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is there any way to find out what tests they do? because tests that would detect the presence of heavy metals and other pollutants are not inexpensive to perform.
do those agencies still have to get approved through the USDA?
I am a member of MOFGA. Which is independent of the USDA and predates the USDA's 'organic' program.
A few areas have Organic groups that were formed by farmers before anyone in the Federal government cared about the topic.
going by this, MOFGA also gets accreditation by USDA:
Quote:
United States Department of Agriculture (USDA) Agricultural Marketing Service (AMS) National Organic Program (NOP). Now you know what all the letters represent. Since 2002, the USDA has been regulating foods and other agricultural products labeled or sold as organic within the United States. It established the NOP, which accredits certifying agents at home and abroad (MOFGA Certification Services LLC included!), to certify growers and processors to one national set of standards.
Resources | MOFGA Certification Services LLC (http://mofgacertification.org/links/ - broken link)
going by this, MOFGA also gets accreditation by USDA:
not exactly independent.
Okay.
Regional certifying groups formed first. Then later when the Federal government got into the process, they rubber stamped the regional groups.
Today I know farms who use MOFGA and other farms who use USDA. I understand there are differences, though I truly do not know what the differences are that exist between them.
Regional certifying groups formed first. Then later when the Federal government got into the process, they rubber stamped the regional groups.
that does seem to be the current state of things. but i have to assume that the regional certification groups had the option of remaining independent of the USDA organic certification program, had they wanted to. for whatever reason, it appears they preferred to go with USDA.
Quote:
Today I know farms who use MOFGA and other farms who use USDA. I understand there are differences, though I truly do not know what the differences are that exist between them.
It seems they all 'accredit' each other. ???
possibly the regional programs have additional layers of qualifications that they require? i can only guess.
My understanding is that when the government finally got onto the Organical bandwagon. First they copied what the Organical farmers had published to regulate each other. Then the Federal Bureaucrats got into re-writing and changing things; and the states were pressured to form state-level organical agencies as a part of each State's Bureaucracy.
At first in Maine it was seen a minor 'victory' when the state decided to forgo having a state office to over-see organics, and to simply allow MOFGA to carry-on as they had done for 30-year previously.
Later under a different set of leaders the MOFGA chairman and our Governor's office decided to appoint MOFGA as the state's Organical Bureaucracy. Which is now seen as a loss, since it puts the state over MOFGA.
In either case, we have two methods here to become CO; a person can apply to the USDA or they can apply to MOFGA.
Yesterday we needed red bell peppers for a recipe. Organic red bell peppers were $9.99 per pound. (I am serious. $9.99 per pound!! WTH?) Conventional were $.89 per pound.
Is that 'organic's' fault, or your vendor's?
Where I live, conventional peppers are $.99, organic are $2.49, and local are $.79.
I go local over organic or conventional. Since they are fresher, they are more likely to have their original nutrients intact unlike conventional from Mexico or organic shipped in from who knows where.
One problem I have with "organic" foods is that I am not really sure exactly what it means. What criteria does the product have to meet? It seems like at least for some products it has to be more of a marketing thing and that their product is probably barely "organic".
Grass fed beef is awesome, though.
I dunno either, but I know that I grow organic veggies (by MY standard anyway!), by not using ANY chemicals (pesticides or ferterlizers), and use instead companion gardening, and hands to remove bugs and such.
We use raised buds and mix our own soil to grow them in, and it's a mix of dead vegetation, poop (animal, usually chicken or horse; got out of cow poop when the farmer sold all his cows), grass straw and vermetculite(sp). There is not a point that I don't "control" what goes in, so I know it's not full of chemicals that are not good.
If I had more room, I would plant more and sell them at the local farmer's market, but alas that is not the case. I couldn't sell them as organic, but I could label them as pestecide free, fertelizer free, and homegrown as some other do, and the public is smart enough to know the difference.
Besides the expensive and time-consuming bureaucratic red tape involved, several of our smaller local farmers don't get certified because there are several practices allowed by regulations that they don't agree should be allowed. The specifics vary for each farmer, but all agree that our current CO regulations is now more about adhering to the "letter of the law" than the "spirit of the law", more money in the government and corporate coffers, and the adulteration/redefinition of the term "organic" (just like the term "natural") in the marketplace.
The only way to make sure that the food you're eating is produced the way that you agree with is to be familiar with the way it is produced. Purchasing from a farm that is CO may or may not mean everything that you think it should mean, but it is a good place to start if you can't visit the farm and speak with the farmer directly about his methods.
Most producers at our farmers market are more than happy to discuss their farming methods... the good, bad and ugly. They can't legally label their produce as "natural" or "organic" because they aren't certified... not because their produce isn't natural or organic. Many opt to provide descriptive flyers about their farms that don't use the regulated labels and wording. There are even a few local lawyers who will review flyers/labels/websites PRO BONO to make sure that local producers don't get themselves in trouble. But there also a few of the certified growers that can legally use the terms who also use practices and methods that most consider barely "coloring within the lines". For every rule, there is a way to scoot around it without actually breaking it, if you're so inclined.
Another thing... all nature produces food that is organic, so long it is plant related non man processed etc... or OK... shape related... eg. kidney.
One cannot guarantee no contaminates (by soil, fertilizer etc... or worse, after the growing part).
Eg. The food handler at the organic restaurant who has hep B & while handling has a hole in the gloves... or that sick organic buyer customer whom had put down that apple that you put in your own basket & your lazy husband later eat w/o washing since its organic, or that hand of the cashier who handled the fertilizer the customer in front just bought, your bag of apples happens to burst from the bags & she has to quickly pick up off the register line w/ that same hands... etc.
How clean can we really be???
And if we become so clean... what other super bugs do we create???
Like the abuse of antibodies situation... thus own body can no longer fight the uncleanliness nor take any "corruption" from bacteria / poison / contaminate no matter how mild.
Is it wise to take everything to extreme so we take away the body's capability to fight / purge "any" exposure to the traces of "poisons"????
You know why travelers are urged to carry bottled water abroad right???
The locals are "used to" the bacteria in the water while a foreigner is not.... thus the upset stomach.
Even the ancient egyptian king know to train smaller does of poison in his system so he can ward off a large dose of poison... or how anti-venom are created by shooting the venom into the horse to create a natural venom fighting agent???
The question is... really... is it that good for you???
For the kind of money one spent on it... should the so called "organic foods" then come w/ a guarantee????
Really... foods for thought.
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I couldn't sell them as organic, but I could label them as pestecide free, fertelizer free, and homegrown as some other do, and the public is smart enough to know the difference.
