Once you understand the concept of the microbiome, it’s easy to see the problem with pesticide-laden food: Pesticides are poisons designed to kill small lifeforms, and ingesting such poisons risks wiping out or disrupting the good bacteria that keep us alive and functional.
The obvious solution is to eat only organic produce and meat. But that’s apparently harder than it sounds, because imported “organic” foods might be fake. Here’s an excerpt from a recent article by Dr. Joseph Mercola on the declining value of the organic label:
Stop Illegal Organic Imports
STORY AT-A-GLANCE
- U.S. organic farmers are being undercut by low-priced organic imports, particularly from developing countries, where grower/producer groups are not subjected to annual inspections with USDA permission
- The USDA’s allowance of grower/producer groups in developing countries has led to commercial-scale farms escaping proper oversight, with only about 2% being inspected annually
- U.S. organic turmeric and hazelnut farmers are struggling to compete with imports that may not meet organic standards but are sold at lower prices
- Legal complaints and lawsuits have been filed against the USDA, challenging the legality of grower group certifications and demanding stricter enforcement of organic standards
- Fraud in the organic industry is a significant concern, with recent high-profile cases involving millions of dollars’ worth of conventionally grown produce being sold as organic
U.S. organic farmers are being driven out of business by low-priced organic imports, which may not be grown to the organic standards you’d expect. The Organic Foods Production Act (OFPA) of 1990 is a U.S. federal law that was enacted to establish national standards for the production and handling of organic foods.
The act requires that agricultural products labeled as organic be overseen by an independent third party that’s supervised by the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA). The process comes with additional costs and requirements for U.S. organic farmers, which should theoretically be offset by the higher prices commanded for organic foods.
However, uninspected organic imports are flooding the U.S. market from grower/producer groups in developing countries, which are not being subjected to annual inspections — with the USDA’s permission.
“The bottom line: Food is being imported at under the cost of production, forcing U.S. growers — who are complying with the law — out of business,” reported OrganicEye, which is “dedicated to protecting family-scale farmers and preserving the availability of authentic organic food” in the U.S.
USDA Protects Agribusiness Lobbyists at the Expense of US Organic Farmers
In certain developing countries, the USDA has allowed the formation of grower/producer groups. These groups are often used for crops like coffee, nuts, chocolate, tea and herbs, and while they started out as a way to help small farmers or indigenous groups in developing countries, the loophole is now putting U.S. organic farmers and organic standards at risk. According to OrganicEye:
“Although there is no legal provision for the exemption, decades ago certifiers started allowing cooperatives, small villages, or groups of indigenous peoples, producing high-value, specialty crops, like coffee, chocolate, or spices, to be grouped together in ‘peer-supervised’ producer groups.
It was assumed that the small landholders would not be able to afford individual certification and inspections and the exception would both help them access world markets, improving their economic standing, and provide authentic organic food to more affluent Western countries.”
The global organic industry, however, is now a $205.9 billion industry, projected to reach a worth of $532.72 billion by 2032, and the grower groups have morphed to include commercial-scale farms that are escaping USDA oversight. Organic Insider reported:
“As the organic industry surged in popularity and became a multibillion-dollar industry, grower groups were believed to be manipulated by agribusiness entities and compliant certifiers worldwide, according to industry watchdogs, which resulted in their circumventing the rules and avoiding direct USDA oversight.
The narrative was that agribusinesses created agreements with for-profit accredited certifiers so that they, instead of the certifier itself, would inspect the members of the agribusiness’ own supplier base.
… not only were these agribusiness entities doing the organic certification not recognized by the USDA as an approved organic certifier, but there was no restriction on how many participants were in these grower groups, how large individual farms could be or the limit of geographical range. Furthermore, these agribusiness entities didn’t even need to be farmers themselves.”
Only about 2% of the farmers involved in these grower/producer groups are being inspected annually, which means the vast majority — 98% — are not being inspected as frequently, if at all.
rubino.substack.com/p/fake-organic-produce-and-the-shrinking