ABSTRACT
After decades of disparagement, organic farming in the US enjoys significant legitimacy among policy makers and consumers, and in the food industry itself. One of the original arguments for having a federal system for certification of organics, comprising both uniform standards and forms of oversight, is that it would allow the sector to increase its share of the total food market. In the early 1970s, when the modern US organic movement was beginning to take form, it positioned itself as providing positive alternatives rather than endeavouring to derail conventional agriculture. A voluntary label does not regulate production practices that are dangerous or unjust, but rather allows them to continue unabated. Those who want to transition more gradually, or wish to practise a less demanding form of sustainable agriculture, have no place within organics. Companies were developing new formulations for organic inputs that were pushing the limits of acceptability for organic materials.
