The recently released proposed rules for the National Organic Program are like a sick joke played by a macabre Department of Agriculture on today's organic growers and consumers. When finalized, these rules will define organic food and agriculture in this country. The OFPA is generally regarded by the organic community as a decent piece of legislation. Organic agriculture is based on an evolving set of principles developed by gardeners and farmers over the last 50 years from the best of traditional agricultural practices. Its major premise is that healthy soil produces healthy plants and animals.
Organic growers build healthy soil by using compost, crop rotations and green manures.
Recently, Americans have been buying 20 percent more organic food each year , in part because many people are beginning to understand the frightening realities of the mainstream food system. These include the widespread use of toxic pesticides, harsh fertilizers, antibiotics, hormones, genetic engineering, intensive animal factories, and giant monocultures, just for starters. Recent problems with bacterial contamination of food and rivers, calls for food irradiation, and information about the desperate conditions of many farm workers only add to the justifiable skepticism about current trends in the conventional food system. Meanwhile, organic farmers and certification organizations have been responding to the public's desire for more wholesome food. Connecticut's certifying agency, NOFA, has tightened up its standards as more hazards in the current food system are discovered.