From the Ground Up
by Elizabeth Ferry

The Changing Meaning of Organic

Local. Fresh. Whole. Pure. These are words that consumers associate with organic farming. Now here’s a pop-quiz question: what about "factory farm," "ultra-pasteurized," and "permissible food additives?"

Do those words go with organic?

If you feel angered by that question, or uncertain why I am asking, you are not alone. Many consumers do not know that changes have been made in the meaning of "organic." You may remember the consumer victory in 1998, when the public succeeded in banning genetic engineering, sludge waste, and irradiation from the National Organic Standards (NOS). While national attention rallied around these three topics, other items, which had previously been out of the realm of organic, became acceptable practices under NOS.

How did that happen, and what does it mean to the consumer?

A Bit of Organic History
The modern story of organic farming in America began in the 1960s, a time of social re-examination. In agriculture, the movement was led by "back to the land" types who set out to build their own houses, grow their own food, and live life at the pace of the seasons.

Many of these people had grown up in urban settings and had little experience in these things. That lack of tradition, combined with the philosophy that "natural is better," contributed to the development of organic farming methods. This new breed of farmer integrated personal values, such as self-reliance, diversity, and simplicity, with their agricultural practices. Working on small family farms, they chose crop varieties based on flavor, for example, rather than transportability or the ability to withstand mechanical harvesting. They built up their soils with natural fertilizers and protected their crops with natural predators.

A generation of self-defined hippie farmers developed a natural alternative to large scale, chemically dependent, and highly mechanized conventional farming practices in America.

As they grew into a generation of skilled farmers, their reputation with local consumers also grew. Although organic farm products tended to be more labor-intensive and therefore cost more, the taste and variety were exceptional. Appreciative consumers around the country voted with their dollars to support the growth organic agriculture in their area.

By the 1990s sales figures of organic farm products started showing up on economic reports. For more than a decade, organic food sales have grown at an annual rate of 20 percent. Organic food is the fastest-growing category in the supermarket business. As a result, organic agriculture caught the attention of food giants like Heinz, Dole, ConAgra, and Archer Daniels Midland at the time that the National Organic Standards were being written.

Two-tiered System
What happened when the values of the small back-to-the-land organic farmer met the values of food giants? The National Organic Standards document the result. On the surface, NOS makes uniform the agricultural practices of all organic farmers. But beyond that, NOS has created a two-tiered system of Big Organic and Little Organic.

Big Organic has ensured its future in the organic market with several key victories. These include the right to raise thousands of animals on mega-farms and to import monocropped organic ingredients from other countries and other hemispheres. They also won the inclusion of food additives and preservatives in processed, pre-packaged organic food. Their version of organic does not take into consideration conservation of fuel or the environmental effects of long-distance transportation.

Little Organic continues to be locally produced on family farms and to be integrated into the local economy. These farmers raise their animals in humane conditions and continue to grow diversified crops in season and sell them through farmstands, co-ops, and farmers markets, with relatively small fuel and transportation costs.

Consumers need to understand these changes. Depending upon their expectations of the term "organic," buying Big Organic may no longer mean supporting a philosophy that is important to them.

Clearly Big Organic has benefited from the institution of a national organic standard. Will Little Organic survive in the face of these changes? Has the meaning of "organic" been compromised by the NOS and will the "back to the land" organic farmers need to find a new term to describe what they do?

The hard work of farmers, and the buying patterns of consumers, will shape the answer to these questions.

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