The Change Mariner

The Lies Spoiling Organic Food

Business Week

After a dozen years of hearings and deliberation, the U.S. Agriculture Dept. issued official standards for organic foods last October. And -- surprise, surprise -- a government agency actually did a pretty good job. For the first time, American consumers could buy food labeled "organic" and know that it was actually produced using organic growing techniques -- i.e, without growth hormones, antibiotics, chemical herbicides and pesticides, and genetically altered materials.

... Unfortunately, politicians can never resist fiddling with a good idea. So, in the months since the standards were passed, according to an editorial in the August issue of Consumer Reports, a number of attempts have been made to jigger the rules so that foods can carry this designation that otherwise wouldn't qualify. "Everyone wants to label their product organic because it will sell for a higher price," says Jean Halloran, director of the Consumer Policy Institute of Consumer's Union, the nonprofit organization that publishes the magazine.