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UNIVERSITY OF TOLEDO LAW REVIEW
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Vol. 26 |
However, because of the looseness of marketplace "standards,"
the truly organic producers were very often lost in the shuffle or not really believed.
The problem was attributable, in part, to the rapidly emerging
community of "sustainable" agriculture. The term was originally a euphemism for
"organic" because one of the characteristics of pure organic agriculture is that
the practice is sustainable.21 Unfortunately, the movement of
sustainable agriculture was almost immediately obfuscated by interests that interpreted
Low-Input Sustainable Agriculture (LISA) to mean "Less"-Input Sustainable
Agriculture, which then was translated to mean use or noe over-use of pesticides and
synthetic fertilizers.22 In other words, a slight deviation
from conventional agriculture yields sustainable agriculture.23
Organic growing was quickly being overwhelmed by funding of sustainable
farming ventures under the LISA and Sustainable Agriculture Research and Education (SARE)
funding initiatives, which left "organic" in the wings.24 The
problem with sustainable agriculture under its emerging form was that progress was not
measurable except when zero-use acres were involved.25 By
contrast, acres in zero-use pesticide may qualify as organic land, and this process was measurable.
Amidst these developments, the public was being confused, indeed misled, by
several slippery terms; pesticide-free, ecologically grown, biodynamic, natural and
sustainable.26 A Senate report on the act makes clear that
none of these terms are synonymous with or equivalent to organic because of inadequate
standards or vagueness.27
CONF. REP. NO. 916, 101st Cong., 2d Sess. 1175 (1990)
(adopting the Senate bill’s definition of "organically produced" food). See
generally Dane Kendall & Mike Brusko, What Does "Organic" Really
Mean?, 10 NEW FARM 8 (1988).
21. Sustainability is a practice that exists without
substantial or with minimal inputs of non-renewable resources, i.e., relying more on
internal than external fertilization, seed stock, feeds, etc.
22. See generally Charles W. Stenholm &
Daniel B. Waggoner, Low-Input, Sustainable Agriculture: Myth or Method?, 45 J. SOIL
& WATER CONSERVATION 13 (1990).
23. See generally Paul B. Thompson, The
Varieties of Sustainability, 9 AGRIC. & HUM. VALUES 11 (1992) (describing the
efforts of defining sustainable agriculture).
24. See generally NATIONAL RESEARCH
COUNCIL-NATIONAL ACADEMY OF SCIENCES SUSTAINABLE AGRICULTURE RESEARCH AND EDUCATION IN THE
FIELD: A PROCEEDING (1991).
25. If acres are switched to so-called lower
pesticide use by switching to a material requiring fewer pounds per acre—but which is
of higher toxicity per pound—the improvement in "tonnage" used is a
contradiction in terms. Clearly, what counts is biological activity per acre, not tonnage.
26. For example, a "natural" product does
not contain artificial ingredients like artificial colorings and chemical preservatives. See
Charles P. Mitchell, State Regulation and Federal Preemption of Food Labeling, 45
FOOD DRUG COSM. L.J. 123, 125 (1990).
27. S. REP. NO. 357, 101sr Cong., 2d Sess. 289, 292
(1990), reprinted in 1990 U.S.C.C.A.N. 4656,4946.
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