CHOOSING ORGANIC FOR WHAT IT IS NOT E. Ann Clark Warkworth, ON eaclark@uoguelph.ca
“PESTICIDE RESIDUE FOUND ON NEARLY HALF OF ORGANIC PRODUCE” CBC, Jan 2014
Do the CBC, and the experts they quote, really believe: “... consumers who often pay extra to buy organic food might not always be getting their money's worth?” "if the money is being spent to avoid pesticide residues and have access to food which is healthy, then I think the money is not well-spent ... [pesticides] will not be absent"
The CBC is correct in stating that pesticides will not be absent. But the inferred premise – that pesticides (and GMOs) should have been absent – is flawed.
Syn pesticides and GMOs are prohibited... • But does it follow that organic is being misrepresented, or should be devalued, if trace levels of contamination are found? • Does the CBC know what the organic label means? • Do you?
Objectives 1. To correct misinformation 2. To use the CBC’s trace contaminants story to explore the dependence of the mainstream agriculture on contaminants which are: * arguably unnecessary * intrusive and largely uncontainable * of unknown safety to human and environmental health
What does the organic label mean? • Organic is a process guarantee – NOT a product guarantee The organic label certifies how it was grown; that it complied with the rules as verified through a rigorous, annual, independent audit
What rules? • Government of Canada. 2015. Organic Production Systems. General Principles And Management Standards. CAN/CGSB-32.310-2015 • Government of Canada. 2015. Permitted Substances Lists . CAN/CGSB-32.311-2015 • Organic standards started 2002 in US and 2009 in Canada
Why does organic NOT guarantee purity – freedom from contamination?
Canadian organic farms are islands in a sea of pesticides and GMOs
The threats of GM uncontainability • Not limited to organic • Not limited to liability (e.g. Schmeisers) • Not limited to agronomic complications • Enogen (GM corn for ethanol) has now contaminated corn intended for milling * 1 in 10,000 kernels is enough to destroy utility for milling/processing * may have sickened people * StarLink revisited?
If containment of contaminants is literally impossible .... • Should Canadian regulators - * just throw up their hands and say sorry, it is inevitable (and by inference, that it doesn’t matter anyway)?
If containment of contaminants is literally impossible .... • Should Canadian regulators - * just throw up their hands and say sorry, it is inevitable (and by inference, that it doesn’t matter anyway)? OR * rethink the premise that contaminant-based agriculture is, and should be, normalized?
What is a GM crop? • a GM crop is just a conventionally bred crop into which one or a few transgenes have been fitted • Almost all GM crops contain just two types of traits: herbicide resistance + Bt • Almost all GM crops are for industrial use – livestock feed, ethanol, plastics – corn, soy, cotton, and canola
What is a pesticide? • Killing agent, includes * biological (as neem) * mineral (as sulphur) * synthetic (as glyphosate) • Pesticide = biocide = life killing * herbicides * insecticides * fungicides etc.
Organic farmers don’t use pesticides?? • WRONG! Examples from Permitted Prohibited from Substances List (GOC, 2015) synthetic pesticides • See Permitted Substances List
So is that the difference? Just the type of pesticide? • No. It’s the context of use. • Organic is designed for problem avoidance , rather than problem solving • Pest control is achieved by system design • Pest outbreak means system dysfunction • So – fix the system ; not enough to just kill the pest, as it will come back next year.
Pests are not born They are created
NATURE BATS LAST Forcibly inserting ecologically dysfunctional practices into Nature ensures resistance: pest creation
Weed resistance to glyphosate • Globally: 37 species; 269 biotypes • Canada: 4 species, 8 biotypes * tall waterhemp * burningbush * giant ragweed * horseweed
Pesticide use as viewed by the Canadian Organic Standard: • Botanical pesticides shall be used in conjunction with a biorational pest management program but shall not be the primary method of pest control in the farm plan. ....
Contrast this with conventional farming... • ...where pesticide use has become normalized ; can’t imagine how organic farmers manage without them • " before we go back to organic agriculture, somebody is going to have to decide which 50 million Americans we are going to let starve or go hungry ” ( Earl Butz, US Secretary of Agriculture, 70s)
Pests are just assumed .... • Reflected in up-front, prophylactic use, even before planting , e.g. * insecticides synthesized in GM Bt crops assum e insect pests * the herbicides enabled by GM herbicide resistant crops assume weeds * the neonic insecticide coatings on seed assume insect pests
Heavy pesticide use in California fruits/nuts/veggies Strawberry Carrot Processing Tomato Orange Table and Raisin Grape Wine Grape Almond Pistachio Walnut Cotton Rice Alfalfa 0 5 10 15 75% of 79 million kg used annually in Millions of kg per year California agriculture (CDPR, 2016)
Pesticide application rate in California Strawberry Carrot Processing Tomato Orange Table and Raisin Grape Wine Grape Almond Pistachio Walnut Cotton Rice Alfalfa 0 50 100 150 200 250 300 350 kg a.i./ha (CDPR, 2016)
With organic, the goal is not to replace a synthetic magic bullet with an organic magic bullet, but to erase the premise of magic bullet solutions Instead of first , pesticides are last on organic farms
Commercial scale organic??
By no means unique to organic Virtually nothing done on an organic farm is not done or could not be done on conventional farms
So why are we still using pesticides? Who benefits?
Are GMOs beneficial to Canadians? TO INCREASE YIELD? TO REDUCE PESTICIDE USE?
GM corn, soy (and canola) widely and rapidly adopted in Canada 100 Percent of harvested crop 80 60 Corn 40 Soy 20 0 2000 2001 2002 2003 2004 2005 2006 2007 2008 2009 2010 2011 2012 2013 2014 (Stats Canada, 2016)
Why? Now, few options due to the near absence of non-GM corn hybrid seed Non-GM GM traits (stacked HR and Bt) (CSTA, 2015)
Did release of GM crops reduce pesticide use in Canada? 2 kg a.i. per Canadian 80 First GM Fungicides crop Herbicides 60 Millions of kg released Insecticides 1996 40 20 0 (FAO, 2016)
Did release of GM hybrids increase corn yield in Canada? 1978-2014 First GM crop 10 released 1996 y = 0.1137x + 5.0473 8 R² = 0.8434 Yield (t/ha) 6 4 2 0 1978 1980 1982 1984 1986 1988 1990 1992 1994 1996 1998 2000 2002 2004 2006 2008 2010 2012 2014 (Stats Canada, 2016)
Did release of GM varieties increase soy yield in Canada? 1978-2014 First GM crop 3.5 released 1996 y = 0.0149x + 2.2144 3 R² = 0.2507 2.5 Yield (t/ha) 2 1.5 1 0.5 0 1978 1980 1982 1984 1986 1988 1990 1992 1994 1996 1998 2000 2002 2004 2006 2008 2010 2012 2014 (Stats Canada, 2016)
Did GM reduce glyphosate use in US? Other Pasture/Hay Alfalfa Orchards/Gra pes Rice Fruit/Veg COTTON Wheat SOY First GM crops released 1996 CORN (USGS, 2016)
Did GM reduce imidacloprid use in US? Orch/Grapes Veg/Fruit First GM COTTON crops Wheat released 1996 SOY CORN (USGS, 2016)
Estimated agricultural use for glyphosate, 1996 (USGS, 2016)
Estimated agricultural use for glyphosate, 2014 (USGS, 2016)
Estimated agricultural use for imidacloprid, 1996 (USGS, 2016)
Figure 14. Estimated agricultural use for imidacloprid, 2014 (USGS, 2016) Estimated agricultural use for imidacloprid, 2014 (USGS, 2016)
Based on 20 years in commerce .... GM has failed to live up to its promise to increase yield and reduce pesticide use
So why are we still growing GM crops? Who benefits?
What would you call agriculture that has to be propped up by millions of kg of pesticides and GM crops? And contaminates everyone else?
So , why are organic crops contaminated? • 1 million ha of Canadian agricultural land is now organic, but still <2% of the total • Both pesticides and GMOs are pervasive across the agri-food landscape
Jeff Carter, well known agricultural journalist, asks: is Canada’s pesticide regulatory system broken? • Are we asking the right questions? • Are the answers meaningful?
What can be done? So what options does an organic farmer have to safeguard crops from contamination? Just how contaminated are organic crops?
How do organic farmers protect their crops from contamination? • 100% organic farmer responsibility • Failure of containment = decertification; starting a 3 year process anew • For pesticides: 8 m border with neighbours; permanent hedgerows • For GM: borders of 10 m (soy), 300 m (corn), and 3 km (canola, alfalfa (seed), and apples) . (GOC, 2015)
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