[Date Prev][Date Next][Thread Prev][Thread Next][Date Index][Thread Index]

organic labelling



I have been following the organic labelling discussion with interest.
Unfortunately, I do not have much information on the certification
program being proposed by USDA.  I would like to hear again from Charles
Benbrook, as he is one of the few that seems to understand the
certification program and support it.  I am one of those that lives in a
place where it is long (ecologically questionable) drive to get to a
place that sells locally produced food - i.e., it is hard to get most of
my food from a grower I can get to know (I live in Laramie, WY).  So,
buying most of my food from Safeway, I have to look for organic labels -
it's all I have to go on.  I would like to see certification, but why at
the federal level, why must it be by government instead of cooperatives
or NGOs, and why the USDA, whom I don't have a lot of trust in?  Why not
a sliding scale for the charge on certification (or is there one with
$250 being the low end)?  The overseas trade argument isn't much of a
case for supporting a humane scale of agriculture, if we care about that
at all.  And is Sal right that it would actually be a criminal offense
to use words like organic or naturally grown without meeting
certification requirements?  Why can't they have a USDA seal of
certification, if they must, for the large farms who need overseas
markets, but allow the generic use of the word organic?  I would
appreciate answers to these questions from someone who generally
supports the USDA certification process. Thanks,
Deb Paulson
Dept. of Geography and Recreation
University of Wyoming
debp@uwyo.edu

To Unsubscribe:  Email majordomo@ces.ncsu.edu with "unsubscribe sanet-mg".
To Subscribe to Digest: Email majordomo@ces.ncsu.edu with the command
"subscribe sanet-mg-digest".