Organics is the fastest growing sector in the Canadian food
industry. A decade ago, organic food made up less than one
per cent of the grocery business in this country.
The reasons more and more people are turning
to organics are linked to the public fears about genetically
modified foods, irradiation and the antibiotics fed to animals.
Marketplace devoted the entire show on October 17 to take
a look at this industry.
The first question we asked was what does the
word "organic" really mean?
For many of us, organic food brings images to
mind of a few rotting apples on a grocery store shelf.
We went to the annual Feast of Fields
to find out what "organic" means today. The Feast
of Fields is an annual fundraising event - $100 a person
- that's intended to promote organic food.
Chefs, farmers and the paying public turn out
to sample a huge variety of organic produce - and recipes
that are organic from the ground up.
It's not just fruits and vegetables these days
that carry the organic label. There's organic milk, organic
cheese and organic butter. There are even organic processed
foods - including cereals, pastas and even corn chips.
Organic produce is no longer confined to specialty
shops or remote counters in supermarkets.
If you thought that organic means pesticide-free,
you may be surprised to find that's not true. Pesticides are
so pervasive in the air and in our environment that no crop
can be declared totally free of synthetic chemcials.
If you buy poultry that's labelled as free-range,
you cannot assume that it is also organic. The same holds
true for the word "natural."
"It might be that the farmer is not using
hormones and not using any insecticides on the animals, but
the feed itself might not be certified organic or it may be
conventional feed," said Gary Lean, an independent organic
inspector Marketplace consulted.
Lean said there are no standards for use of
the word "natural" in farm products. The only way
to be sure is to know the farmer.
Organic products, though, do have to meet certain
standards. Those that do, will carry a sticker on the packaging
that says "Certified Organic."
No product can carry that label without first
being inspected. The product has to meet a comprehensive set
of rules overseen by the Canadian General Standards Board.
The standards are voluntary - except in Quebec, where you
can expect to pay large fines if you're caught misrepresenting
your products.
To qualify as certified organic, a field of
corn, for example, would have to:
- be free of commercial fertilizers for three years
- be free of herbicides for three years
- seed would not be from genetically modified seed
- include a buffer zone between organic plants and non-organic
plants
Another way to tell whether a field of corn may be organic:
the weeds. Lean told us the absence of herbicides means there's
virtually no defence against weeds.
Organic farmers can, though, use some herbicides - but only
if they don't build up on the fruit or in the body. Sulphur
is used on some apple orchards. Synthetic pesticides are forbidden.
The standards were drawn up in June of 1999. They were meant
to set out comprehensive guidelines for the organic food industry.
But they also concede that there is little that can be done
to ensure that food on the shelves is totally free from herbicides
or pesticides.
"By themselves, organic practices can not ensure that
organic products are entirely free of residues of prohibited
substances and other contaminants, since exposure to such
compounds from the atmosphere, soil, groundwater and other
sources may be well beyond the control of the operator."
(introduction to General
Principles of Organic Production, Canadian General Standards
Board, June, 1999)
To be certified as an organic grower, a farmer has to pay
several hundred dollars a year. Much of that money goes to
the inspectors who make sure the organic standards are met.
The inspectors might give a couple of days' notice of a visit
- or a couple of hours.
The final aspect of the "certified organic" process
is the paper trail. Organic farmers are required to keep detailed
records.
The application process is lengthy. The application form
from the Organic
Crop Producers & Processors of Ontario (one of the companies
that provides inspection services for organic farmers) is
quite complex.
"In the end, for a full certification process,"
food inspector Gary Lean told us, "we should be able
to go from the consumer purchasing the product back to the
field or number of fields that a product came from."