Is the government capable of running anything well? Yes, with the help and cooperation of it's people. The Certified Organic program in Pennsylvania is a perfect example of grass roots efforts along with government help (USDA) with positive outcomes for all.
There has been much confusion concerning the meaning of "Certified Organic". Both the public perception and the food producer's perception have varied over the years. As the public became aware of the known and unknown pitfalls of the way our food was being produced an outcry surfaced for food products to be produced naturally, without the chemicals and processes that had become known to be detrimental to the public's health and well-being. Somewhere along the line the word organic was tossed in to the mix and held up as a healthier food choice. Just the mere mention of the word organic was convincing the public that the particular food was a better choice. No one was asking what organic meant or what made it better or healthier. The sticker was enough and the food producers ran with the idea. Not only were there no guide lines for the organic label, the food industry could charge more for the 'special' product. This is not to say that there were no altruistic producers actually adhering to organic principles, but they were rare and being snuffed out by others with much less integrity.
Time passed and the public learned more. Organic charlatans were exposed and the demand for organic guidelines arose. In 1985, in Lancaster County (right here in Pennsylvania) a group of organic farmers formed a chapter of the Organic Crop Improvement Association. They helped regulate, advise and perform certification services for it's members for about 15 years. In 1997 the non-profit organization named Pennsylvania Certified Organic (PCO) was born (naturally, of course). By 2004, PCO certified 315 operations based in PA and many more in Ohio, New York, New Jersey, Maryland, Delaware and West Virginia. PCO's guidelines for certified organic food are approved by the USDA.
Still want to know what Certified Organic is right?
Basically, organic food production can be boiled down to backyard gardening. Composting to improve soil fertility, rotating crops, combating pests naturally and grazing animals on pasture (free range) are all organic practices. The PCO Certification Manual uses some fancy language, "Organic certification is not a guaranty of quality or purity of the product. Rather, it is evidence of the operation's adherence to a prescribed system of agriculture and food production that involves the building and enhancing of the soil naturally, protection of the environment, humane treatment of animals and avoidance of toxic synthetic substances". Organic should not be confused with Vegetarian, Vegan or like the manual says, "a guarantee of quality". Consumers still have to be smart, learn as much as you can and look at that Certified Organic head of broccoli. If it looks rotten or unhealthy, don't buy it. These guidelines, like anything, aren't fool proof. The growing demand and increasing knowledge of the public will force even more change and quality and eventually make organic the norm. This could vastly improve the health and well being current people and generations to come.
Hopefully change will bring the price of Certified Organic down and keep quality up. Keep Learning!
Check out these links for more information...
PA Certified Organic http://www.paorganic.org/...