Definition of "Organic"

 What is the definition of an "Organic" garden? Is it just sans pesticides,
or add only certain things to the garden? And to have an "Organic" garden,
is there a certification?

I live in the Salt Lake City, Utah area. Zone 6. . . I think.
Thanks,
Todd


---
Outgoing mail is certified Virus Free.
Checked by AVG anti-virus system (http://www.grisoft.com ).
Version: 6.0.504 / Virus Database: 302 - Release Date: 7/24/03

 rec.gardens.edible:


There is much to organic gardening and farming.  Look at the Ontario Ministry of
Agriculture page at

 http://www.gov.on.ca/OMAFRA/english/crops/facts/01-027.htm#define   for some

 idea of what is involved.

The United States Department of Agriculture has a similar definition, but I do
not know its address.  Pat, I think you had this.
--
Gardening Zones
Canada Zone 5a
United States Zone 3a
Near Ottawa, Ontario

 I know if you want to sell produce from your garden and have it be listed as
organically grown you have to go through your states certification process.
Here in Florida I think that means that you have to practice organic
gardening practices for a minimun of 3 years before you can even apply to be
certified organic.

Way too much trouble and red tape to go through for a small time garden like
I have at the present time. I do practice organic gardening though and let
anyone getting stuff from my  garden (mostly neighbors getting herbs) know
that no harmful chemicals or pesticides were used. To fertilize my garden I
use either fish or seaweed emulsion. I have two large compost bins to
recycle most yard and kitchen waste and my husband built me a rainbarrel to
circumvent our nasty filtered well water.

Take care,
Lynn Smythe
e-mail: lynnsmythe@adelphia.net
website: http://users.adelphia.net/~lynnsmythe


Outgoing mail is certified Virus Free.
Checked by AVG anti-virus system (http://www.grisoft.com ).
Version: 6.0.504 / Virus Database: 302 - Release Date: 7/24/2003

 On Sun, 27 Jul 2003 13:57:41 GMT, "Lynn Smythe"


Those whose 'gross agricultural income' is under $5000/year
are exempt from the federal certification requirements.

See: http://www.ams.usda.gov/nop/Q&A.html

Your state may have some other requirements, though.    

I've taken care to research this because I intend to sell
'organic' veggies at a farmers' market next year.

Pat

 wrote:


August 2003  
view
 point THE CONSUMER UNION PERSPECTIVE
 
  
 

Assault on organic standards
It took 12 years of hearings, hundreds of thousands of comments from
the public, and the drafting of 600 pages of proposed standards to
create the "USDA Organic" label.

Issued last October, it was a major achievement. Even its toughest
critics agree that any food bearing the organic label must be produced
far more naturally, with far less impact on the environment, than
conventional food. Among the requirements: No synthetic fertilizers,
few chemical pesticides, no antibiotics or hormones, no irradiation or
genetic engineering, no animal byproducts in animal feed, and access
to the outdoors for all livestock.

No sooner did those tough standards go into effect, however, than
various enterprises began to look for ways to cash in on the USDA
Organic label withouthaving to adhere to all the demanding rules. In
October, The Country Hen, a Massachusetts egg producer, applied to its
local organic certifier for permission to use the organic label. But
to meet the rule that its chickens would be able to go outside, the
producer indicated that it planned to put a few porches on its
henhouses, which held thousands of layers. Did this promise fulfill
the requirement for access to the outdoors? The local certifier said
no. But on appeal, the USDA overruled the certifier and said The
Country Hen could use the USDA’s and the certifier’s organic labels.

The certifier has since filed suit against the USDA, and Consumers
Union has urged the USDA to change its ruling. In the meantime,
Country Hen eggs are on the market with the organic labels.

In Georgia, some chicken producers wanted to use the organic label on
their broilers. But they discovered that organic feed, which is what
an organic chicken must eat, was relatively expensive. So the chicken
producers convinced Rep. Nathan Deal (R-Ga.) to push through Congress
a rider to the 2003 Omnibus Appropriations bill saying that if organic
feed cost more than twice as much as regular feed, organic livestock
could eat the regular kind.

As that drastic cheapening of the organic label became known,
Consumers Union and others objected. Sen. Patrick Leahy (D-Vt.)
amassed enough support to repeal the feed exemption. But there was a
cost. Sen. Ted Stevens (R-Alaska) insisted that the legislation
instruct the USDA to authorize use of the organic label on seafood
caught in the wild. That includes not just salmon from the relatively
unpolluted waters off the Alaska coast but also swordfish and shark,
which the Food and Drug Administration says contain so much mercury
that children and pregnant women should not eat them.

Last October, with no hearings or public discussion, the USDA extended
its rules on organic labeling to cosmetics. There are now shampoos and
body lotions labeled "70 percent organic" based on the fact that their
main ingredient is an "organic hydrosol." What’s that? It is water in
which something organic, such as an organic lavender leaf, has been
soaked.

Consumers Union believes that Congress must stop entertaining requests
from special interests to cash in on the USDA Organic label and that
the USDA must become a strict steward of how the label is used.
Consumers want and need an organic label they can trust.



What you can do

To learn more or to express your views about these issues to the
appropriate government officials, visit the Consumers Union Guide to
Environmental Labels at www.eco-labels.org.