[MPWG] to certify or not

[Bob Beyfuss]

"Laws (regulations) are best interpreted, explained and applied by those 
whose chief interests and ability lies in subverting, perverting and 
obscuring them" I guess this is how I feel about the whole organic or 
whatever certification issue. It took 10 years to come up with 300 pages of 
organic certification regulations that most farmers will never read. Large 
scale corporate farms will read them for sure. Why would anyone want to be 
certified? To make more money, of course, and cash in the formerly niche 
but now mainstream market that exists. I think all of us would agree that 
organic practices are generally a good thing and should be encouraged. I am 
not so sure that certification programs are the most appropriate way to 
encourage these practices. I have many farmer clients who use sustainable 
farming practices. They know it but are not motivated to spend the $500 it 
costs in NY State to have some agency "bless" them. Why should farmers have 
to pay to do the right thing? Should not government policy, i.e subsidies 
and tax breaks be directed towards those who are trying to farm 
sustainably? Why do 89% of all the federal farm support dollars go to the 
large corporate farms despite the fact that they comprise less then 5% of 
the total farms by number? Organic growers formerly enjoyed a significant 
price increase and consumer tolerance of cosmetic damage that is rapidly 
eroding. When the Jolly Green Giant and Bird's Eye sell "organic" how can 
the small organic farmer possibly compete? Consumers have been duped into 
thinking that "certified organic" means pesticide free. Even the 
prestigious University of California at Berkeley "Wellness Newsletter" 
erroneously reported that according to the USDA certification standards, 
anything certified as "USDA certified organic" cannot have been treated 
with pesticides. This is far, far from the truth as I pointed out to them 
and they did print a correction in tiny, tiny type in the next 
newsletter.  If they have not bothered to read the rules carefully how can 
anyone expect the general public to do so? Almost everyday I hear a radio 
commercial from a local organic farm store that states "Organic food is 
produced without the use of any pesticides, herbicides or chemical 
additives" This is bunk and I have reported this misinformation to the 
radio station and the store but they will not change their ad. So the 
general public is duped and I do hold the bureaucracy to blame for ignoring 
if not encouraging these practices. In speaking of herbs, I have my 
concerns about "standardization" also. Most herbal practitioners I know 
believe that herbs act synergistically,  either with other herbs or other 
parts of the plant itself. I have never seen a prescription from a Chinese 
traditional medicine practitioner that called for ginseng and only ginseng. 
Many herbs have identifiable "active" ingredients that seem to be 
responsible for much of the beneficial effect. When extracted and 
"standardized" these are now drugs, not herbs and I do think the FDA needs 
to look at "drugs" being masqueraded as herbs.  You might argue "but the 
public needs to be protected from herbal snake oil". Really? Who is 
protecting us from the mainstream drugs like Vioxx that we see as every 
third advertisement on TV promoting? Why does every "news" report about 
herbal medicine tell us how dangerous or ineffective they are while every 
new pharmaceutical is heralded as a modern  "miracle"?  The answer to all 
these questions comes down to corporate greed, and these are the 
institutions that run this country. Of course there are corporations that 
are not greedy or evil and even some that really are trying to improve the 
human condition but all corporations very existence depends upon black ink 
on the bottom line and that leads me back to the very first line of this 
epistle. Whatever it takes.
Bob Beyfuss