{"id":12104,"date":"2011-05-22T10:53:58","date_gmt":"2011-05-22T16:53:58","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/blog.sustainablog.org\/?p=12104"},"modified":"2011-05-22T10:53:58","modified_gmt":"2011-05-22T16:53:58","slug":"organic-certification-book","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/sustainablog.org\/articles\/organic-certification-book\/","title":{"rendered":"Whistleblower Casts Doubt On The Integrity Of Organic Certification"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"\"<\/a><\/p>\n

Mischa Popoff is a hard core Organic farming advocate.\u00a0 He grew up on an Organic farm in Saskatchewan and went on to become a licensed, independent Organic inspector.\u00a0 He still believes in the ideals of the Organic movement that he traces back to the early 18th<\/sup> century at the dawn of the faith-driven founding of modern, Western science.\u00a0 But Mischa is disillusioned about what \u201cOrganic\u201d has become since the finalization of the National Organic Program<\/a> in the US in 2002 and comparable standards around the world.\u00a0 \u00a0Mischa actually traces this back to the early 20th<\/sup> century when Rudolf Steiner<\/a> became the key driver of the Organic movement and shifted it to anti-science, Vitalism, and homeopathy as in \u201cBiodynamics.\u201d<\/p>\n

Popoff’s Book<\/h2>\n

In October of 2010, Popoff published a book titled\u00a0Is It Organic?<\/em><\/a> with the sub-title, \u201cThe inside story of who destroyed the organic industry, turned it into a socialist movement and made millions in the process.\u201d\u00a0 The core of the book is the story of Popoff\u2019s experience as an Organic inspector. \u00a0He describes how, on the annual and pre-scheduled, on-farm visits, he would often find troubling signs of potential fraud (the use of non-allowed pesticides and fertilizers, sanitation issues\u2026).\u00a0 Popoff recommended to the various certifying agencies for which he worked that they take samples and test them in the lab.\u00a0 His suggestions were never taken seriously, and at most the farmers were asked for additional paperwork.<\/p>\n

A Fundamental Weakness of the Organic Certification Process<\/h2>\n

The incidences that Popoff describes in detail are certainly suspect, but what is more disturbing is his description of the way that Organic crops are actually certified for sale at premium prices.\u00a0 Even though the system theoretically allows testing, in fact that almost never happens and everything depends on paper work.\u00a0 As Popoff puts it, it is like asking Olympic athletes to sign a document saying they used no performance-enhancing drugs but never testing them.\u00a0 It actually gets worse.\u00a0 The certifying agency gets a fee for the farm visit, but they make much of their revenue as a percentage of the sale of the approved crop.\u00a0 In any other business this is considered an \u201cactive conflict of interest.\u201d\u00a0 Do you think these certifiers would be inclined to spend money on tests that could potentially reduce their revenue? \u00a0I don\u2019t think so!<\/p>\n

As you might expect, after he went public with his concerns, Popoff was \u201cblack listed\u201d among certifying agencies and driven out of the Organic industry.<\/p>\n

Critique<\/h2>\n

To be balanced, there are a few things about this book that are less than ideal.\u00a0 First of all, at 538 pages before the index, it is a daunting read (though one could use the extensive index to read selectively).\u00a0 Second, Popoff spends a great deal of time arguing that the current Organic industry downstream from the farmer (brokers, distributors, retailers, regulators) is part of a sort of conspiracy from the Left.\u00a0 It seems to me that these \u201csocialists\u201d are actually pretty good capitalists so I\u2019m not sure I buy all of that argument. \u00a0Popoff maintains that all socialist movements tend to be well financed and he may be right.\u00a0 Third, the tone of the book is often sarcastic and\/or snarky in a way that will put-off many readers who actually need to hear what Popoff is saying.<\/p>\n

Positives<\/h2>\n

On the positive side, Mischa\u2019s story is honest and deeply personal. \u00a0He is careful to point out that there are many completely honest and skilled Organic farmers.\u00a0 He should qualify as a card-carrying historian for his tracking of the origins of this movement and the history of science in general.\u00a0 He is also a realist who recognizes that Organic (the pure type he favors) will never be a large part of the food supply.\u00a0 He also says that: \u201cpeople in the third world need organic farming like they need caviar and 15-year-old Scotch.\u201d<\/p>\n

Why This Is A Big Deal<\/h2>\n

Probably the most disturbing message of this book is that if there is some degree of fraud<\/a> in Organic in \u201crule following\u201d societies like Canada or the US, what about the un-tested, paper-work-only \u201cOrganic\u201d products coming from outside North America and particularly from China? \u00a0Popoff is not the only one raising this issue (PRI<\/a>, Treehugger<\/a>). \u00a0Since US Organic acreage only represents 0.5% of cropland and is generally only 60% as productive, a large proportion of what is sold as Organic comes from outside of the US – particularly any grain-based, frozen, or fruit sweetener containing products. \u00a0Mischa Popoff\u2019s question, Is it Organic<\/em> takes on a whole new meaning in that context.<\/p>\n

You are encouraged to comment here or to email me at savage.sd@gmail.com<\/a>.\u00a0 My website is Applied Mythology<\/a>. \u00a0Book cover image from Popoff’s website<\/a>.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Mischa Popoff is a hard core Organic farming advocate.\u00a0 He grew up on an Organic farm in Saskatchewan and went on to become a licensed, independent Organic inspector.\u00a0 He still [ … ]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":110,"featured_media":12105,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[79,21],"tags":[124,273,4939,4940,4941,20,4942],"yoast_head":"\nWhistleblower Casts Doubt On The Integrity Of Organic Certification • Sustainablog<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/sustainablog.org\/articles\/organic-certification-book\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Whistleblower Casts Doubt On The Integrity Of Organic Certification • Sustainablog\" 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