Certified Organic - Another Point ** From Vicki Younger]

[Guest guest]

An old one from Vicki .. in Oz.

 

 

Vicki Younger <vicki

Mon, 5 Apr 2004 09:54:00 +1000

RE: Organically Certified-Another Point

 

Hi Martin,

 

And I'm very pleased to see that you take part on this list! And thanks

to others who contributed to the organic thread because I've found it

very interesting.

 

> Thanks Christine for that info. on the US scene, but I still wonder

> about the inspection regimes and how sound they are.

 

Your comments about organic certification are especially interesting.

Here in Australia, I've always thought we lagged way behind in terms of

certifying bodies and because of many separate factions. Some

certifying bodies have merged over the years but not without a great

deal of angst and political upheaval within the organisations that are

proposing to merge.

 

And some certifying bodies are much tougher on the growers who want to

achieve certification than others.

 

I did some checking about the state of affairs in Australia, because

naively I thought the annual inspections included soil testing each

time, and I had believed that at least things were being kept in check

that way.

 

Not so. The soil tests are done initially, and then again three years

later when organic certification has been obtained.

 

Even more ridiculous is the blanket rule that a grower must have " in

conversion " status for three years after the initial testing procedure.

 

So if you buy land and want to start growing and marketing organic

herbs, crops or whatever, you might have bought land that hasn't had

chemicals applied to it at all in the previous ten years. Or you might

buy land that's had heavy chemical use during that time. The same rule

applies. I was shocked to discover this because I'd somehow thought the

in conversion status was somehow dependent on the results of chemical

residues from the soil tests.

 

I'm not sure if these are the same guidelines for Europe.

 

For me, the sustainability issue is far more crucial than whether a

product is " certified " organic or not, especially when I've come to

believe that rules and regulations in the main about protecting sizeable

corporations (who also make political donations), rather than the

consumers they're purported to protect.

 

A friend involved in the permaculture movement here told me some time

ago about the terrible effects the demand for organic food is having on

some of the producing nations. Because of the demand for organic

coffee, for example, some areas in New Guinea are turning their

traditional farming land over to producing organic coffee for the

almighty dollar. And losing much of their food source as a result.

 

I'd better stop now.......

 

Vicki

[Guest guest]

Hi Butch

 

I swear that after all the things like this that have happened to me in the

past month, the planets are lined up in a very peculiar manner LOL.

 

This is serendipity on two counts:-)

 

1. after months of not being able to keep up with posts from this list I

earnestly began to do so again last week

 

2. I was talking to a friend who has an organic peach farm about this very

issue on Friday night

 

Her farm up to now had been classified as " in conversion " and this year is

the first year she qualifies for organic status.

 

I still believe that the entire assessment situation is ridiculous. She

told me some other things that suggests double standards (or more correctly

least non adherence to standards) by some, yet their certification isn't

stripped from them.

 

If I'd gone through this lengthy and time consuming process to get my farm

certified and I knew there were others flouting the rules (and harming the

reputation of other organic farmers), I'd be rasing the roof.

 

That's why I could never play those games.

 

Vicki

 

>

> Butch Owen [butchbsi]

> Monday, 23 October 2006 7:41 PM

>

> Certified Organic - Another Point ** From Vicki

> Younger]

>

> An old one from Vicki .. in Oz.

[Guest guest]

If I'd gone through this lengthy and time consuming process to get my farm

certified and I knew there were others flouting the rules (and harming the

reputation of other organic farmers), I'd be rasing the roof.

 

[Dave:] And you’d drive yourself crazy. I have a friend who supplies gasses

and valves and such to California smog-test stations. He’s had a great

little one-man business for years. For the past several years, he’s been

hurt by immigrants (mostly middle-eastern) who undercut his prices by not

charging or paying taxes. He’s reported them to the various authorities I

don’t know how many times, and it hasn’t done any good. They change

locations and business names and keep going. My friend is just about out of

business as a result of this. I realize this is apples and oranges, but

there’s a pattern here.

 

I’ve been re-reading Gibbon’s Decline & Fall Of The Roman Empire, and the

parallels are so numerous and pervasive it’s astonishing and frightening.

The Romans became lazy, apathetic and spoiled; they allowed weak and corrupt

leaders to take over; they brought in foreigners to do work they considered

themselves too good for – and they failed to secure their borders.

 

Sorry for the rant. You touched a nerve.

 

 

 

 

--

 

 

Version: 7.1.408 / Virus Database: 268.13.11/493 - Release 10/23/2006

 

 

 

--

 

 

Version: 7.1.408 / Virus Database: 268.13.11/493 - Release 10/23/2006