Define “Organic”
The Real Organic Project is fighting for more humane, sustainable, and transparent organic agriculture
BY JAMES NORTON
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Buying organic feels virtuous - and that's the point. The word "organic" carries weight in the marketplace because it communicates a vision of agricultural virtue. An organic vegetable or dairy product, we might imagine, represents a farm that is renewing the soil, treating its workers fairly, and raising its animals with love and respect. The letter of the law, however, sees it differently, and increasingly large corporate entities have been using the organic label as a way to sell agricultural products that would turn the stomachs of consumers were they able to see behind the scenes.
Minneapolis-based Ariel Pressman is dedicated to renewing the word "organic" and revealing to the public the hidden virtues and compromises that go into applying the label.
Becca Dilley / Heavy Table / File
We first met Pressman (right) about six years ago, when he was a vegetable farmer selling largely to local co-ops; he now serves as Director of Certification for the Real Organic Project. Real Organic is a farmer-lead non-profit that has one deceptively complex job: certifying farms that are following the spirit (rather than merely the letter) of organic farming. The difference between what can legally be called "organic" versus what Real Organic will certify is at the heart of the group's mission, says Pressman.
"The point of Real Organic project is to find a way to push back to the core of what organic farming is about," he says. "The two big things that led to its founding were one, the national organic program allowing hydroponic production to be certified organic. [And two], we've gotten so far down the road in terms of CAFOs [Concentrated Animal Feeding Operations] being certified now."
"When organic farming got started, there was no money in it, and there was no reason for a corporation to greenwash," says Pressman. "So there was no greenwashing. But as there was more and more money involved, people realized - 'hey, if I can call this organic, and not do the stuff that costs a lot of money there's a lot of money to be made.'"
For example, says, Pressman: "Most people who know what they're looking at will say 99% of certified organic eggs on store shelves come from confinement operations. The idea was, that doesn't meet the basic common sense understanding of 'organic,' or the consumer expectation, so we need some way to push back."
MORE THAN LIP SERVICE
Those confined chickens might come as a surprise to consumers, who think about organic eggs as coming from birds with a higher quality of life than the miserable creatures stuffed into crates by corporate agriculture. But, notes Pressman, "The organic standard for poultry says it must be given access to the outdoors. This is different from conventional egg-laying hens. The typical consumer says: 'Great! That's why I'm buying organic, because the birds get to go outside.' Enough lawyers get involved, and they say: 'Oh, it doesn't mean they have to go outside, just that they could go out.' So you knock a hole in a barn the size of one bird in a barn with 50,000 birds, there's really nowhere for them to go even if they went outside... and that meets the legal definition."
We asked Pressman about hydroponic farming and why farms that use it can't claim the Real Organic label even when many hydroponic operations qualify for organic status. It all goes back to the health of the soil, he says.
"An organic farm is farming in concert with the environment," says Pressman. "If you remove the farm from the environment, you might save water and conserve energy but... think of breweries. They tend to be amazing stewards of their local water system because they need good clean water. I don't care if you're Budweiser, you still need good clean water to make Budweiser. The incentive aligns the product with good environmental stewardship."
But take away that relationship between environmental stewardship and your product, and you get something like #1 hydroponic berry producer Driscoll's, says Pressman. "If you went to California, what that looks like is thousands and thousands of acres covered 100% with black plastic with five-gallon buckets with sick blueberry plants stuck in them and coconut coir, not soil. Not only are you not improving the environment, there's a good case to be made that you're degrading the environment."
Becca Dilley / Heavy Table / File
AN EXPANDING UMBRELLA
The 1,000+ certified farms that comprise the Real Organic Project range in size and product, says Pressman, and the group is looking to move into increasingly ambitious territory as it works to certify products beyond grains, vegetables, dairy, and poultry.
"We've formed a partnership with a German certifier, called Naturland," says Pressman. "They're exactly like us except they've been around for 40 years. They have a lot of expertise in really complex supply chain thing. They'll be importing stuff like chocolate and coffee to meet the same standards, and working with manufacturers to get them certified as well."
The ethos of the Real Organic Project carries over into the local foodspace, too, says Pressman. Co-ops carry produce and other products made on many of the organization's certified farms; restaurants and bakeries like Northern Fires and Laune Bread source their ingredients with an eye toward regional agriculture that walks the walk of sustainability and ethics.
"The thing with Arie [Peisert] at Northern Fires," notes Pressman, "is that he's one of the very people I know who earnestly sources local all the time. Pays the farmers really well, pays the staff really well. He used to be a chef at Bachelor Farmer. He's one of those guys, where's got that laundry list ... 'Oh, yeah, I did a thing a French Laundry...' He's one of those guys who is low-key seeming but [isn't.]"
Becca Dilley / Heavy Table / File
And while organic certification has a left-wing image, Pressman says that Real Organic has a way of spanning divides, covering everything from small vegetable farmers (typically left-leaning) to big rural grain and dairy concerns (often right-leaning.)
"I think it's a powerful thing to have 1,000 farmers standing up to say 'Hey, I don't think the system is moving in the right direction.' This is about not wanting corporations to pick which rules are convenient to them. I've found it's broadly popular - left, right, center, I don't care who you are."