Organic: A Journalist's Quest to Discover the Truth behind Food Labeling

by Peter Laufer University of Oregon

Overview

Part food narrative, part investigation, part adventure story, Organic is an eye-opening and entertaining look into the anything goes world behind the organic label. It is also a wakeup call about the dubious origins of food labeled organic. After eating some suspect organic walnuts that supposedly were produced in Kazakhstan, veteran journalist Peter Laufer chooses a few items from his home pantry and traces their origins back to their source. Along the way he learns how easily we are tricked into taking “organic” claims at face value.

With organic foods readily available at supermarket chains, confusion and outright deception about labels have become commonplace. Globalization has allowed food from highly corrupt governments and businesses overseas to pollute the organic market with food that is anything but. The organic environment is like the Wild West: oversight is virtually nonexistent, and deception runs amok. Laufer investigates so-called organic farms in Europe and South America as well as in his own backyard in the Pacific Northwest.

The book examines what constitutes organic and by whom the definitions are made. The answers will stun readers, who have been sold a questionable, highly suspect, and even false bill of goods for years.
 

View the book trailer for Organic at: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=owiACnN69rY.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9780762790715
Publisher:	Rowman & Littlefield Publishers, Inc.
Publication date:	07/01/2014
Edition description:	1st Edition
Pages:	288
Product dimensions:	6.10(w) x 9.20(h) x 1.20(d)

About the Author

Peter Laufer, PhD, is the author of more than a dozen books that deal with social and political issues—from borders and identity to human relationships with other animals—including The Dangerous World of Butterflies: The Startling Subculture of Criminals, Collectors, and Conservationists; The Elusive State of Jefferson: A Journey through the 51st State; Mission Rejected: U.S. Soldiers Who Say No to Iraq; Wetback Nation: The Case for Opening the Mexican-American Border; and Slow News: A Manifesto for the Critical News Consumer. He is the James Wallace Chair in Journalism at the University of Oregon School of Journalism and Communication. More about his books, documentary films, and broadcasts, which have won the George Polk, Robert F. Kennedy, Edward R. Murrow, and other awards, can be found at peterlaufer.com.

Table of Contents

Preface: Organic? vii

Introduction: Nuts and Beans x

1 Traitor Joe 1

2 Branding the Organic Industry 12

3 Just Retired and Ready to Talk 30

4 The Man behind USDA Organic 49

5 Old-World Organic 60

6 Uncertified and Self-Certified: A Sojourn to Costa Rica 71

7 The NSA ≠ Organics 87

8 Grandfathers of the Old-World Organic Movement 97

9 US and Them 119

10 More Than Nuts and Beans 136

11 On the Great Silk Road … to Walnuts 152

12 The Oregon Tilth Certification Routine 171

13 The Corn Hustler 181

14 The Tunisian Olive Poet and the Hungarian Corn Burner 189

15 Sic Transit Italy 206

16 My Grocer Agrees: We Don't Know Beans about Our Beans 221

17 My Beans Go Home 235

Epilogue 250

Acknowledgments 256

Notes 262

Index 271

About the Author 276

Editorial Reviews

06/23/2014
It’s a testament to Laufer’s skill as a writer and reporter that he can make an interesting and edifying book out of idle musings on the origins of some organic walnuts and black beans he bought at Trader Joe’s and a local health food store. The question of whether the walnuts from Kazakhstan or the beans grown in Bolivia came to Laufer’s table in Oregon without a boost from pesticides and chemical fertilizers becomes an examination of the $27 billion organic food business. His investigative zeal is spurred by the “obsessive secrecy” of Trader Joe’s PR response to his inquiries about the identity of the Kazakh farmer whose spoiled walnuts got him thinking about the compromises that “make every package of food certified organic suspect.” The book suffers somewhat from its inability to point to truly severe consequences of falsely labeled organic foods, and the one story of a successful prosecution of an Oregon farmer who passed off fake organic corn recalls a point Laufer raises early on: while this is important issue, it doesn’t make for “a very sexy story.” (July)

Publishers Weekly

"A lively, highly informative exposé" -Kirkus Reviews"Ever wonder if that 'organic' sticker on your produce is legit? Peter Laufer did the work to find out, and the answers are equal parts fascinating and disturbing." —Bill McKibben, author of Wandering Home"It's tempting to stick your head in the sand on this topic, but Laufer is right—where there's money there's (unfortunately) corruption. His international quest to trace the origin of his organic food is both intriguing and enlightening."—Lisa Leake, author of 100 Days of Real Food Praise for The Dangerous World of Butterflies:"Absorbing and far-reaching...." —NPR Science Desk"Compelling.. .. Laufer delivers an absorbing science lesson for fans of the colorful bugs." —Publishers Weekly"Like The Orchid Thief, The Dangerous World of Butterflies takes us deep into the dark heart of obsessed collectors and the passionate activism … Laufer, a veteran reporter on cultural and political borders, understands how these worlds cross and collide. His book is a Venn diagram of the beautiful and bizarre." —Los Angeles Times"[Laufer's] book is charming and his attention to detail, combined with a real gift for describing these fascinating characters…made me want to read everything else he has written." —Washington Post

From the Publisher

2014-05-07
Former NBC News correspondent Laufer (Journalism/Oregon Univ.; The Elusive State of Jefferson: A Journey through the 51st State, 2013, etc.) investigates the "need to know what we're eating and how it came to our dinner plates."The author became suspicious when a package of ostensibly organic walnuts from Trader Joe's tasted rancid. Checking the label, he found that they were grown in Kazakhstan. When Trader Joe's refused to reveal their provenance, his "journalist's radar kicked in." As someone who had reported on "the culture of bribery and corruption that lingers in most former Soviet republics," Laufer found it unlikely that Kazakhstan was supporting a well-regulated organic food industry. Some months later, a check on the label of a can of "organic" black beans revealed that they came from Bolivia. As someone who had covered the drug trade in that region, Laufer was skeptical again. His suspicions were reinforced when an American case of fraudulent labeling made headlines: Businessman Harold Chase was convicted of passing off 4 million pounds of conventional corn as organic. In the United States, the organic sector has become a big business "worth over two dozen billion dollars a year." At that size, it is "ripe with opportunities for hustlers," and the certification process is flawed. Laufer interviewed the U.S. Department of Agriculture official in charge of the National Organic Program, who informed him that, due to understaffing, prosecutions are rare. For comparison purposes, the author traveled to Europe to speak with officials there and found a more regulated food industry, but loopholes and opportunities for fraud still abounded.A lively, highly informative exposé capped by trips to Kazakhstan and Bolivia, where Laufer settles his questions about the walnuts and black beans he purchased. Now, how to fix the situation so that not all foods labeled organic are "suspect"?

Kirkus Reviews

After tasting rancid walnuts from a Trader Joe’s bag that was labeled as an 'organic' product from Kazakhstan, this book’s author begins to question the organic label’s legitimacy. He doubts Kazakhstan’s ability to guarantee organic products due to the authoritarian regime and culture of bribery and corruption there.. . .Organic: A journalist’s quest to discover the truth behind food labeling is a timely publication that deals with questions that consumers are increasingly asking. There is a growing awareness about the quality, value, and safety of the food supply, as may be witnessed in the debates over genetically modified organisms and accompanying labeling laws.. . .Written in a conversational and engaging tone, this book
is easily understood and may appeal to undergraduate and graduate students, as well as consumers with an eye towards conscientious eating.. . .the topic and the book may also appeal to an audience interested in learning what organics mean at the grassroots and/or international level. In my view, the success of Laufer’s book is that it invites readers to ask more questions about what their food claims to be. For the activist consumer, this book may even spark action towards demanding more transparency in the ever-complicated and opaque food system that Laufer proves currently exists. At the very least, readers will probably doubt whether the ‘organic’ item from a notably corrupt country is truly an organic product.

Springer

After tasting rancid walnuts from a Trader Joe’s bag that was labeled as an 'organic' product from Kazakhstan, this book’s author begins to question the organic label’s legitimacy. He doubts Kazakhstan’s ability to guarantee organic products due to the authoritarian regime and culture of bribery and corruption there... .Organic: A journalist’s quest to discover the truth behind food labeling is a timely publication that deals with questions that consumers are increasingly asking. There is a growing awareness about the quality, value, and safety of the food supply, as may be witnessed in the debates over genetically modified organisms and accompanying labeling laws... .Written in a conversational and engaging tone, this book is easily understood and may appeal to undergraduate and graduate students, as well as consumers with an eye towards conscientious eating... .the topic and the book may also appeal to an audience interested in learning what organics mean at the grassroots and/or international level. In my view, the success of Laufer’s book is that it invites readers to ask more questions about what their food claims to be. For the activist consumer, this book may even spark action towards demanding more transparency in the ever-complicated and opaque food system that Laufer proves currently exists. At the very least, readers will probably doubt whether the ‘organic’ item from a notably corrupt country is truly an organic product.

Springer Renï