What is organic agriculture? According to a recent release by the Country Living Assoc., organic farmers are “required to use an integrated package of management practices that maintain or improve the natural resources of the farm, including soil and water.”

The problem with this definition is that almost all U.S. farms would qualify. In an attempt to better define what organic farming is, the USDA established the Certified Organic Program. According to the USDA, “The National Organic Program and the Organic Foods Production Act are intended to assure consumers that the organic foods they purchase are produced, processed, and certified to be consistent with national organic standards.”

However, according to a recent inspector general investigation, the USDA has done a poor job of managing this program and enforcing these standards leaving consumers to ask “What is organic agriculture?”

Organic farming is one of the fastest growing sectors of U.S. agriculture. Sustained growth has been approximately 20 percent per year since 1990. In 2007 alone, 10,159 farms were certified organic; in 2005, more than 4 million acres of farmland, more than 1.7 million acres of cropland, and more than 2.3 million acres of range and pastureland were certified organic.

The reason for this explosive growth is that organic makes money. Consumers have shown they will pay a higher price and have a better opinion of a product labeled organic. I have had farmers tell me if you want to sell a product put “organic” and “Amish” on the label, then double the price.

According to the Country Living Assoc., “Consumers buy organic for a variety of reasons including taste, environmental and social benefits. They are diverse in age, gender, social, economic and educational status.”

Organic farming was once the exclusive purview of small independent farmers who chose this method of production for social, ethical or environmental reasons. But as consumer demand increased, big business discovered the organic cash cow and moved in - in a big way. The Certified Organic program was supposed to establish standards and assure consumers that the high-priced food they were paying for was indeed organically produced. Seemingly, however, USDA has been asleep at the switch.
When it comes to organic agriculture, there are two main groups: those who think organic is the way all food should be produced, and those who think organic agriculture is a joke.

There is not space in this column, or even in this entire newspaper, to adequately discuss the pros and cons of organic agriculture. So let’s set that issue aside and save the hate mail for another day. The point I want to make is that, if we are going to have organic standards, then let’s enforce them fairly.

A report by the USDA inspector general said the agency needs to step up enforcement of those who sell products under the “USDA Organic” label but who do not meet government standards to do so. The report said the department has made improvements in maintaining the integrity of the organic program in recent years, but needs to better handle complaints about potential violators.
The report stated the department has failed to monitor some companies that it had already identified as improperly marketing their products as organic. In one case, the department never issued enforcement action against an operation that had marketed non-organic mint under the department’s label for two years. The report also said the department was not processing complaints about the program fast enough and that agents charged with certifying organic operations were not following consistent rules.
The Obama Administration has pledged to fix the problems cited in the report and to increase the budget for the program. USDA officials have also said they will tighten some of the rules that determine what products can be certified organic.

It is important that this program gets fixed and that “certified organic” really stands for something. Organic agriculture is a $24 billion per year industry, so there is a lot at stake here. More importantly, consumer confidence is at stake. Whether you agree with organic production or not, if consumers lose confidence in a USDA label, it will have consequences for all of agriculture.

The views and opinions expressed in this column are those of the author and not necessarily those of Farm World. Readers with questions or comments for Gary Truitt may write to him in care of this publication.