Brenda Luciano Thorndike

March 20, 2008

Organic has become a big business. Accordingly, consumers who not only want to consume healthier foods, but also make socially conscious food choices, must be mindful of where the products are coming from. Walmart, Kmart, and many chain supermarkets, in addition to "upscale" chains such as Trader Joes and Whole Foods; as well as manufacturers such as: Kraft, General Mills and Kellogg are all getting on the "organic bandwagon," because of the profitability in going organic. It is basic supply and demand. In order to meet consumer demand, however, many of these companies are outsourcing organic food products globally.

For example, Stonyfield Farms, located in Londonderry, New Hampshire, said that it may start outsourcing the milk that goes into its yogurt from New Zealand. The milk is organic—it comes from chemical-free cows. However, milk coming from so far away must be powdered before becoming an ingredient in Stonyfield's yogurt in the United States. This is not what many people envision when they believe that local farm fresh milk went into the product.

Other popular organic manufacturers that import include: White Wave, Organic Valley, and Cascadian Farms. White Wave Inc., the manufacturer of the soy milk, Silk, imports some of its soybeans from China, Brazil and Argentina. Organic Valley, a company out of Wisconsin, imports some of its beef from Australia. And, Cascadian Farm, a popular brand of frozen organic produce, imports some of its fruits and vegetables from Mexico, China, New Zealand and Chile.

The issue is that demand for and consumption of organic food products has grown dramatically in the United States, and companies are finding that they must outsource from wherever they can to meet that demand. In addition, it may be cheaper for these manufacturers to purchase these products globally rather than relying on domestic producers, thus making it less of an incentive for producers to purchase domestically even if such products are available.

Just what is organic? Congress passed "The Organic Foods Production Act of 1990," as part of the 1990 Farm Bill. The bill authorized the Secretary of Agriculture to appoint a fifteen-member National Organic Standards Board to develop standards for organic food production. Today, due to this bill and its amendments (the latest in 2006), successful uniform national (emphasis added) standards have been realized. According to the United States Department of Agriculture (USDA), to be allowed to use the label, "certified organic," the farmers and sellers must not have used "pesticides, hormones, antibiotics, synthetic fertilizers, bioengineering, and radiation."

But, if companies are outsourcing globally, some foreign governments, do not necessarily impose as strict organic food regulations. Therefore, it is unclear if consumers are actually purchasing and consuming truly organic, chemical-free foods. In addition, it is difficult to know whether or not the animals were humanely treated. Moreover, according to a Business Week magazine article, "the scarcity of organic ingredients means looking as far afield as China, Sierra Leone, and Brazil – places where standards may be hard to enforce, workers' wages and living conditions are a worry, and, say critics, increased farmland sometimes comes at a cost to the environment."

The USDA has not fully addressed this issue of global outsourcing of organic foods. For example, the USDA during its inspections does not typically test for pesticide contamination of so-called organic foods coming from other countries. So, the USDA will affix a sticker certifying the food is organic without testing for pesticides. Therefore, relying on the USDA sticker alone is not enough to guarantee the product is chemical-free.

So what can we do? First, we should encourage the USDA to develop tougher regulations and testing for so-called organic food coming into the country. In addition, Congress should pass farm bills encouraging conventional U.S. farms to convert to organic in order to meet growing demand. In the meantime, the most basic thing we as citizens can do is become smarter consumers – by checking labels and asking questions.

If the products are locally grown in Vermont, for example, typically a sticker will indicate Vermont grown. (Other states have similar programs). According to the Northeast Organic Farming Association of Vermont, "Look for the Vermont Certified Organic and Vermont Certified Organic Processor logos the next time you are food shopping. By selecting products with these logos, you can be sure you are supporting local farmers and businesses that are producing healthy, fresh food while working to protect our valuable resources."

Going organic has saved many formerly conventional Vermont family farms, especially dairy farms, from going bankrupt. So, supporting these farms as consumers is important for them to thrive. In 2006, ten percent of Vermont's 1,200 dairy farms were organic, and this number is growing. According to the USDA, there were 366 certified organic farms in the state of Vermont in 2005 (the last time this data was collected), and Vermont is ranked seventh in the nation for the number of organic farms by state. Although the organic food industry is still in its growth stage, Vermont dairy farms are realizing profits in this industry as compared to the conventional milk market, where milk prices barely kept some farms afloat. According to the Times Argus, one Vermont dairy farmer who converted her conventional dairy farm into an organic dairy farm said, "When you're a conventional farmer, nobody cares about your milk. When we became organic, everyone wanted our milk."

Sources:
Northeast Organic Farming Association of Vermont, Vermont Organic Certification, available at http://www.nofavt.org/ (last visited Mar. 18, 2008).

United States Department of Agriculture, ERS/USDA Data – Organic Production, available at http://www.ers.usda.gov/Data/organic (last visited Mar. 18, 2008).

United State Department of Agriculture, National Organic Program Labeling and Marketing Information, available at http://www.ams.usda.gov/nop/FactSheets/Backgrounder.html (last visited Mar. 18, 2008).

Josh Gerstein, China Quietly Muscles in on the Organic Food Market, NY Sun, Jul. 18, 2007, available at http://www.nysun.com/article/58606.

The Organic Myth, BusinessWeek, Oct. 16, 2006, available at http://www.businessweek.com/magazine/content/06_42/b4005001.htm.

Jenn Abelson, Vermont's Farms Lead Organic Movement, Times Argus Online, Jun. 20, 2006, available at http://www.timesargus.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20060620/NEWS/606200349/1002/NEWS01.

Philip Brasher, Organic Food Producers Lose Ground to Imports, DesMoins Register, Oct. 8, 2005, available at http://ofrf.org/pressroom/organic_news_clips/051008_desmoinesreg_organicimports.pdf.

Maryanne Murray Buechner, A New Cash Cow, Time, Jul. 14, 2003, available at http://www.time.com/time/magazine/article/0,9171,1005233,00.html.