Gone are the days when organic was equated with a hippy or fringe culture. Step into your nearest natural foods market and you’re as likely to come across a spiffy SUV owner as you are a sandalled tree hugger.

According to a 2005 Agriculture Canada and Canadian Food Inspection Agency report, Canadians spend almost $1 billion a year on organic foods, and sales are increasing 20 percent annually. But behind the scenes, another shift is taking place. Family-run farms fight for space alongside new, larger-scale operations. Small manufacturers are bought out by bigger ones. Small whole food retailers compete against musclemen like Loblaws and Wal-Mart. Multinational companies search for a piece of this lucrative pie and…well, you get the picture.

The organic industry is in the middle of a big-box transformation, leaving many people wondering how consumers will be affected.

A World of Organics

We already have more shopping advantages than we did 30 years ago–organic selections available from around the world, funkier packaging, and better product labelling, including labels from certifying agents. On American organic imports, a US Department of Agriculture logo guarantees the food product was grown without synthetic agrochemicals, veterinary drugs, or materials produced from sewage sludge, genetic engineering, or hormones.

The US has had national regulations for several years, while the final publication of Canada’s Organic Product Regulation happened in December 2006. These regulations, which will be phased in over the next couple of years, require organic products to display a new Canadian Organic logo. It will certify food products that meet Canadian organic production standards contain at least 95 percent organic ingredients.

“We’re very encouraged,” says Dag Falck, organic program manager at Nature’s Path Foods during a phone interview. “Organics in the US experienced a jump of 35 percent between 2004 and 2006 in consumer recognition after the US put their national program together and marked their products with the US Department of Agriculture organic seal.”

Falck sits on many committees and boards, such as those of the Organic Agriculture Centre of Canada and Canadian Organic Growers. He’s also on the main board of the Organic Trade Association and is on the organic council of the Canadian Health Food Association.

In regards to Canada’s organic regulatory process, Falck explains that the laws aren’t expected to change a lot in terms of how certified organic farms are presently run.

“The biggest change will be for the consumer,” Falck says. “Currently more than 40 different organic logos are used in Canada. This is an opportunity for a [unified] Canadian logo, for more consistency and less confusion in the marketplace.”

He adds that the new regulations will give the Canadian Food Inspection Agency necessary power to enforce fraudulent claims.

Generally, our proposed regulations are very strong, says Falck, and they are on par with international standards. But will they remain so? Do big-box organics mean organic
standards will eventually be diluted to placate rising demand?

Defending Canadian Standards

“Organic is subject to contradictory pressures,” says Wayne Roberts, PhD, project coordinator of the Toronto Food Policy Council. Roberts is senior author of seven books and winner of the 2002 Canadian Environment Awards Silver Medal for his contributions to sustainable living.

“I don’t long for the days when organic was ‘pure.’ I’m not pining for those days. We’re growing and more people want it and that’s good,” he says.

Still, Roberts questions the federal government’s ability to protect our laws from outside influence. “Having a nongovernment regulatory body means more transparency, more consumer involvement, and quicker adaptation in a faster changing world,” he says. “The organic community is more capable of holding [organic certification] to a high standard than the government is. The government stamp is eventually going to dilute it.”

“Protecting the integrity of organic certification is going to be an ongoing challenge,” admits Falck. “There’s always going to be pressure to do what some people call watering down or weakening of the standards. So we have to have systems in place that prevent this from happening without consultations with people in the industry. We always have to be on guard.”

Vancouver writer Michelle Hancock tries to eat organic whenever possible and actually finds researching health and environmental politics an interesting pastime.

Source: alive #295, May 2007