Confirmed: Miles McEvoy Will Be USDA's National Organic Program Deputy Administrator

Can you explain something to me (4.00 / 4)

Who actually certifies things organic?  I mean, who goes to the farm and checks it out?  Because on some packages, it says things like, "Certified by Oregon Tilth Organic," on others it says, "Pennsylvania Certified Organic," and on others it says, "QAI International."  And on some I'm pretty sure it doesn't say anything - unless I'm just not looking.

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by: rossl @ Fri Sep 18, 2009 at 01:53:22 AM UTC

Couple links... (4.00 / 3)

Steps to Organic Certification

The Certification Process

The different certifiers you see on the packages are all independent agencies, but they all certify to the same standards.  Or are supposed to.  I'd assume (and hope) they do...

Coming soon to a Philadelphia near you!

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by: JayinPortland @ Fri Sep 18, 2009 at 02:00:54 AM UTC

[ Parent ]

Ross, I'd guess (4.00 / 3)

that since these organizations were around before the USDA certification laws were passed (I know, I used to unpack boxes of produce with these labels at the co-op around 1990), that they keep their own original names (as they were originally state certified) because of name recognition and other legal issues.

I looked up Oregon Tilth in Wiki. Here: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/O...

They're an Accredited Certifying Agent (ACA) for the USDA's National Organic Program, but they also work with helping people meet the standards of other countries.

Anyway, to be USDA certified you have to jump through a lot of hoops, submit to inspections, and keep a lot of paperwork, and if you're working with animals it's 5x worse, because you have to track all the feed too. And you get some USDA person who comes out and checks you out. However, there is no spot checking done at POS (point of sale) far as I know, which introduces lots of potential for switching. More argument for La Vida Locavore.

Another good idea is don't buy organic produce from anyone who double lines (sells commercial and organic of the same produce item) unless the produce items are distinctive and can be easily told apart, or you know the produce management and trust them.


"If God were to appear to starving people, he would not dare to appear in any other form than food." - Mahatma Gandhi

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by: Miep @ Fri Sep 18, 2009 at 04:10:42 AM UTC

[ Parent ]

You got it backwards (4.00 / 2)

buying from a grower who does both organic and conventional is not bad.  Growers who grow both overall use less pesticides. You will see such growers as Lundberg offer both organic and sustainable rice.

Many times the sustainable product is transitional land, in the first or second year of going organic or in extreme cases a field can overrun by a noxious weed; that organics does not have a answer for.  Spraying the field is a last resort and conversion has to start all over again.

Most of the large corporate farms who do both conventional and organic have been able to vastly reduce the use of toxic chemicals and synthetic fertilizers, based on what they have learned from organic farming.

A local chemical farmer is much more likely to over use pesticides, if a little is good more is better, than a big grower since big growers have to register and keep records of their pesticide use.  I can't tell you the number of times in the 80's when we found local organic farmers using pesticides they bought at the local home and garden stores.

The organic community has worked very hard over the past 30 years to develop the tracking systems to assure that organic products are what they claim to be.  The record keeping that so many farmers claim to be to onerous is the key to delivering real organic food to consumers.  We gave up on trust me I'm organic years ago.  

The tracking system is carried from the field to the shelf.  We can take any product from a store and track it back to the field where it was grown and know how the crop was grown.  No other system in the world comes close. Conventional Ag has been resisting this tracking approach but I think it will happen under the Obama USDA.

I hate to quote Ronnie R but I have to agree with; "Trust but verify" as a realist approach to organics.  

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by: OrganicGeorge @ Fri Sep 18, 2009 at 12:46:22 PM UTC

[ Parent ]

I don't see what I got wrong (0.00 / 0)

what I was talking about was POS, if you can't easily distinguish the double-lined items. However I guess everything has stickers and plastic bags & marked ties on it now, though this is not the case for conventional produce.

I will say I am not crazy about the plastic bags.

And I will still say that spot checking with actual chemical analyses would likely tell us all sorts of interesting things about produce. However I do understand that a lot of what organic is about, is land management and its effects, which is a much bigger issue than chemical analysis of end products (produce).

"If God were to appear to starving people, he would not dare to appear in any other form than food." - Mahatma Gandhi

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by: Miep @ Fri Sep 18, 2009 at 17:49:05 PM UTC

[ Parent ]

read my book lol (4.00 / 3)

looks like other people gave you the answers but basically the government has third party "accredited certifying agencies" (ACAs for short) do the certifications.

"I can understand someone from Iowa promoting corn and soy, but we are not feeding the world, we are feeding animals and soft drink companies." - Jim Goodman

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by: Jill Richardson @ Fri Sep 18, 2009 at 06:29:39 AM UTC

[ Parent ]

I'm getting to it! (4.00 / 1)

I've got a reading list at least 12 books long, and I'm not really speeding through it during my junior year of high school...

Vote for yourself at www.ni4d.us!

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by: rossl @ Mon Sep 21, 2009 at 23:10:33 PM UTC

[ Parent ]

Not a Rumor (4.00 / 3)

This was in a press release today:  http://www.usda.gov/wps/portal...

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by: USDAwesome @ Fri Sep 18, 2009 at 03:02:44 AM UTC

Deputy Administrator... (4.00 / 1)

is he the person in charge of the program?

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by: count @ Fri Sep 18, 2009 at 03:35:52 AM UTC

[ Parent ]

Where would NOP be (4.00 / 2)

on this organization chart from 2008?

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by: count @ Fri Sep 18, 2009 at 03:46:24 AM UTC

[ Parent ]

that's a very good question (4.00 / 1)

doesn't seem to be anyplace the right place, does it?

"If God were to appear to starving people, he would not dare to appear in any other form than food." - Mahatma Gandhi

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by: Miep @ Fri Sep 18, 2009 at 04:12:44 AM UTC

[ Parent ]

you'd want a new org chart (4.00 / 1)

because it looks like NOP just got elevated within AMS.

"I can understand someone from Iowa promoting corn and soy, but we are not feeding the world, we are feeding animals and soft drink companies." - Jim Goodman

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by: Jill Richardson @ Fri Sep 18, 2009 at 06:33:28 AM UTC

[ Parent ]

I can't keep track of all those qualifiers... (0.00 / 0)

deputy, associate, assistant...

Ithinkyouansweredmyquestion -

McEvoy is the boss. Right?

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by: count @ Fri Sep 18, 2009 at 06:52:59 AM UTC

[ Parent ]

Durn these inets! (0.00 / 0)

We expect current information!

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by: count @ Fri Sep 18, 2009 at 06:58:04 AM UTC

[ Parent ]

NOP will become its' own department (4.00 / 1)

within USDA.

NOP has in the transportation department since corporate Ag wanted it buried within the USDA system.

Also remember that Kathleen M has decreed that ALL USDA departments must know incorporate organic into their programs. Organic was placed into a ghetto now it's being integrated into the entire system. It is impossible to over emphasize how important this development is. Once organic becomes ingrained into the USDA bureaucracy it will be there forever.  

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by: OrganicGeorge @ Fri Sep 18, 2009 at 12:58:05 PM UTC

Thank you. nt (0.00 / 0)

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by: count @ Fri Sep 18, 2009 at 13:49:39 PM UTC

[ Parent ]

What George said! (0.00 / 0)

From Organic Farming Research Foundation

The new director of the NOP will oversee a stand-alone division under the Agriculture Marketing Service (AMS - one of the agencies within USDA). This is a change to the structure of AMS - previously NOP was housed within the Transportation and Marketing Division, and now it will be on the same level as that division.

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by: count @ Fri Sep 18, 2009 at 14:16:12 PM UTC

[ Parent ]

USDA org chart (0.00 / 0)

USDA organization chart (as of 2/5/09?)

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by: count @ Fri Sep 18, 2009 at 14:25:05 PM UTC

[ Parent ]