Written by Alan Hickman
Walking through the produce department of the grocery store last week, a sign caught my eye: "President’s Choice Organics" "Certified Organic in accordance with the National Organic Standard of Canada" it proclaimed. While shoppers pushed their carts by with not so much as a glance, I stood there staring at the words and I wondered how many people understood the notice’s significance.
Where the generic term ‘organic’ can mean pretty much whatever someone wants it to mean, the ‘certified’ implied that the retailer was selling something that met some actual verifiable standard.
Back home, a web search revealed that, just before Christmas and with no fanfare that I had noticed, the Governor General had signed in to law a set of ‘Organic Products Regulations’ - "pursuant to section 32 of the Canada Agricultural Products Act."
In two years’ time, when the regulations come in to effect, in Canada the word ‘organic’ will have gained a new, legally enforceable, definition.
Although the regulations accept that some variation in practice might be required to meet production needs in Canada’s different agricultural regions, all products sold as, advertised as, or implied as being in any way, organic, or marketed interprovincially or internationally as organic, must comply with the new regulations.
Growers of produce to be sold as Canada Organic (Biologique Canada) must be approved by an accredited, non-governmental, certification body. Under the new regulations, land to be used for organic production also has to be certified. Land which has been previously cultivated using standard cultural methods, requires a transition period during which produce cannot be sold as ‘organic’. Once certified, the land must be periodically inspected to verify that it is being maintained in compliance with the regulations.
Having a single set of nationally enforceable regulations is advantageous for both consumers and growers. Growers can compete on the basis of efficiency, skill and the usual good or bad luck of farming, knowing that other producers are having to obey the same cultural constraints. For consumers there is the reasonable certainty that any product bearing the designation Canada Organic grown in B.C. will meet the same standard as one grown in New Brunswick, or in New Zealand for the matter.
In a similar way that the word kosher implies adherence to the rules of a particular religious philosophy, the organic rules are a commercially viable interpretation of the teachings of Sir Albert Howard (1873-1947) who is often referred to as the father of modern ‘organic’ agriculture.
Knowing what the new standards are not is as important as knowing what they are. The Canada General Standards Board stresses that it is not the product which is being regulated, it is the process. Neither the standard nor the designation Canada Organic represents specific claims about the health, safety or nutritional value of the certified product. Further, the authors state that adherence to the standard cannot assure that the resulting products are entirely free of the residues of prohibited substances or other contaminants.
Just as kosher salt does not claim to be more salty than non-kosher salt, so sellers of Canada Organic products may not cite the new regulations to make claims as to superior quality of Canada Organic products compared to products resulting from other production practices.
The quality and safety of food is regulated by several Federal and Provincial Acts and those Acts apply equally to Canada Organic. A Grade A Canada Organic egg must meet exactly the same quality standard as any other Grade A egg. Similarly, a Canada Fancy organic apple must meet the same quality standard as any other Canada Fancy grade apple, however and wherever it is grown.
Like most legislation, there is far too much detail to condense into a column, but it is worth listing - at least in abridged form - the general principles which the regulations seek to uphold: 1. Protection of the environment. 2. Maintenance of long-term soil fertility. 3. Maintenance of biological diversity. 4. Recycling of materials and resources. 5. Promotion of the health and behavioral needs of livestock. 6. Careful processing and handling to maintain the integrity and vital qualities of products. 7. Reliance on renewable resources in locally organized agricultural systems.
Just as it would be churlish for even the most ardent atheist to argue that at least seven of the more famous Ten Commandments are without merit, so practitioners of any form of agriculture or horticulture would do well to work towards the same ideals as those enunciated in the new regulations.
Answer Jan 25??? c as soon as the leaves die down in summer
???English walnut, Madeira nut and Persian walnut are
a all the same thing
b from China
c deciduous
d all the above
Weather: Day -7 light snow Winds 10km/h P.O.P.40%
Night -4 flurries Winds20km/h P.O.P.80%
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