Posted to PlanPutnam on Monday, June 11, 2007 at 12:42 PM
Remember Store
Wars,
the dramatic battle between the organic forces of good and the dark
side, Darth Tater and the forces of industrialized agriculture? The
dark side is back, and this time they are infiltrating, co-opting and
corrupting from within.
The New York Times adds coverage to a story John
broke here last month:
It seems that to get approval as organic, Department of Agriculture
rules state that 95% of a product must be organic and the balance need
not be if there is no organic ingredients available, as long as they
are on their approved list. Modest little organic breweries like
Anheuser-Busch can't find organic hops with “ unique flavor and aroma
characteristics due to variation in essential oils” for their fine
organic brews and wants an exemption. Others are appalled. “Hops are a
crucial ingredient for beer. Why can’t they use organic hops?” said
James A. Riddle, an organic consultant and a former chairman of the
organic advisory board.
According
to the New York Times, purists say that this list of ingredients is the
latest example of big business trying to water down organic standards
in an effort to cash in on the increased demand for organic products.
They argue that allowing the nonorganic ingredients will weaken the
integrity of the organic label.
“More than 90 percent of the food/agricultural items on
the proposed
list of materials in this rule are items that can easily be grown
organically,” said Merrill A. Clark, an organic farmer from Michigan
and a former member of the organic advisory board, in comments to the
Agriculture Department.
She said that allowing such nonorganic ingredients are
“totally
unhealthy for the organic industry down the road,” and are “opening the
organic rules to ridicule and unflattering public exposure.” ::New
York Times
Read
the rest of the story here
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