Practitioners' Perspectives on How Organic Rules Meet the Challenge of Sustainability.

In 1990, the Organic Foods Production Act (OFPA) was passed, establishing uniform standards for organic agriculture, thereby facilitating commerce in organic food and processing with compliance ensured under the USDA-Agricultural Marketing Services-National Organic Program (NOP). OFPA was implemented via 7 CFR Section 205 and emphasizes agroecological principles, elimination of synthetic inputs, recycling of nutrients and use of local resources. The finalization of organic law and governing rules for organic production and processing offers one example of the impact of science on organic policies, as scientists, along with producers and consumers, provided valuable testimony and insights to the USDA on a range of topics including eliminating irradiation, sewage sludge, and genetically modified organisms from the original proposed organic standards in 1998 (325,603 public comments were received). An iterative procedure was followed, based on both scientists’ and practitioners’ values and interpretations of organic agricultural science/farming, positioned alongside government agents’ interest in streamlining the rules into a workable form. The National Organic Standards Board (NOSB) advises the NOP in the development and enforcement of organic standards, and consists of 15 members including four scientists with environmental, resource conservation, toxicology, ecology and/or biochemical backgrounds. Examples of on-going discussions at the NOSB level requiring scientific input include the use of highly mobile, naturally-mined sodium nitrate as an organic fertilizer and the use of copper as an organic-compliant fungicide. Organic production rules are aimed at protecting ecological and human health, and in contrast with conventional agriculture where, for example, synthetic pesticides with known health effects are used, organic inputs are vetted for safety and environmental impact. This video will explore both organic certifier and organic farmer viewpoints as to how the standards are promulgating agroecological principles and the main issues of debate in organic rules today.