1. Consumers Demand Changes to Food System
Organic is one of the most forward thinking models in the food business today. Seemingly every week a major company announces a shift toward organic production.
In recent months:
Kraft Foods said it would stop using artificial dyes in its Mac & Cheese
McDonald's decided to ban human antibiotics from its chicken, which Tyson Foods -- the nation's biggest poultry processor -- also did (FDA has recently ruled that the use of antibiotics must be done under veterinary supervision)
Campbell’s is planning to become the first major food company to begin disclosing the presence of genetically engineered ingredients like corn, soy and sugar beets in its products
Nestles is taking artificial food colorings out of its candy bars Walmart, just yesterday, said it was aiming to phase out the sale of eggs from caged hens by 2025, becoming the largest and most influential food retailer to set a deadline for switching to cage-free eggs.
Consumers are shifting the marketplace and demanding changes in the food system that look a lot like ORGANIC.
Crops: pesticides/worker health
Livestock: antibiotics/cage-free
Product claims: artificial colors, non-GMO
Organic is providing an alternate model to conventional agriculture’s monoculture model. Modern organic farming has been practicing for more than 20 years methods that the rest of agricultural is now catching up with: crop protection with the least toxic of materials, crop production that does the least harm to the environment.
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2. Farm to Table Traceability
Organic came about as a result of consumer demand and is still being driven by the consumer.
Consumers want the production and product guarantee that comes with organic
And they also want the EXTERNAL BENEFITS (personal health, environmental health, animal health, economic health) that is an intentional and evolving value-add part of the system
It is the most transparent, the most consumer-driven and the most heavily regulated food system.
Regulations guide organic from the farm to the table.
Transparent system that has always encouraged public engagement.
Living system that allows for advancement in areas that consumers care about.
Combo of process and product standard
Two-way quality control
Audit trail
Role of harmonized standards
Organic Certification is designed to certify every step of the organic chain, in strict accordance with NOP guidelines. From the land on which the product is grown, to the producers growing the product, from the post-harvest facilities preparing the product, to the processing and handling facilities transforming the product the certifying agents job is to verify that organic integrity is maintained.
There are inherent challenges to verification, but here’s how the organic sector has done it:
Teaches the producer/processor
Provides a guarantee to the consumer
Reduces conflicting standards in the supply chain
Evolution of verification (challenges in training, inspection, international accreditation model)
Role of technology (traceability, data solutions, fertilization and yield, pest and weed control) – organic is INNOVATIVE
The organic standards were implemented in 2002 after a massive 5-year review of all the inputs in use by organic and the different certification programs; it replaced a hodge-podge of state and regional rules and regulations with a comprehensive national standard that the entire organic sector – farmers, handlers, processors – could operate under.
Production standards: Forbid use of toxic and persistent pesticides and synthetic nitrogen fertilizers, antibiotics, synthetic hormones, genetic engineering or other excluded practices, sewage sludge, or irradiation.
In order to earn organic certification, land must be handled without prohibited materials for at least three years. With certification, organic farmers must develop an organic operating farm plan, which is overseen by their certification agency with annual third-party inspections.
Processing standards: No artificial ingredients or synthetic preservatives to maintain the organic integrity of the product that began with practices on the farm; the use of GMOs prohibited during the production and processing of certified organic products; no co-mingling or contamination with non-organic materials during processing; no irradiation.
From farm to fork, here is how the process works:
STEP 1
Farming: Improving the quality of the soil is the basis for organic. The farm’s soil must be free of prohibited substances for a minimum of three years prior to harvesting crops that will be labeled as organic. The organic requirements encourages farmers to improve soil fertility and rotate crops to naturally increase crop yields and disease resistance.
STEP 2
Harvesting: Organic crops are picked, cut, and cleaned in the field. To ensure organic integrity, certifying these operations through inspections and records evaluation is necessary. Equipment used for harvesting and processing must be cleaned and sanitized in accordance with organic requirements.
STEP 3
Packaging: Packaging may occur in the field, at a facility or where a product is cleaned, canned or bagged, and given a product label, name or an identification number, such as a UPC code. Through inspection and records evaluation, organic products are verified to make sure organic integrity has been maintained through the packaging process.
STEP 4
Processing: Organic crops can be processed further with other organic crops or spices. To ensure the organic integrity of a product has been maintained, a USDA-accredited certifying agent must inspect these operations to verify that they are operating according to the organic regulations.
STEP 5
Labeling: Labeling is a very important part of organic. How agricultural products have been handled, processed, and combined with other ingredients determines their organic label. Certifying agents verify that organic products are accurately labeled:
STEP 6
Shipping: Products are shipped to distributors or to retail stores. To ensure ongoing organic integrity, products must be protected from contamination by non-organic products. Prior to loading and unloading, trucks are verified for shipping practices that maintain such integrity, such as the prevention of commingling of organic and non-organic products and impermeable packaging.
STEP 7
Distribution: Products are compiled from farms, processors, or other distributors to one central location in order to distribute products. If an organic product is repackaged, perhaps to smaller sizes, inspections are done to confirm that organic integrity has been maintained.
STEP 8
Retail: Products are compiled from farms, processors, or other distributors to one central location in order to distribute products. If an organic product is repackaged, perhaps to smaller sizes, inspections are done to confirm that organic integrity has been maintained.
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3. Connecting Consumers With Their Food
The role of technology:
Technology is great, but people make purchase decisions in real time in the aisle of the grocery store.
In the past 25 years, the organic industry has experienced the challenges of communicating multiple benefits in a single icon.
Americans increasingly care about how food is produced and processed, even with the majority of consumers geographically far removed from the food system. Few Americans live on farms, but that doesn’t mean they don’t care about what’s happening on them.
Consumers are increasingly looking to organic as they voice concerns about the safety and nutritional value of the food supply, and the externalities of the food system (e.g. environmental degradation associated with farming; the humane treatment of animals, uncertainties about GMOs etc.)
TRUST is a must for a consumer deciding whether to buy organic. Attributes such as such as advantages for the environment, animal welfare or personal health are generally not directly observable by consumers, and people generally cannot distinguish organic products from their appearance or taste. They have to trust the “organic” label and that the farmers, manufacturers and certifiers along the way all did their jobs.
The recent USDA census found that organic farmers are much more likely to report direct-to-consumer sales than conventional producers. While only 7% of all U.S. farms sold agricultural products directly to consumers, 42% of organic farms reported direct sales to consumers. Organic knows the face of its consumers; organic listens to consumers.
Organic has turned a corner. There no longer is a typical organic consumer. Today’s organic tent is bigger, younger, and significantly more diverse than ever before.
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