Federal loophole is undermining organic standards.
Do porches count as the great outdoors if you're a chicken? Under
the 5-month-old National Organic Program, the U.S. Department of Agriculture
says they do — and that's got consumer and environmental groups
madder than a wet hen. Under the federal program, chickens sold as
organic must have access to the outdoors. So when a USDA-accredited
organic certifier in Massachusetts was called upon to investigate
a local egg producer, it denied the company certification because
its chickens did not have "adequate access to exercise areas,
fresh air and direct sunlight."
The producer appealed to the USDA, saying that it plans to build porches
off the barn to meet the outdoor-access requirement. In October, USDA's
Agricultural Marketing Service, which oversees the federal organic
guidelines, took the unusual step of authorizing the producer to use
the organic label anyway. A spokesman for Massachusetts Independent
Certifiers Inc. says it will file a complaint with the federal agency.
This is not what consumers of organic food, who are willing to pay
premium prices for poultry they believe was raised humanely, had in
mind, says Urvashi Rangan of the Consumers Union. "In the consumer's
eye the USDA is supposed to be the guard and the protector of the
national organics program. But USDA has wasted no time in undermining
the integrity of this rule," says Rangan
Scott Jondle, who runs Abundant Life Farm in Polk County, raises laying
hens and broilers by organic methods. The chickens spend their time
foraging for insects in pastures. He prefers calling his birds "pasture
raised" because "free-range" poultry may include birds
that rarely have access to grassy fields. "Free range has become
a meaningless term," Jondle said. Some confinement operators
will put a side door on their poultry barns so birds can wander into
a fenced area, he said. They may call their birds free range, Jondle
said, but they're really not. The local farmer said his birds are
healthier– and tastier– than those raised by conventional
methods. Jondle, however, hasn't bothered getting his farm certified
organic. He said paying a fee for the right to put an organic label
on Abundant Life's products isn't worth the money. Most of Jondle's
customers buy directly from the farm, and he encourages them to tour
the farm and ask questions. "We don't have to rely on a little
sticker," Jondle said.
Consumer groups complain the federal organic program, which took 12
years to create, has become stacked with exemptions. When the president
signed the government's annual spending bill last week, he was also
authorizing a loophole to the organic program's requirement that all
organic livestock be fed 100-percent organic feed. The amendment,
which took effect immediately, directs USDA not to enforce the organic
feed requirement unless the agency can prove that organic feed is
readily available and costs less than twice the cost of conventional
feed. It was introduced by Rep. Nathan Deal, R-Ga., on behalf of Fieldale
Farms, a Georgia poultry producer. This basically guts the organic
rules, says Ken Cook, president of the Environmental Working Group.
"Consumers all over the country now are not going to be able
to have faith in the organic standard they've been waiting for for
12 years," he says. Sen. Patrick Leahy, D-Vt., and Rep. Sam Farr,
D-Calif., plan to launch a repeal effort.
Caption: Buff orphington , barred rock and Rhode Island red chickens
forage at the Abundant Life Farm outside Dallas on Friday afternoon
. Organic poultry requirements mandate that the chickens must have
access to fresh air and sunlight. Although this farm is not certified
organic, it's using humane methods above and beyond federal organic
requirements.
See also end of: http://www.bayarea.com/mld/cctimes/5319902.htm
United Poultry Concerns is a nonprofit organization that promotes the
compassionate and respectful treatment of domestic fowl. For more
information, go to www.UPC-online.org.
United Poultry Concerns, Inc.
PO Box 150
Machipongo, VA 23405-0150
757-678-7875
FAX: 757-678-5070
www.upc-online.org |
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