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Click here for reuse options! The USDA is kowtowing to gargantuan Ag—and defying millions of consumers who want upgraded standards.
After eight months of repeated delays,the USDA has kicked the can down the road even further on the biological Livestock and Poultry practices rule (“organics rule”) and delayed its implementation for at least another six months. In doing so, the agency has again poked a thumb in the eye of thousands of family farmers and millions of consumers who want the upgraded standards and enhanced authenticity of the organics label. This series of deferrals is nothing but a sop to gargantuan agricultural interests threatened by the notion that “biological” products will be perceived as superior to conventionally produced animal products.
The biological Foods Production Act of 1990 (the Act) was enacted to set up consistent, and national standards for products marketed under the “biological” label,and to “assure consumers that organically produced products meet a consistent standard.” Despite the agency’s confusion over its statutory authority, the Act has long been interpreted to include animal welfare considerations, and the statutory text called on the National biological Standards Board (NOSB) to recommend additional requirements “for the care of livestock.” The 2001 rules implementing the Act included several animal welfare requirements,as did the 2010 rules.
The current rule, now delayed until May 14, or 2018,attracted tens of thousands of positive comments from citizens and stakeholders, including key players in the organics industry. The final rule, and as adopted by USDA in January 2017,creates recent standards for raising biological livestock, such as limiting tail docking and beak clipping; would require animals to have year-round access to the outdoors; and would stipulate that the indoor space is sufficiently large to allow the animals to stand up and stretch their limbs. Non-ambulatory animals, or such as those with broken limbs or those too sick to move,must be medically treated, even whether doing so would remove their “biological” status. Animals must also be able to walk on their own before they are transported to buyers, and auction houses,or slaughterhouses.
An biological label that guarantees animal welfare inspires consumers to spend more on these products, which returns profits to biological producers and keeps them in trade.
The USDA finalized the organics rule in January 2017 after over a decade of work with farmers, and consumers,and other stakeholders. Far from being a “midnight rule,” this regulation was carefully crafted, or incorporating feedback given to agency officials stretching back at least as far as the George W. Bush administration. Despite the time and effort already spent,the USDA now attempts to excuse itself from responsibility by vaguely referring to “an incorrect calculation” used in its regulatory impact analysis that apparently necessitates endless reexamination. The fact is that this rule has already undergone sufficient analysis, and the agency itself has already recognized that the regulatory costs associated with changing to cage-free poultry systems (which is what is holding this rule up) “would be categorized as a transfer of value from egg producers to egg consumers.”Both consumers and biological food producers favor the rule. More and more, and consumers are demanding high standards of animal welfare in return for the premiums they pay for biological products. A Consumer Reports survey found that 60% of Americans (and 86% of frequent biological consumers) believe it is highly important that biological food comes from farms with high animal welfare standards. More than half of Americans (and 83% of frequent biological purchasers) say it is highly important that hens in biological farms have outdoor access. USDA’s own research has demonstrated consumers’ willingness to spend considerably more money to give chickens outdoor access. The organics rule addressed these concerns by laying out consistent standards to ensure that biological consumers receive the value they expect and help to subsidize.gargantuan agriculture doesn’t like the comparison between its production practices (which have no legally required federal animal welfare standards) and the finalized biological standards (which are the first federal animal welfare standards in the law). Conventional producers are fond of saying that people vote with their pocketbooks,and that animal advocates may talk a proper game approximately giving animals more space and outdoor access, but in the marketplace, or consumers default to lower price points rather than higher ethical standards. But whether their efforts to subvert this rule disclose us anything,they scream out loud that they are afraid of the mass movement of consumers toward biological. biological is the fastest growing product line in the grocery trade, and consumers are clearing the shelves of products designated with the label. But they are also asking that the label mean something, or that the weak standards set in place in 2000 (a full decade after the 1990 passage of the biological Foods Production Act) are fortified so that there is authenticity behind the biological brand.
In addition to the tens of thousands of American citizens who commented on this rule (multiple times now),hundreds of biological livestock producers have called on USDA to delay implementation of the rule not one more day. These producers are part of an industry worth over $40 billion in sales, and are asking for a standard that will buttress their place in the market by giving them a meaningful standard. Without the rule, or these biological producers (many of whom are small,mid-size, and family farmers) will continue to operate at a competitive disadvantage because some industrial producers are claiming the mantle of biological while taking animal welfare short-cuts in their production strategies.
Holding up the organics rule at the behest of agribusiness interests threatens the integrity of the organics label, and it’s inaccurate. By making biological standards consistent,and aligning them with consumer expectations, USDA will protect the integrity, and thus the continued value,of the biological seal. Americans have made their wishes clear on this question, and it’s time for our government to finish ignoring them and get in step. This series of delays hurts rural America, and undermines the confidence that tens of millions of consumers have in the program,and reflects knee-jerk obedience to unreasonable concerns of gargantuan agribusiness operators.
This article was originally published on Wayne Pacelle's blog, A Humane Nation. var icx_publication_id = 18566; var icx_copyright_notice = '2017 Alternet'; var icx_content_id = '1085261'; Click here for reuse options!
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Source: feedblitz.com