Street roots., August 04, 2017, Page 7, Image 7

Street Roots • August 4-10, 2017
ORGANIC, from page 5
re q u e s t, W allick d isco v ered th is w as an
in te n tio n a l a tte m p t to c h an g e th e ru le s
b e h in d c lo sed d o o rs.
O n e em ail h e o b tain ed , s e n t from an
em p lo y ee a t o rg an ic g ia n t E a rth b o u n d F a rm
to U SD A D e p u ty A d m in istra to r M iles
M cE voy a fte r th e c o n ta m in a te d c o m p o st
w a s initially b a n n e d , sta te d :
“I g e t th e n e e d to have a policy, b u t th is
p r e c e d e n t is frig h ten in g . O nce codified in
policy, I ’d have to e x p e c t th a t any tim e any
p ro h ib ite d m a te ria l is found in any farm
in p u t - o rg an ic in p u t in clu d ed - in any
a m o u n t, w e ’ll have to sto p u sin g th a t in p u t
u n til an a c c e p ta b le a m o u n t is d e te rm in e d .
G iven th e n u m b e r of co m p o u n d s w e a re
likely to find o n ce w e s e e k th e m , w e ’ll b e
sto p p in g e a rly an d o f t e n .... W hat h a p p e n s
w h e n w e find a c o n ta m in a n t is p r e s e n t for
w h ich th e r e is no EPA to le ra n c e in any food
crop? T h e n t h e r e ’s h o rm o n e s an d a n tib io tics
in m a n u re - th e s e w ould no d o u b t b e
c o n sid e re d c o n ta m in a n ts as well. S e e k and
ye shall f i n d .... I ’d p re fe r to se e an in te rim
policy th a t re c o g n iz e s w e live in an im p u re
w o rld an d th a t org an ic p ro d u ctio n se e k s to
m inim ize th o s e im p u ritie s in p ro c e ss an d
p ro d u c t.”
W ith th e ev id en ce c o llected by Wallick,
van S au n and K im brell lau n c h ed a legal
challenge, along w ith P o rtla n d ’s C rag Law
C e n te r, to disqualify th e g u idance d o c u m e n t
o n th e g ro u n d s th a t th e USDA should have
Page 7
News
gone th ro u g h th e form al rule-change
p ro c e ss and notified th e public befo re
allowing c o n ta m in a te d co m p o st to b e u sed .
In 2016, a judge a g re e d and o v e rtu rn e d
th e policy, telling th e USDA th a t a form al
ru le change w ould b e n e ed e d .
T h a t ru le change pro p o sal is ex p ected th is
fall and van S aun u rg es organic c o n su m ers to
w eigh in w ith public c o m m en t if th e y d o n ’t
w a n t th e ir veggies grow n w ith co n tam in ated
com post.
K a rr a t O regon T ilth said th a t d u rin g th e
five y e a rs c o n ta m in a te d co m p o st w as
allowed, te s ts of c o m p o st p ro d u c ts O regon
g ro w ers w e re u sin g cam e up clean.
A ccording to M etro , P o rtla n d ’s cu rb sid e
co m p o stin g p ro g ra m se n d s w a ste to third-
p a rty c o m p o st p ro d u c e rs, su ch as N a tu re ’s
N e e d s in N o rth Plains.
N ickolas O lheiser, N a tu re ’s N eed s
o rg an ics m anager, said so m e of th e co m p o st
th e y p ro d u ce from th e u rb an cu rb sid e
p ro g ra m e n d s u p on o rganic farm s in th e
W ashington C ounty area.
“Slim to no c h an ce of p e stic id e s bein g
p r e s e n t in th e fin ish ed m aterial. C om posting
p rovides an optim al e n v iro n m e n t for
d e c o n stru c tin g p e stic id e s,” h e said. “We also
te s t e v ery th in g b efo re it leaves th e facility
for n o t ju s t p e stic id e s, b u t for p a th o g e n s,
m etals, n u tritio n a l c o n te n t, e tc .”
No synthetics, almost
T h e re is a cav eat to th e b an o n sy n th e tic s in
o rganic farm ing. W hen fa rm e rs can n o t
a cc ess a synthetic-free organic-approved
su b sta n c e th e y n e e d for p e s t control, soil
im p ro v em en t o r o th e r farm ing p ractice, th e
N ational O rganic S ta n d ard s B oard can add a
sy n th e tic ch em ical to a list of e x cep tio n s
know n as th e N ational List.
All ite m s ad d ed to th e list m u st go
th ro u g h a rig o ro u s review p ro c e ss and show
th e y will n o t significantly h a rm h u m an
h e a lth o r th e e n v iro n m en t. T h e re are
c u rre n tly 4 3 sy n th e tics allow ed in organic
farm ing.
In th e p ast, any sy n th e tic th a t w as ad d ed
to th e list w ould autom atically d ro p off a fte r
five y e a rs u n le ss th e b o a rd v o ted to k eep it
on th e list. B u t in 2013, th e d efault w as
re v e rse d . Now, anything ad d ed to list stay s
on indefinitely.
T h e C e n te r fo r Food S afety an d 12 o th e r
g ro u p s su e d o n th e g ro u n d s th a t th is
ch an g e in th e d e fa u lt se ttin g sh o u ld n o t
have b e e n m ad e w ith o u t p u b lic n o tic e.
T h a t c a se is ongoing.
“C o n su m e rs w ould likely n o t b e
c o n c e rn e d a b o u t th e m ajo rity of ite m s of
th e (N ational L ist),” said C am ero n H arsh ,
se n io r m a n a g e r for o rg an ic an d anim al
policy a t C e n te r fo r F ood Safety.
H ow ever, h e said, th e r e a re a few
ex cep tio n s, su c h as D L -M ethionine, a
p o u ltry feed additive co n tain in g am ino acid
c o n c e n tra tio n s. I t’s u s e d to p ro m o te high
r a te s of w e ig h t gain in b ird s. B u t b ird s can
g e t th o s e sa m e am ino acids by e a tin g
Fam ilyC are tra n s la te s
in to good health
in se c ts, h e rb s o r a w ide v a rie ty of p lan ts,
w hich could b e achieved if th e b ird s foraged
o u td o o rs.
“C o n su m e rs m ay b e d is h e a rte n e d to
le a rn th a t th e USDA o ften re s is ts tak in g
ite m s off th e (N ational L ist) fo r w hich
o rganic a lte rn a tiv e s now e x ist an d are
com m ercially available,” h e said.
K a rr a t O reg o n T ilth said th a t w h e n ite m s
d ro p off th e list suddenly, it can h u r t
p ro d u c e rs w ho a re relying on th o s e
su b sta n c e s.
“F a rm e rs n e e d to o ls in th e toolbox, and
esp ecially organic fa rm e rs ,” sh e said. “If you
d o n ’t have any c o n tro ls o r to o ls th a t you can
u se for fertility, for soil m an a g em en t, for
d ise a se m an a g em en t, p e s t m an a g em en t, it’s
a h a rd m o u n ta in to clim b.”
P o rtlan d a tto rn e y van S au n a rg u e s th a t
b e c a u se a m ain stay of th e O rganic F ood
P ro d u c tio n A ct is th a t no sy n th e tic
su b s ta n c e s a re allowed, th e d efau lt sh o u ld
b e to ta k e ite m s off th e list, n o t k e e p th e m
on.
“B u t,” sh e said, “if th is is an im p o rta n t
su b sta n c e th a t fa rm e rs o r p ro d u c e rs still
n e ed , th e n N O SB can v o te to k e e p it on. I t ’s
n o t like th in g s d ro p off an d n o o n e h a s an
ability to sto p th a t.”
emily@streetroots. org
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