Certified Organic - The Reality Of It All

[Guest guest]

Howdy y'all,

 

Throughout the below writing you will find an excessive use of Caps .. I

have always done this to emphasize what I consider to be important points

and because I think that by doing so it helps folks to better remember those

points .. I have no apologies for disregarding the rules of grammar. Just

look at it as being a Tennessee Hillbilly stomping his foot when he makes

points that just might show up on the final exam .. difference being y'all

ain't gonna be tested on this information .. but your pocketbook might get

tested. ;-)

 

Being the Non Politically Correct person I have always been .. I have never

hesitated to kick the beloved Sacred Cows in the Essential Oils (EO)

Industry .. nor have I avoided bursting a few of the balloons of Hype and

Misinformation that are (unfortunately) too often foundations of the

industry. I've never been as successful at doing this as have Martin Watt

and Tony Burfield .. but I do it as best as can and I tell it like I really

think (or know) it is rather than how many folks wish it was because my

memory is not all that great .. if one wishes to be a super marketer and

charismatic con artist they must have an extremely good memory so as to not

trip over their own tales .. like politicians running for elected office

often do. ;-)

 

I started writing on the fallacy of CO back in the mid 1990s .. Martin and

Tony have written far more than I have on the problems inherent in so-called

Certification programs. None of us have said that these programs are

useless .. just that in the case of EO they are often not dependable .. and

that in reality, it is not possible to certify products from certain areas.

Even if the Certification system is working as it should work, which is too

often NOT the case .. it is the soil (not the products grown in the soil)

that can truly be certified. And .. even if the products alleged to have

been grown in legitimately certified soil were, in fact, grown in that soil

... there is still no proof that they have not been contaminated by downwind

drift or acid rain or many other forms of fallout. Some of my posts on

this are in the archive of this list.

 

Taking it a bit further .. lets go beyond plants that we intend to eat in a

salad and such .. and move to EO. If one seeks only so-called (alleged) CO

Essential Oils then they will spend a lot of money but have few EO in

their collection .. simply because most EO are produced in Third World (TW)

and Emerging Market (EM) Countries where Certification is not a norm due to

the major expense of complying with the bureaucratic (though actually, very

loose) requirements. As is the case with most systems, if one has the big

bucks they can work well within the CO system .. the little guys don't have

the swing to do what the big boys can do. On the positive side, odds of

getting a truly Organic product from a TW Country are probably better than

those of getting one from a more developed country .. due to tradition and

economics. Having lived a total of 26 + years in Turkey .. the last " trip "

being 19 + years from 1988 through 2007, I know that fungicides, pesticides

and even commercial fertilizers are rarely used by Turkish farmers because

(1) Their father and grandfather did not use them .. and (2) They can't

afford to purchase them. Of course, most of the EO from Turkey are Wild

Grown in any case .. and they are harvested in areas that are very sparsely

populated .. this is also the case with Wild Grown plants in most of the TW

& EM countries I have worked in or visited.

 

If .. in fact .. an Aromatic Plant is grown in legitimate CO Soil .. and

then distilled .. the EO from that plant will obviously be more free of

commercial chemicals than an EO distilled from Aromatic Plants plants that

have been sprayed with Commercial Chemicals. If one can purchase those

oils DIRECT from the still .. they can have all kinds of warm fuzzies

about the product .. that is, as far as it not having been directly exposed

to Commercial Chemicals. However, this says nothing about the QUALITY of

the EO.. Certification can't assure this. There are many commercial

chemical free .. pure .. EO out and about that are Low or Mediocre Quality

because the chemical profile of the oil is well outside the profile or

" footprint " of what is considered to be the acceptable range of EO produced

from Aromatic Plants within that Origin country. Certification can NOT

tell us about Quality .. only a Lab Analysis can do this. I believe it

was " Chicken of the Sea " that used to have Charlie Tuna talking with another

Tuna who was dressed in a Tux and quoting Shakespeare .. asking, " Do you

want a Tuna with Good Taste .. or a Tuna that Tastes Good? " ;-)

 

Take it a bit further .. let's assume that an Aromatic Plant is grown in

legitimate CO Soil .. and the Grower is a Conscientious person and is also

the Distiller of the EO. Buy from that Grower/Distiller and we will get a

truly Certified Organic EO. Problem is that most end users of EO can't

afford to import EO .. they purchase from folks like me and others on this

News Group. We import much of what we offer but its not possible for us to

import ALL of the EO we sell. For many reasons it just not practical or

economically feasible to do this .. especially when we need only one

extremely low cost EO from a particular Origin .. in such a case

shipping and other costs can be far more than the cost of the oil. We

import what we can because it is OUR money we are investing and we are

professional enough to know that we can not stay in business if we spend OUR

money on Garbage. I have known the major sellers on this New Group for

many years and I know that by protecting ourselves we are also protecting

you .. the end user.

 

For those EO that we do NOT import ourselves .. we turn to the Major

Importers .. many of which have MILLIONS and MILLIONS off dollars tied up in

their stock and they can obtain their stock for far less per kilogram than

we can because at one time they can purchase 500 or 1,000 kilos of even a

very low priced EO. I offer way over 100 EO so I can't afford to have 500

kilos of each one on hand.

 

ALL of these large importers are not as careful as we try to be ourselves ..

so we do our homework and then seek out those who we believe are

as conscientious and professional as we consider ourselves to be .. again, a

simple matter of logical self-preservation. However, if one of these large

importers DOES NOT purchase an EO direct from the grower/distiller .. if

they purchase from an importer larger than they are .. then even the most

honest and conscientious seller can NOT bet their life that a Certified

Organic EO is in fact an EO that was extracted from an Aromatic Plant that

was grown in legitimate CO Soil .. because it is possible that the larger

importer could have mixed another EO with that CO oil. Some major

importers do not purchase ALL oils directly from the grower/distiller ..

when I owned a Turkish company they often purchased from me because I also

had a American company .. and I spoke Turkish and knew the distillers and

their families .. the buyers trusted me. There were many months where we

would ship over a metric ton of Origanum and other EO to major U.S. importers.

Know that this is also the case for other EO from other countries.

 

If anyone wants follow up information on WHY I am not overly impressed with

Certified Organic products I will provide it .. On Line. All you have to do

is ask. I will NOT provide it Off Line because I don't have the time now

to be " educating one Aromatic Soul at time. " ;-)

 

Since I came into this business I have used a coding system that is posted

on my BROKEN web site .. as follows. I say Broken because it was broken

even before Friday night when the server for that site went down .. right

now you can't even pull the site up .. nor can I receive email at the

address hosted by that server ButchOwen @ AV-AT .com .. it will be up Monday

(I hope). We are working even harder now to get the new web site on line

... using a different server.

 

The Agri Class and Distillation Method Codes for this system are as follows

and I have always felt extremely comfortable using this system:

 

WG .. Wild Grown - Self propagating - Uncultivated - Harvested by hand in

the wild

CO .. Certified Organic - Certified by a third party

OR .. Organic - Same as CO except NOT Certified

EF .. Ethically Farmed - may or may not be Organic

SE .. Solvent Extracted - Absolutes

HS .. Hydro Steam Distilled

EP .. Expeller Pressed

HD .. Hydro Diffused

SD .. Steam Distilled

CP .. Cold Pressed

 

There will come a time (soon) where I will not be able to use this system ..

the government will screw it up by demanding that the term Organic be

Certified. How the industry will deal with this then is still a puzzle to

me because .. for example .. ALL of the EO I sell with an Origin of the UK

are grown and distilled by a man who certainly uses NO Commercial Chemicals

... both Martin Watt and I know him well and we both trust him .. but this

gentleman has said that he will NOT go along with the ridiculous and

expensive requirements to obtain a CO designation for his oils .. his

feelings are shared by many other growers/distillers.

 

I see this as being no different than the very large vegetable garden I will

be planting in a few weeks .. it will be TOTALLY Organic but not

Certified. There is a need for government oversight in many areas now ..

the U.S. and EU governments have shown major shortfalls in their efforts to

protect us from Hazardous imports from China and other countries but they

still see a need to play Big Brother in areas that are not broken within our

own countries. Tony Burfield and his Cropwatch organization have been

busting butt for a long time trying to protect Europeans from their own

government .. the EU is prohibiting the use of many EO for the most

ridiculous reasons .. and Tony has done much to head them off at the pass ..

he is a thorn in their side. Whether or not his organization will be able

to win these battles remains to be seen but if he loses it will not be for

lack of effort .. and not for lack of presentation of credible information

to counter their ridiculous positions on many EO

 

Back to CO before I close out .. I offer some CO oils because (1) some

customers want them and (2) I am sometimes able to find reasonably priced CO

oils .. but not always. There are some CO oils that are priced as much as

300% more than the same oils that are Organic .. or even Wild Grown. I am

not foolish enough to buy them and I have come to the conclusion that most

folks think as I do. All of my oils are tested via either GC or GC/MS ..

and I have seen CO oils that tested LOWER in Quality than oils that are not

CO. If a person wants to throw their money away in order to have warm

fuzzies .. then they should do it but they should also understand that they

might be paying for a false sense of security .. the Emperor does NOT always

have new clothes.

 

There are even many Certified Organic Absolutes out and about .. I offer one

myself .. Vanilla .. but is it logical? Of course not! Regardless of how

an Aromatic Plant is grown .. when you process it with Hexane it takes a

great imagination to believe that it is still a Certified Organic oil.

 

Would you purchase a Certified Organic EO from China or Russia? It might

surprise some folks to know how often I receive spam from folks claiming to

sell CO oils from these two countries.

 

Below is one of the reasons why I don't offer California Citrus oils .. I

prefer Italian and Florida Citrus. Should a person be satisfied with a CO

Orange or Grapefruit EO from California? Maybe .. but I am not betting my

money on it.

 

Y'all keep smiling. :-)

 

Butch .. http://www.AV-AT.com <http://www.av-at.com/> .. the site you can

not open today .. but I have a print out of the prices so if you need

something ASAP .. just ask. ;-)

 

 

 

Top Ten Dirty Cities in the U.S.A.

http://body.aol.com/condition-center/respiratory-health/polluted-cities

 

10. St. Louis, Missouri

St. Louis is known as the Gateway to the West. But, it's still near many of

the east coast's coal-fired power plants, said Janice Nolen, assistant vice

president for national policy and advocacy at the American Lung Association.

These power plants, which create electricity through burning coal, spew

microscopic particles that bypass the body's defense mechanisms, Nolen said.

These toxic bits -- which are typically one-seventh to one-thirtieth the

diameter of a single human hair -- can get lodged in the lungs or even be

passed like oxygen molecules into the blood stream.

 

9. Indianapolis, Indiana

Like St. Louis, Indianapolis makes the list because of its proximity to

coal-fired power plants, according to Nolen. Indiana's capital city,

however, has other problems including a large manufacturing base that emits

large amounts of soot into the atmosphere. Traffic in and around the city

can also be heavy as three major roads -- Rt. 65, Rt. 70 and Rt. 74 -- all

run through Indianapolis. Thanks to these factors, Indianapolis received a

" D " from the American Lung Association in the smog category and outright

fails when it comes to particle pollution.

 

8. Cincinnati, Ohio

Cincinnati is not only home to the Reds and the Bengals. The city that's got

its own kind of chili also has an air pollution problem. Cincinnati, which

is in southern Ohio just a stone's throw away from Kentucky, also gets

failing marks from the ALA. The problem? Cincinnati is near many of the

coal-fired power plants that churn out electricity for the east coast -- and

tons of particulate matter each year. And, the fact that the city is near

three big highways -- Rt. 71, Rt. 74 and Rt. 75 -- means there's plenty of

traffic rolling through Cincinnati.

 

7. Visalia, California

Visalia has the distinction of being one of the most abundant agricultural

regions of the United States. Everything from grapes to citrus fruit to

cattle is raised in the open fields of Visalia, which is located in the

central region of California. But, with the agriculture, comes diesel

tractors and farm equipment to help grow and reap crops. Large trucks are

needed to transport the harvest to grocery stores across the country.

Burning diesel -- a petroleum-based product -- is one of the major sources

of particle pollution, according to Nolen.

 

6. Cleveland, Ohio

Cleveland may " rock " according to television star Drew Carey, but the city

located on Lake Erie has poor air quality. The city has a heavy

manufacturing base, which contributes to particle pollution. And, it's

situated near two major trucking highways -- Rt. 80 and Rt. 90 -- that are

used to transport goods between the eastern and western United States. In

fact, for these reasons, the American Lung Association gives Cleveland an

" F " for particle pollution.

 

5. Detroit, Michigan

Like Cleveland, Detroit is one of the country's major manufacturing centers.

The city, one of the largest in the state, is synonymous with the car

industry because companies like General Motors, Ford and Chrysler are

headquartered there. Like many of the other cities on this list, Detroit

gets a failing grade and ties with Birmingham, Ala., to be fourth worst city

in the nation for particle pollution. The city also struggles with smog

pollution, according to the ALA.

 

4. Birmingham, Alabama

Birmingham's air quality problems stem from industry, according to Nolen,

the official from the American Lung Association. Steel and coal-fired power

plants emit enough soot to choke the city into a tie with Detroit for the

fourth spot on the list, she added. The Birmingham area has thousands of

people at-risk for pollution-related disease. Out of the roughly 170,000

residents, roughly 13,000 have asthma. Another 5,000 have chronic

bronchitis, 2,000 have emphysema and 36,000 have cardiovascular disease,

according to data compiled by the association.

 

3. Bakersfield, California

Like Visalia, it's no surprise that Bakersfield made the list. Its

geographical location in California combined with the traffic in the area

makes it a prime candidate for air quality problems, according to the

American Lung Association. " Bakersfield is part of the Central Valley,

[which] has a lot of problems with air pollution, " Nolen said. In addition

to the traffic, Bakersfield also has a lot of agriculture, which means

diesel-run tractors and farm equipment to grow and transport crops, Nolen

added.

 

2. Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania

Pittsburgh is one of the largest cities in Pennsylvania and is known for its

industry and manufacturing. The city is also near one of the biggest causes

of particle pollution on the East Coast, coal-fired power plants. In

addition to being a manufacturing center and its location near power plants,

Pittsburgh is also near several major highways that serve as trucking

routes. Thanks to this, the city earns failing marks for both particle and

ozone pollution. All of these problems come together to earn Pittsburgh the

second spot on the list.

 

1. Los Angeles, California

A warm climate, lots of traffic and geographic bad karma puts Los Angeles at

the top of the list. The City of Angels is not only home to one of the

biggest seaports in the country, but it's also known for massive traffic

congestion so there's lots of particulate matter around. To make matters

worse, the surrounding mountain areas keep the winds from blowing the

pollution away. These factors combined to give Los Angeles a big fat " F "

for air quality.