National Organic Standards in the United States and the Organic Movement
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Authors
Wyant, Vanessa
Issue Date
2007-04-27
Type
Language
en_US
Keywords
Alternative Title
Abstract
Organic Agriculture is defined most basically by how it compares
economically and environmentally to conventional farms and by techniques
that take advantage of and work in harmony with natural ecological
systems. Ideas of ecological or sustainable agriculture predate the more
recently popular idea of “organic” agriculture, but since the 1970s when the
“organic movement” began to take shape, the organic foods market has
been growing at an increasing pace. Accompanying the popularization of
organic foods, certification schemes began to emerge at the regional, state,
and eventually the national level as a way to protect against fraud and
encourage additional growth of the organic market. After a long struggle to
establish national organic standards and uniform guidelines for organic
practices, opposition remains regarding issues of cost, corporate
manipulation of regulations, and the detrimental effects of
commercialization. These concerns are mostly held by small farmers and
people strongly committed to the fundamental philosophies of the organic
movement. Using opinions of several small-scale farmers from southwest
and central Michigan, I examine how the establishment of national organic
certification standards contradicts the varied and localized philosophical
and practical foundations of the organic agriculture movement.
Description
1 broadside : ill.
Citation
Publisher
Kalamazoo College