San Benito County’s organic farmers and ranchers are concerned
that a bill set to go before the U.S. Senate this week will weaken
federal standards for organic foods and hurt the entire
industry.
Hollister – San Benito County’s organic farmers and ranchers are concerned that a bill set to go before the U.S. Senate this week will weaken federal standards for organic foods and hurt the entire industry.
They say a provision added at the last-minute to the Agriculture Appropriations Bill last week allowing the use of certain artificial ingredients in organic foods could have dire consequences for their industry by eroding consumer confidence in organic foods
Joe Morris, owner the San Juan Bautista-based T.O. Cattle Company, believes it may hurt local organic farmers.
“This won’t be good for any family-sized organic business,” he said Wednesday. “This bill is the last in a long line of attempts by corporations to take advantage of the good will created by the organic movement.”
Allowing products that are not actually organic to use the organic label will may hurt some San Benito County farmers by creating more competition in niche markets.
“Local farmers who are really good organic farmers will not be able to distinguish themselves,” he said. “(Large corporations) want to dilute the standards – they want to be labeled organic, which implies they have a concern for stewardship and a concern for their community, but corporations are only concerned about next quarter’s earnings report.”
Despite objections from several legislators, including Congressman Sam Farr (D-Carmel), the bill will probably pass the Senate, Farr spokeswomen Jessica Schafer said Wednesday.
Farr called the last-minute addition weakening organic standards a “backroom deal” that “undermines the integrity of the entire organic industry,” in a press release last week. Farr also vowed to visit the issue again in the future.
Area organic farmers may have to come up with a new word or new marketing strategies to differentiate their products from the products of other businesses that are just using the organic label to increase profits, San Benito County Farm Bureau President Paul Hain said.
“In the long run it’s not good to be messing around with these standards,” he said. “But if things keep going the way they are now, the ‘organic’ label will become meaningless.”
Since politicians have chosen to define and dilute the definition of organic food, Hain said true organic farmers may begin to market their products as “surpassing organic standards.”
Charles Sweat, chief operating officer at Earthbound Farm of San Juan Bautista – the country’s largest grower of organic produce – believes San Benito County farmers won’t be hurt financially by the bill. Sweat is specifically concerned about a section of the bill that would permit the Agriculture Department to grant temporary exemptions to companies allowing them to put non-organic ingredients into organic food when organic counterparts are not “commercially available.”
“I do not see the bill impacting San Benito County significantly, as most of the bill is stating what has been in effect since 1990 with the Organic Food Production Act,” Sweat said in an e-mail. “The only significant issue we see is an exemption for ‘commercial availability.’ This could open up the debate to include more non-organic ingredients into food labeled ‘organic.’ We prefer to see the integrity and guidelines for organic standards stay very strict to the defined standards.”
Morris agreed. He believes that consumers will quickly figure out the difference between small family organic products and large corporate products that may be labeled as organic under the weakened standards of the bill.
“Whether Wal-Mart sells organic products or not, it won’t hurt us,” Morris said.
Brett Rowland covers education for the Free Lance. He can be reached at 831-637-5566 ext. 330 or [email protected]
