[Fwd: Organic foods may not be organic - if Congre$$ has its way]

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Eat To Live: Organic foods may not be so

By JULIA WATSON

UPI Food Writer

http://www.upi.com/ConsumerHealthDaily/view.php?StoryID=20051101-083155-3612r

Buying organic food could be said to be a socially dividing act. It's

priced so much higher than conventional food, with producers of necessity

passing on their investment to the consumer, that not everyone can afford

it.

But to become organic can cost a dairy farmer, for example, over 400

percent more in organic feed and other expenses to make the transition.

Nevertheless, the Organic Trade Association says sales of organic products

have rocketed from $1 billion in 1990 to $14.5 billion. These are the

products that are identified by the green " USDA Organic " label.

But if Washington lawmakers have their way, we may not be able to rely

upon that seal for a guarantee that a product is 100-percent organic.

Members of a House-Senate conference committee decided last week to

override a court ruling that only allows the " USDA Organic " label on

products that are 100-percent pure organic in content, production or

distribution.

This amendment to the pending Agricultural Appropriations Bill would allow

various synthetic food additives and processing aids to be used in organic

foods. It would also be permissible to treat young dairy cows with

antibiotics and raise them on genetically engineered feed up to the point

when they are converted to organic production.

And " emergency decrees " would allow non-organic ingredients to be

substituted for organic ingredients without any warning to the public.

So why pay more for organic if it no longer is?

Even in its original form, the Organic Foods Production Act was not a

foolproof guarantee of purity. The label " organic " only meant " minimal use

of off-farm inputs " and " management practices that restore, maintain and

enhance ecological harmony, " leaving the level of stringency of

application to the individual farmer or farming business.

What the lawmakers' amendment would do, according to the OTA, is protect

the organic food trade from 25 percent of its major manufacturers (not the

individual small organic farmers) abandoning the industry, with a

corresponding loss to the business annually of around $758 million in sales.

This is apparently what they would have done in response to a ruling

earlier this year by the First Circuit Court of Appeals in favor of a

Maine organic blueberry farmer.

He had filed suit in 2002 against the U.S. Department of Agriculture for

allowing products containing synthetic ingredients to be sold as organic.

The court decided synthetic substances had no place in products officially

labeled " Organic, " though a " Made With Organic " label could be applied.

The USDA was given one year to close the loopholes in the regulations.

Instead this new legislation is an effort to temper the appellate court's

ruling, returning the guidelines for " organic " designation closer to the

looser original 1990 definitions.

Who benefits? Consumers don't have to buy organic if they don't want to.

By relaxing the purity rules, the food giants already in the organic

business could make greater profits with lesser investment. The OTA says

the additives concerned are no more than commonplace ingredients like

baking powder and bleach we already store in kitchen cabinets.

The answer to whose side the OTA is on seems clear.

In the United Kingdom, organic labels are granted solely by the Soil

Association, an independent body not aligned with any government

department. Perhaps small organic farmers should band together and create

their own labeling standards.

Chicken is a food where the difference in flavor and nutrition between a

bird cage-reared on antibiotics and feed laced with growth promoters and

one allowed to range free eating organic grass and feed is dramatic. This

recipe cooks it in 30 minutes with oranges and black olives.

Serves 4

-- 4 whole chicken legs

-- 2 oranges, scrubbed and thinly sliced

-- 2 handfuls pitted black olives

-- 12 fluid ounces chicken stock

-- 4 tablespoons olive oil

-- Small handful flat-leaf parsley, roughly chopped

-- Salt and freshly ground black pepper to taste

Heat the oil in a sauté pan and brown the chicken pieces all over. Pour in

the stock, olives and orange slices, cover and cook over a low heat for 20

minutes. Test for doneness by poking the flesh with knife to check the

juices run clear. Move everything except the juice with a slotted spoon to

a warm plate. Reduce the sauce in the pan by boiling fast until about 1/2

cup is left. Season and pour over the chicken and sprinkle with parsley.

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