When is “organic” not really “organic”?
June 10th, 2007 Posted in Annoyances, Social AwarenessThe USDA, the government branch that is supposed to be responsible for maintaining a certain level of quality and responsibility for producers of food and agriculture, has allowed 38 non-organic ingredients to be included in organic products. This has allowed companies, like Anheuser-Busch, to produce products labeled organic without really being organic. It used to be that organic certification required the main ingredients and a certain percentage (I believe it was 70%) to be organically produced - that means without pesticides or chemical enhancement. This beer’s hops (the main ingredient besides water) is produced with both pesticides and chemicals. Where are the standards? Obviously, not with our government’s organic certification branch. That is why I feel it is more important to support local suppliers/growers/producers and take advantage of quality organic certification, like Oregon Tilth, which one can trust more than the USDA.
