Local Food Trumps Organic Food (Especially When Organic Comes From China)

The organic food industry is huge. With so much demand for organic products in the U.S. much of the production and processing of organic food now happens elsewhere and is imported from China and other countries. While it is true that organic-labeled food is held to much higher standards when compared to other labels like the meaningless "all-natural," the USDA certified organic foods that are being imported from other countries (and maybe even within our own country?) may not be quite up to snuff. The certification system for imported produce relies on privately hired inspectors who approve farms and produce that haven't been tainted by the use of synthetic fertilizers, pesticides, and other taboo inputs. But the recent news that the USDA is cutting off ties with a company that has been the lead organic inspection agency in China brings  up some serious doubts, namely, just how organic is the "organic" food we eat that comes from outside the US?

The  company, the Organic Crop Improvement Association in coordination with the Chinese Organic Food Development Corporation, was banned by the USDA after it became apparent that they had hired inspectors who worked for the Chinese government to inspect and certify  farms and food processing operations that were also  owned by the state. The suspicion was that perhaps inspections were not as rigorous as they should have been or certain things were overlooked, due to conflict of interest. While China's organic standards should comply with the international definition, on which the USDA standards are based, much of the distrust stems from China's recent track record concerning food safety. This instance is yet another reason to suspect that when it comes to meeting standards of food quality and safety, some of China's producers may be cutting corners.

However, the fact that some Chinese organics may not actually meet certification standards doesn't mean we should distrust the USDA label itself. As previously noted, the organic label is generally more trust worthy than many of the other ones you see at the supermarket. And by and large, organic farmers are committed to producing truly organic food. But it is certainly cause for hesitation, not only when buying organic food from China, but from other countries as well.

More troubling than shady certification processes, I think, is the fact that we are becoming increasingly dependent on organic food from far, far away. Not only does it  compromise the idea of  food security, and frustrating in that we  are continuing outsource so much manufacturing, processing, production to countries that can do it all on the cheap, but it also seems to go against the grain of the essence of organic. If one of the most compelling reasons to buy organic is because of the environmental superiority, then what does it mean to have our (hopefully) organic food shipped or flown in from thousands of miles away? The carbon footprint alone seems to be enough to erase any ground gained by farming using organic methods. This conundrum leads us back to the fact that sustainable food isn't just organic food--it's food we buy from local producers that we know and trust, and who are growing organic food just a handful of miles away.

photo credit: iLoveButter