Certified Organic vs. Local Organic
Are we buying into a label that may be harming our local farmers' businesses?
At the farmers’ market last week I got talking to a local vegetable producer. My admiration of his purple and white aubergines and bright yellow patty pan squash led to a discussion on certification. The quality of his vegetables was clearly high, they looked and, I can report, tasted of a standard far greater than I have personally experienced from any supermarket-bought produce. Yet, his produce was not certified organic. I admit, I had instinctively assumed its organic status due to its great look and quality and the lack of certification puzzled me. He quickly explained to me that the certification was expensive; although he met all of the standards required to be certified organic, and maybe even went beyond them, he did not want to have to pay for the label.
This lead me to question – are consumers missing out on good, locally sourced foods that have met the same standards as certified organic produce just because they are not certified organic?
Buying an experience?
When we enter a supermarket we desire a straightforward experience. We want to know what we are buying, where it comes from and how it was produced in a way that ensures that the leg-work is done for us before we even reach the shelves. Certification has enabled such a desire to become manifest for consumers worldwide; with certifications such as ‘Organic’ or ‘Fairtrade’ we are instantly assured of a standard of production that is honest and sustainable.
The debate over food labelling has been driven by criticism over the lack of transparency about what is in our food. Labelling and certification are considered necessary because the methods of production and the content of food are not always clear. Amongst all of the politics behind food labels there remains a clear mental assurance that is welcomed by the consumer; an assurance that the food we consume three times daily is something that our minds can rest easy in, that we have ‘voted with our dollar’ for a better food future.
Buying an image?
If I told you I sold organic food your trust regarding the production, quality and safety of my produce would no doubt be strengthened. The idea of organic food often invokes images of fresh lettuce peeking out from the soil, an earthy bed of kale growing tall or rows and rows of bright yellow corn stretching across fields, without the use of nasty chemicals. My desire to question the organic label, however, lies in whether such labels stop consumers from digging deeper into the methods behind non-organic produce.
To clarify the standards of organically certified produce, organic produce is grown without the ‘use of man-made fertilisers, pesticides, growth regulators and livestock feed additives’ [1]. Genetically Modified (GM) products are also prohibited in organic production. While the law requiring certification of organic food is helpful, I feel that consumers should be encouraged to question their food further. Not only the production methods of their produce, but also its source – where was it grown? How many air-miles has it travelled to reach your plate? Furthermore, is it sustainable? Certification is not cheap; should we be allowing our smaller, local growers to suffer simply because they do not want to fork out money for the label? Is their produce in any way inferior for the lack of label?
Before the certification of organic farming techniques became the norm much of the trade in organic food operated on trust. Consumers knew their producer and trusted them to grow their food in a sustainable, safe manner. In our globalised world it would be naive to suggest that there is no need for certification, we understandably need these official processes to advance towards a more sustainable, quality-assured food system. However, the aspect of trust once present in the trade of organic produce seems to have been lost – not only is the source of food often not known but the conviction that it has been produced to a high standard is also absent. In exchange it is usually easier simply to look for a label rather than take time to understand these issues further.
Buying a label?
I had it described to me by a farmer recently; having the organic label was like paying for a t-shirt that was made by Abercrombie and Fitch – you were paying for the label. These standards are important and necessary when it comes to ensuring that our food quality and sustainability are kept in check, but maybe we sometimes need to dig a little further than the label and question whether the label is missing simply because of the politics or economics of the legislative process.
A clear example of said politics can be seen in China. Australian companies wanting to market their organic produce in China are required, by governmental law, to be independently certified. Australian companies are reported to have been paying up to $50,000 to be certified as organic under Chinese law. This was in an attempt to break into the fashionable superpower that is now the organic market in Asia [2]. In the UK organic certification is not nearly this expensive. Yet, the state of the organic market in Asia shows how such labels can be exploited to the point where smaller, independent, and most importantly local, farms cannot compete with large foreign agribusinesses in the expanding market surrounding organic produce.
I have worked at farmers’ markets around London for the last 6 months, which has been incredibly rewarding. One issue I have come to understand, however, is the desperate need for a renewed relationship between producer and consumer. Although the assurance behind labels and certification like ‘organic’ offers comfort to the consumer, it should not be at the expense of good quality, honest local production that may not have been fully certified. Consumers should be encouraged to delve beyond the labels and question why some producers may choose to ditch them. Labelling and certification is important but buying labelled food without a thought can undermine an understanding of why some products and producers do not label their products. Furthermore this can encourage the consumption of only labelled food when unlabelled food can be produced to the same, or even better, standards. For all the good that has come from them, we must ensure that labels do not overstep their practicality, and replace the honest conversations, questions and understanding which are crucial to a more sustainable food system in future.
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[1] Taken from DEFRA – https://www.gov.uk/government/organisations/department-for-environment-food-rural-affairs
[2] Han, Esther (November 17, 2013). “Organic food: Companies pay $50,000 for Chinese certification”. Good Food. Retrieved 7 October 2016.