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October 20, 2002
WASHINGTON -- Nora Pouillon was called a hippie in the 1970s for buying only organic fruits, vegetables and meats for her family. People scoffed when she went so far as to serve organic-only meals at her Washington restaurant and advertised it on the menu.
"I had written on the back of my menus that the animals were raised in a stress-free environment," said Pouillon, the chef and owner of the organic-certified Restaurant Nora. "People were making fun of me."
Pouillon does not feel alone anymore as an organic shopper, and sales of organic food prove it. They have increased steadily, from $3.5-billion in 1996, to $4-billion in 1999. The Agriculture Department has taken notice, too: Labeling rules for farmers and companies that want to market their products as organic take effect Monday.
The agency also will begin marking some of those foods with a seal of approval.
The seal means the food was grown by a certified farmer who does not use conventional pesticides and fertilizers, biotechnology, antibiotics or growth hormones to produce food. Such food must not be treated with sewage sludge, exposed to irradiation or mingled with genetically modified organisms.
Farmers have to prove they follow sustainable agricultural practices -- rotating crops and taking good care of the soil.
Violators could face fines of up to $10,000.
Products entirely organic will be labeled "100 percent organic" while those that are at least 95 percent will carry just "organic." The seal can be displayed on those products.
Foods that are 70 percent organic or less will be marked as "made with organic ingredients" or "contains organic ingredients." Those cannot carry the department's green seal.
The government is not saying organic foods are safer or healthier. That claim is made by organic supporters, who also believe that buying organic food sends a political message in support of environmentally safe farming.
Experts also say the program is likely to increase the availability of organic items, prompt a flurry of new products and even perhaps drive down organics' prices as more major companies enter the market.
Organic food sales in the United States, soaring 20 percent annually over the last decade, are expected to reach $11-billion this year and are poised to climb to $20-billion by 2005, according to the Organic Trade Association.
Among the food giants stepping into the organics market: Frito-Lay, which is test-marketing organic tortilla chips; H.J. Heinz Co., which just launched an organic ketchup; Tyson Foods Inc., which has recently introduced a new line of organic chicken products; General Mills Inc., which boasts more than 100 products, including a new cereal line, through its Small Planet Foods subsidiary; and Coca-Cola, which recently rolled out new organic fresh juices through its Odwalla subsidiary.
Not everyone likes the guidelines.
Bob Scowcroft, executive director of the Organic Farming Research Foundation in California said some people think the rules are too strong, while others wanted even tougher ones.
Scowcroft cited one dispute in which some people wanted the Agriculture Department to require companies and farmers to test for traces of genetically modified foods, created when a plant is engineered to contain genes from other species.
"The rule says you can't have any (trace). It doesn't say if you're supposed to test for it, and it doesn't say what you should do if you find it," he said.
In another disagreement, conventional egg farmers have argued that organic chickens should be kept in pens because they will contract diseases such as salmonella if they are raised outdoors.
Scowcroft said such issues can be resolved over time and the standards can be amended.
The new rules will not directly affect Poullion's organic-certified restaurant. But she predicts business will benefit her because consumers' attention will be drawn to organic products.
-- Information from the Chicago Tribune was used in this report.