Letter: No need to create USDA sustainability standard

09/21/2012 9:27:27 AM
Alyssa Houtby

Tell it to The Packer | Letter to the Editor

Alyssa Houtby, director of public affairs
California Citrus Mutual

In response to (Tom Karst’s Sept. 17) opinion piece regarding a USDA standard for sustainability, there is absolutely no gain to been seen by the produce industry, particularly for the producer and shipper sectors, by creating a standard for sustainability.

Inevitably, a USDA certification will only fuel retailer demands and cost the producer time and money for little, if any, value.

You state “growers and the entire supply chain should be able to add value to their produce without adding as much cost as strictly organic growing methods.”

You strike a comparison between the success experienced by the organic sector resulting from the USDA certified organic label and the potential for the value of a similar certification for sustainably grown produce.

However, the fundamental difference between the two is the complexity in defining sustainability and the multitude of issues related to developing a set rubric that adequately supports the work of the entire produce industry.

Sustainable farming, by definition and in practice, is very site-specific.

Farming techniques vary enormously between commodities, geography and available resources. As science and technology have advanced, in order to remain a viable operation, so have growers.

Advancement in irrigation methods, pest management and crop protection have dramatically increased on-farm efficiencies that benefit the grower’s bottom line while protecting environmental quality.

You are correct in your statement that determining the parameters for what “sustainable” means would be cause for debate.

In reality, though, it is safe to say that every farmer, to a degree, is sustainable. Those who aren’t must answer to the natural course of the free market system and Mother Nature.

You state, “Because of cost and confusion, retailers should not be involved in setting their own label standards for sustainable growing methods.”

It is Pollyanna-ish to believe that retailers and activists won’t have their seat at the table to develop this standard.

The result will be a standard that does not accurately capture or give due credit to the existing efforts by the industry.

If, aside from monetary gain, the ultimate goal for a sustainable standard is to gain transparency to the consumer base, a USDA label is not the most effective means to the end.

Perhaps transparency, not necessarily labeling, has been the fuel driving the organic train.

Comments (1) Leave a comment 

Alyssa's reply is excellent - 'Why feed into activist demands and perpetuate the issue? It’s anyone’s guess what their next demand will be.'- sums it up well. The retailer has been only too willing to broker the the demands of these activists against producers and shows NO sign of letting up. Isn't it worth considering a collective push-back to retail on the never ending demands they bring to producers? Think for a moment the power of the retailer on the diet of the consumer. The retailer choses each week what items they will run on ad. Does fresh produce have equal billing to sodas and beer? Does the produce of mom and pop apple packers of central Oregon have equal access to end cap displays as the products of Mars, or Hostess companies. What are retailers doing to reduce the store's retail ring of Phillip Morris products and increase the ring of Sunkist? What are retailers doing to encourage children's consumption of fresh fruit and veg and reduce their intake of obesity-linked sodas and candy? What do their ad prices and displays reflect in that regard? The saw cuts both ways on the sustainablity issue' I'm not really wanting to go down the road of retaliation on retail produce but production produce needs to wake up and consider Alyssa's closing point- 'It REALLY is anyone's guess what the next demand will be'.