Who Says It's Organic
The International Federation of Organic Agricultural Movements Does
Who oversees organic producers? How do we know our food is grown organically? There are national bodies but internationally IFOAM lays down the basic rules.
Internationally IFOAM oversees the certification system of each member country according to agreed guidelines and with the support of the international organic movement. Only through a fair and transparent certifying process can the consumer be sure of the bona fides of the produce he purchases.
The material below is taken from the IFOAM website www.ifoam.org where full details and explanations will be found.
The world board set four goals for IFOAM to achieve. They are:
- to develop, communicate and defend the principles of organic agriculture
- to advocate and facilitate the adoption of organic agriculture
- to promote the development of organic markets
- to ensure an effectively managed organization with sufficient and sustainable resources.
IFOAM enunciates four principles of organic agriculture with underpin its relations with its constituents. They are the principles of:
- health
- ecology
- fairness
- care
1. Principle of health
“Organic Agriculture should sustain and enhance the health of soil, plant, animal, human and planet as one and indivisible”.(ifoam.org)
This principle is at the heart of organics articulating as it does the interrelationship between the health of individuals and communities and with the fragile ecosystems that support them. IFOAM also insists on the necessity of a healthy soil as part of a holistic approach to healthy people and animals.
The principle asserts that through organics is there not only an absence of illness but that “immunity, resilience and regeneration are key characteristics of health”
Elsewhere in the statement attached to this principle are two other major points.
1. Organic production refers not only to the growing of the product but to the total supply chain to the eventual consumer.
2. Organic growers and producers avoid the use of fertilisers, pesticides and drugs for animals and food additives.
2. Principle of ecology
“Organic Agriculture should be based on living ecological systems and cycles, work with them, emulate them and help sustain them.”
Organic agriculture, animal husbandry and wild collecting should be sustainable, do no damage to the environment and should seek to maintain and enhance the living ecological systems in place. The importance of reusing and recycling materials and reducing inputs is stressed. This can be achieved through efficient and careful management of materials and energy to preserve the environment and to conserve scarce resources.
“Organic agriculture should attain ecological balance through the design of farming systems, establishment of habitats and maintenance of genetic and agricultural diversity.”
3. Principle of fairness
“Organic Agriculture should build on relationships that ensure fairness with regard to the common environment and life opportunities”
Some may not see this as being directly concerned with organics but it makes the point that we should as growers, producers, sellers and consumers conduct ourselves with fairness and social justice on all levels. The organic grower recognises and adopts the concept of stewardship of his land and the responsibility to maintain it in an environmentally sustainable manner.
4. Principle of care
“Organic Agriculture should be managed in a precautionary and responsible manner to protect the health and well-being of current and future generations and the environment.”
The principle of care enjoins us to take care with our choices and to be wary of new technologies that, being unproven regarding the long-term effect on health and the environment, may lead to deleterious outcomes.
Organics is not about refusing all new ideas, in fact although rooted in traditional ideas it makes use of valid modern research. It is a matter of adopting appropriate, not unpredictable technologies.
IFOAM has a complex agenda but as the ultimate certifying world body is important for the signals, it sends and the principles it enunciates.
