? Does
irradiation actually make foods somehow "unnatural?" Join us for this
hour of Science Friday, as guest host Richard Harris and guests offer
up a helping of organic food discussion.
Guests:
Articles Discussed:
Related Links:
USDA Proposed Rule Home Page - read the rules and comments here!
The Organic Foods Protection Act of 1990
The Sustainable Agriculture Network
Agricultural Biocontrol information from Cornell
The Organic Trade Association
The National Food Processors Association |
