- 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.
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- 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.
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- 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."
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- 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."
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- 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.
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- 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.
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- "This new directive makes a mockery of organic standards,"
said Richard Wood, a recent member of the FDA's Veterinary Medicine Advisory
Committee and executive director of Food Animal Concerns Trust.
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- 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.
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- 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.
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- 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.
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- 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.
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- ###
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- This story was jointly produced by BushGreenwatch and
Grist Magazine. For more on this story, visit Grist Magazine.
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- SOURCES: [1] Antibiotic Guidance Statement, USDA, Apr.
14, 2004. http://www.ams.usda.gov/nop/NOP/GuidanceStatements/AntibioticGuidance041304.pdf
[2] Fishmeal Guidance Statement, USDA, Apr. 14, 2004. http://www.ams.usda.gov/nop/NOP/GuidanceStatements/FishmealGuidance041304.pdf
[3] Pesticide Compliance, USDA, Apr. 23, 2004. http://www.ams.usda.gov/nop/Compliance/PesticidesCompliance.pdf
[4] Scope Guidance Statement, USDA, Apr. 14, 2004. http://www.ams.usda.gov/nop/NOP/GuidanceStatements/ScopeGuidance041304.pdf
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- http://www.bushgreenwatch.org/mt_archives/000123.php
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