HERB - What's 'Organic'?

[Mary Temple]

>The new legislation that just passed will require the term "Organic" to
>mean:
>	No post consumer waste has been used as fertilizer 
>	(ie.- no sludge from sewage plants)
>
>	No irradiation 
>
>	No chemical pesticides
>
>That's it.  Actually, we thought the FDA was going to really drop the
>ball on this one, but the general concensis at the health food store I
>work at is that these are OK guidelines.  
>(We won't even go into what "Natural" can mean!)
>Christianna
>
Uhm, one small nit-pick...according to the article (which I have in 
front of me) "...Last December the U.S. Department of Agriculture issued 
a long-awaited proposal for national, comprehensive standards governing 
the use of the word organic. Last month the USDA yanked the proposal 
back for a rewrite after it took an unprecented public beating. Some 
200,000 people wrote, faxed, e-mailed or spoke up at public hearings to 
let the USDA know they overwhelmingly rejected the standards, especially 
if they allowed what became known as the Big Three to be sold as 
organic: genetically engineered food, irradiated food and food grown in 
municipal sewage sludge...According to Agriculture Secretary Dan 
Glickman, the USDA will now make "fundamental revisions" to the 
proposal. The Big Three will be jettisoned, and a new draft will be 
issued later this year..."

They don't mention any legislation being passed...could this be on a 
state level?

Catriona Rowley

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