Comments Of
Senator Patrick Leahy
At The Organic Products Expo
September 5, 2003
Thank you for inviting me to this marvelous
expo. I had so much fun last year that I have been looking forward
to this ever since I got your call.
We have all been fighting for so many years to
help build a solid foundation for the organic movement. All around
us today is the evidence of a thriving new industry. It would have
been difficult just ten years ago for any of us to imagine an expo
like this, with all of its sights and sounds and products, and the
chance to rub elbows with so many organic pioneers all in the same
place. To me it is truly impressive and heartening to see the
breadth of these displays from so many regions of this country and
from around the world, represented here at the Organic Products
Expo. And of course it is especially nice to see so many Vermonters
here.
It has been a long 12 years hasn’t it? After
three presidents and four secretaries of agriculture, today we are
on the heels of the one year anniversary of the National Organic
Standards. On October 21st we will not only celebrate
the first birthday of the organic standards and labeling program.
We will also celebrate an industry that has achieved hard-won
maturity.
When I became involved with organic agriculture
long ago, I met with many Vermonters who had a vision about the
benefits of farming in a different way. They saw the growing
consumer demand for organically produced products, but they
recognized that a tool was needed to help consumers know which
products were truly organic and which were not.
That is the reason that I put together “The
Organic Foods Production Act,” which became law as part of the 1990
farm bill. We took the care befitting the charter for this new
industry. Our law set a minimum national standard for products
labeled organic so that consumers could make informed buying
decisions. Setting a national standard also reassured farmers who
chose to sell organically produced products that they would not have
to follow separate rules, state by state.
Now we have the USDA Organic label, and getting
the organic standards right has been important to all of us. Along
the way, there have been many challenges we have been able to
overcome, one by one. Some have tried to allow products treated
with sewer sludge, irradiation and antibiotics to be labeled
“organic.” But the public outcries against these efforts were
overwhelming and the groundswell of support for strong standards
clearly demonstrated that the public wants the organic label to mean
what it says.
I want to give credit where credit is due. The
success of this new rule lies with all of you in this room, the
people you represent, and the consumers who purchase your products.
During the rulemaking process, 325,000 comments
were sent to USDA – including a petition which I personally
delivered to Secretary Glickman with hundreds of Vermont
signatures.
Consumers and the industry joined together to
ensure that this organic standard was a standard they could be
confident in. Here is something you don’t see every day: In the
organic community, much of the industry actually wanted to
strengthen the standards. Maybe we can convince some of you to go
into energy production.
The result has been an extremely high growth
industry that no longer can be considered a niche market. With an
astounding but steady growth rate of 20 percent each year over the
past decade, organics are quickly becoming an influential force in
American agriculture. And while the new rule is still in its
infancy, we have seen it stimulate even more demand for organic
products. Nearly $12 billion in sales of organic food were realized
in 2002.
That is because when American consumers see the
new USDA organic label, they are confident in what it stands for
because it is backed by a strong rule. They know that the label
means that this product was held to the highest ideals of the
organic community.
Earlier this year we faced the first serious
challenge to these hard-won ground rules. Without a vote, without
debate and without any discussion, a rider that would have crippled
the organic industry was inserted into the Omnibus Appropriations
Bill. This special interest rider, which would have allowed beef,
poultry, pork and dairy products to be labeled organic without using
organic feed, was a clear effort to erode the progress achieved by
the new national standards.
Organic producers and consumers came together
as one to help us roll back that rider. Without the mobilization
your companies and associations provided, we would not have defeated
this attack. You should all be proud. I can tell you that the
swift and sure way we were able to repeal that rider got
Washington’s attention. It was a defining moment for the organic
industry, proving its maturity and its clout. As I said at the
time, today’s organic industry ranges from crunchy to corporate, and
everything in between. Wherever you are on that spectrum, we have
to remain united against efforts to weaken the standards and to
undermine the public’s confidence in them. We have to remain
vigilant, and there will be more challenges ahead. But this victory
helps us navigate the way forward.
There is still much work to be done. As the
demand for organic products continues to grow, we are going to need
agricultural research focused on organics. We will need resources
to help conventional farmers transition to organic farming.
We made some real progress on these initiatives
in the farm bill. I will continue to work with all of you to meet
the future needs of the organic industry so that it can continue to
flourish.
I believe the most treasured asset of your
industry is your unique business model which provides multiple
benefits for our society. Your products give well-informed
consumers the power of the pocketbook to change how our food is
grown and our environment is treated through their buying
decisions. Buying organic also helps to preserve our rural
communities. Organic farmers receive a premium for organically
grown crops, allowing them to earn a decent living from farming,
while treating our land in a sustainable way for future generations.
We all benefit when the organic industry enjoys success.
Thank you all, and congratulations.
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