Organic Conversation Begins Anew (again) (excellent read!)

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original-green money journal


GreenMoneyJournal.com

The Organic Conversation Begins Anew (again)

By Bob Scowcroft

Consider the word "organic." I suspect that readers of this journal would conjure up an incredibly wide range of images. Maybe it was the restaurant patronized last night. How about nutritionally superior and locally farmed produce? Others might find themselves going right to what their youthful consumption of heavily processed, pesticide exposed, highly preserved fast food has wrought. For some it brings to mind a culture of garden, home and family. And, yes there are many who visualize market share, mergers, and investment opportunities when the word is spoken. How can one word evoke such a wide range of responses?

I think some of the images might be framed according to age, maybe location (urban or rural) and of course "the day job." Then again maybe I'm wrong. "Organic" has been in the news almost daily over the last several years and perhaps readers of this publication are far more advanced in their thinking: industrial vs. artisan organic; regulatory or legislative "organic"; or, maybe even "beyond organic".

For a better understanding of just how fast this term "organic" has come of age we need to look back over 30 years for key reference points. For example the first state regulation defining organic was posted in Oregon in 1974. (Yes, sure, the term has been used in the marketplace since the early 40's but until 1974 that label had no legal standing anywhere.) The first actual law defining "organic" was approved (after a two year trial period) by the California state legislature in 1980. It was two pages long and "managed" by the California Department of Heath Services (the famous DHS-26569.11). No enforcement language was included in the law. No budget was approved to monitor the term. No marketing agency promoted this new industry.

By 1989 almost 30 states had organic definitions enshrined in either the regulatory language of a specific agency (like Washington and Texas) or as law. That year an agricultural economist published a paper estimating that the most active organic economy existed in Northern California and that it was generating about $89 million dollars in annual sales. When one conventional supermarket chain offered six feet of certified organic produce shelf space in its San Francisco Marina district store, the major daily newspaper covered it with front-page headlines and the TV cameras followed.

That same year there were several other major developments that framed organic issues we are still trying to address today. First there was a fraud case of conventional carrots being sold as organic. Not only did the Carrot Caper make news in over 60 major media outlets around the nation, but it also served to catalyze the transformation of three states' (Washington, Oregon and California) organic standards into one, largely standard legal definition. For the first time we had a common agreement on transition times, a basic understanding of materials allowed and enforcement protocol in place.
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