Organic Charming

The principles and philosophy of organic food production are undeniably the way forward for our battered global agricultural sectors. Bringing production methods back to their origins and reviving the traditional agricultural concepts of “man in harmony with nature” opposed to “man in control of nature” is certainly worthy of great admiration. It is also encouraging to hear that new entrants to the organic market are rising and distribution networks are witnessing more and more supply. This in turn enables new markets to be opened up and more participation from us, the consuming public. Good news. We even see governmental interest and willingness to take an increased role in the organic movement. Now we are getting somewhere!

Or are we?

There is unrest in the organic community. The different organic certification bodies, the profit organisations that effectively license the movement, are feeling a bit uneasy. After years of demanding greater recognition and promotion from central government and the food-retailing sector as a whole, they are now feeling considerably uneasy when it finally arrives. There are two possible explanations for this u-turn. One is that the individuals driving the movement have changed. The second is that the movement itself has changed. Looking at the composition of many of the leading certification bodies it is apparent that many of the pioneers of the movement are still around. Therefore one may reasonably conclude that something has changed with regard to the movement itself. The organic sector as a whole is still, relatively speaking, a fledgling market. It is traditionally a self regulated industry and is publicly perceived as being clean, natural and as much a philosophy as an industry. One would also imagine that the organic sector would be readily open to new entrants, un-bureaucratic and completely down to earth.

This however, no longer seems the case. The certification bodies publicly compete and squabble with each other over whose standards are the most stringent. The harder it is to get certified and the more regulation imposed by these organisations, seems to be an ad-hoc measure of the quality of the produce ultimately produced under their stamp. Therefore, entry into the organic market for conventional producers is not exactly welcoming. One of the main problems for the conventional farmer is the loss of autonomy within the agricultural sector. How can increased intervention and control by an organisation farmers are basically tied to in order for their produce to be recognised as authentic, do anything but increase their loss of autonomy? This thought is compounded by the certification bodies’ readiness to appease the supermarkets demands on uniformity and centralisation. Organic producers are actively advised on which breed, size and conformation of product is most suitable, and therefore should be produced, for the supermarket shelves. Markets are suggested and the same processing factories that conventional products pass through are promoted as suitable for organic produce. The certification bodies may argue that what they are effectively trying to achieve is secure markets for their producers products, but falling into bed with the meat factories and supermarkets and by ruling their producers (without whom they are finished anyway) with an iron fist smacks of hypocrisy.

Why, you may ask, is this the case when the boards of these organisations often comprise of actual organic producers themselves? Why would these people, who for years fought for recognition, market presence, participation and to provide a positive alternative to conventional farming by the promotion of traditional “man in harmony with nature” principles, want to restrict entry to, homogenize and control their members and their produce? Some have even gone so far as to suggest prospective new members complete an entry course on how to go about organic production. Pure elitism. Worst still is the prospect of consolidation within the certification industry. While it took the conventional agricultural sector fifty years to morph into what we call agribusiness, it has taken a fifth of the time for the organic sector to achieve. Is there any more transparency provided by the current organic moguls than anywhere else in the food sector? It seems for your premium all you get is a rubberstamp, while the quality organic producers are marginalized more and more. In fact it is, in reality, the certification bodies that benefit from having their stamp on the excellent quality items that the organic farmers produce. As consumers we no doubt benefit from the quality of produce that the organic farmers around the world are producing. These farmers deserve our support and their efforts should be supported by our consumption of their excellent produce. However, the mediums through which they are marketed, and the bureaucratic elitism that dominates the movements’ current hierarchy needs to be addressed lest we lose sight on the fact that increased quality in food standards, must be accompanied with increased autonomy and equity for the primary producers.

Malbouffe….