Standards for Organic Meat Under Review

The Agriculture Department is considering a request that would loosen standards for organic meat and poultry, a development that critics say could cheat consumers and shake confidence in the small but fast-growing organic food industry.

Consumption of organic meat has grown rapidly in the last several years, in part because of new rigorous federal standards that require animals to be given organic feed--free of pesticides, antibiotics and other chemicals.

Consumers typically pay more for these products because of the higher costs associated with these assurances.

But now Agriculture Secretary Ann M. Veneman, under pressure from a delegation of Southern members of Congress, is considering a request by a Georgia poultry company to allow it and other companies to label their livestock as organic, even if their diet is not 100% organic.

The case, analysts say, shows that the new federal standards for organic foods--being implemented in October--could be manipulated.

Baldwin, Ga.-based Fieldale Farms Corp., the company requesting the waiver, said there isn’t enough organic feed produced in the U.S. to feed the 300,000 organic chickens it wants to turn out each week.

“We can meet all the standards as to how birds are raised on the farm, but we cannot continue to grow our market through feed availability,” said Stephen Gray, managing director of logistics for Fieldale, which sells chickens mainly on the East Coast under the Springer Mountain brand.

Organic farming officials and large grain companies disagree. They say there is more than enough pesticide-free grain available to meet Fieldale’s and other companies’ demands--just not at a price Fieldale wants to pay. Corn and soy--which most feed is made of--can cost two or three times more in organic form than in conventional form.

“Fieldale is just trying to secure the benefits of organic without any of the responsibilities,” said Lynn Clarkson, president of Clarkson Grain, one of the country’s largest organic grain suppliers, who said he has told the company that Clarkson could supply it. In addition to his company, “there are two or three other companies that could cover their needs,” he said.

Organic industry officials said that if Veneman grants the waiver for livestock, it would render the term “organic” meaningless for a wide range of products including meat, eggs, milk and butter, as well as packaged products that contain dried versions of these foods.

“In 1997, over 275,000 consumers told the U.S. Department of Agriculture that they wanted strict requirements for organic production and processing,” said Katherine DiMatteo, executive director of the Organic Trade Assn., representing the organic industry.

“USDA responded to that demand [with a federal organic rule] but is now being lobbied to break consumers’ trust,” she said.

Meat companies have been allowed to label their products as organic since 1999. Although sales of these products represent less than 1% of all meat sales, they are expected to grow 175% between 2000 and 2005, according to an Organic Trade Assn. survey.

Large companies such as Tyson Foods Inc. have begun introducing organic meat products after lining up organic grain suppliers.

However, Tyson and other companies have not asked for a similar waiver. They are boosting organic product sales as demand increases and sourcing additional grain as they need it.

Fieldale is “looking for any way they can work outside the system,” said Randy Duranceau, president of Petaluma Poultry, the Petaluma, Calif.-based producer of the Rosie the Organic Chicken brand.

If Fieldale’s request is granted, Duranceau said, it would provide less incentive for grain growers to make the three-year transition to becoming certified organic, making it harder for those who want to follow the rules as written.

Fieldale’s Gray said his firm is not asking for a permanent waiver, just a temporary order allowing it to use a mix of organic and conventional feed until supplies become more readily available.

“The only thing we have asked for is more time to get the market [for feed] in place,” Gray said.

There is currently no label that would allow for this partially organic product. Gray suggested his company could use the term “raised as organic” instead of using the official USDA organic seal.

Currently, Gray said, Fieldale is able to feed only about 20% of its chickens organic feed. This product is marketed under an organic label. However, the company’s feed use has been repeatedly called into question by the industry, allegations that the company denies.

Fieldale’s certifying group that was approved by USDA--Georgia Crop Improvement Assn., or GCIA--has only Fieldale’s producers as members, according to the Organic Trade Assn. And other certifying agencies, trade groups and feed companies said this agency’s standards do not mirror new federal standards, as most other state programs do.

Indeed, Clarkson said, GCIA has told him that existing policy exempts Fieldale from purchasing all-organic grain if affidavits from suppliers say none is available. So Clarkson and other critics suspect that organic chickens from Fieldale could have been fed some conventional grains.

Officials with GCIA could not be reached for comment. Fieldale officials have insisted that their chickens labeled organic are getting a totally organic diet.

“It’s just embarrassing for the industry,” said Brian Leahy, president of California Certified Organic Farmers, a Santa Cruz-based accrediting organization.

Veneman’s office declined to discuss the matter, saying that the issue is under review.

However, a letter from Barbara Robinson, deputy administrator of USDA’s Agricultural Marketing Service, suggests that USDA is giving the matter serious consideration.

In a letter to Fieldale obtained by The Times, Robinson said there may arise “situations in which the market fails to result in an efficient outcome, and where there is justification for a change in the national standards to help the market perform more efficiently.”

Industry officials say such a move would be disastrous for an industry just finding its footing.

“If the secretary of Agriculture allows a special interest to flout an organic rule that took 12 years to write, what hope do we have for the credibility of USDA in the future?” said Bob Scowcroft, executive director of the Organic Farming Research Foundation.

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Standards for Organic Meat

Rules for organic meat production:

* 100% organically produced feeds and allowed vitamin and mineral supplements.

* No use of growth promoters, hormones and antibiotics.

* No synthetic internal parasiticides on a routine basis.

* Meat animals raised on an organic operation from birth, second day of life for poultry and for dairy. Animals must be raised organically not less than 12 months immediately before sale of milk or milk products.

* Preventive management practices, including vaccines, would be used to keep animals healthy. Access to the outdoors, including access to pasture for ruminants.

* Temporary confinement only for reasons of health, safety or to protect soil and water quality.

* No re-feeding of animal parts or manure.

* Prohibition on the use of plastic pellets for feed and feed containing urea. Certified by a USDA-approved certification agent, including complete audit trail documents from birth through growing, processing and distribution in the market.

* Free-range USDA standards allow animals with access to the outdoors--even a small outdoor concrete pad--to be labeled “free range.”

Sources: USDA,

Organic Trade Assn.