{"id":37074,"date":"2024-11-25T00:01:23","date_gmt":"2024-11-25T05:01:23","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/beyondpesticides.org\/dailynewsblog\/?p=37074"},"modified":"2024-11-27T11:51:30","modified_gmt":"2024-11-27T16:51:30","slug":"national-goal-of-universal-organic-land-management-advocated-while-organic-food-in-schools-welcomed","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/beyondpesticides.org\/dailynewsblog\/2024\/11\/national-goal-of-universal-organic-land-management-advocated-while-organic-food-in-schools-welcomed\/","title":{"rendered":"National Goal of Universal Organic Land Management Advocated, While Organic Food in Schools Welcomed"},"content":{"rendered":"\r\n

(Beyond Pesticides<\/em>, November 25, 2024)\u00a0<\/b>When the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) announced at the end of October a $15 million program to expand access to organic dairy products in schools, it added funds to an agency effort underway that is intended to support and incentivize farmers to grow organic and make organic food more widely available. While the millions being invested is a fraction of what organic advocates say is necessary, Congress and USDA have established a framework that recognizes the need to address the current health, biodiversity, and climate crises<\/a> with accelerated adoption of organic. The issue now is whether organic will garner the support necessary to meet the life-sustaining challenges in the next Farm Bill, which may not be taken up until the next Congress is sworn in and the new administration is inaugurated.<\/p>\r\n

The U.S commitment to organic has been building since the adoption of the Agricultural Productivity Act<\/em> in 1983, which established the Low Input Sustainable Agriculture program (later becoming the Sustainable Agriculture Research and Education (SARE) program) at USDA, and then the passage of the Organic Foods Production Act<\/em> in 1990. However, among the articles published on the subject, research reported in Environmental Science & Technology<\/em><\/a> (2022) asserts that use of synthetic chemicals are now exceeding planetary boundary, \u201cthe point at which human-made changes to the Earth push it outside the stable environment of the last 10,000 years.<\/a>\u201c In this context, the universal adoption of organic practices has become an urgent necessity, with Congressional, administration, and private sector support at the highest level.<\/p>\r\n

In its brochure Making the Transition to Organic Production and Handling<\/a><\/em>, USDA states the following:<\/p>\r\n

“Organic agriculture uses cultural, biological, and mechanical practices that support the cycling of on-farm resources, promote ecological balance, and conserve biodiversity. Conservation practices are typically bundled into a conservation system to maintain or enhance soil and water quality as well as conserve wetlands, grasslands, forests, and wildlife habitats. Avoiding the use of synthetic fertilizers, sewage sludge, irradiation, and genetic engineering are paramount to organic farming.”<\/p>\r\n

USDA has identified organic agriculture as climate-smart<\/a>, recognizing that organic soil management practices sequester atmospheric carbon while eliminating the need for synthetic nitrogen fertilizers that reduce greenhouse gas emissions.<\/p>\r\n

Beyond this, USDA describes what it has been doing to support the growth of organic as a niche market, without the goals necessary to eliminate petrochemical pesticide and fertilizer use and production:<\/p>\r\n

“USDA has made significant investments in organic agriculture, including through its Organic Transition Initiative (OTI)<\/a>, a $300 million investment that delivers wrap-around technical assistance to producers interested in transitioning to organic. The initiative includes mentoring and advice, direct farmer assistance through conservation financial assistance, and targeted organic market development grants. Among OTI\u2019s comprehensive suite of programs is the\u00a0Organic Market Development Grant (OMDG)<\/a>\u00a0program which has, with the final awards\u00a0announced in August<\/a>, provided $85 million for 107 projects around the country. OMDG is supporting the development of new and existing organic markets to increase the consumption of domestic organic agricultural products. Another component, the\u00a0Transition to Organic Partnership Program (TOPP)<\/a>, supports farmers transitioning to organic by connecting them with mentors, providing community building, technical assistance, workforce development, and helping producers overcome challenges during and following certification. Additionally, USDA\u2019s\u00a0Natural Resources Conservation Service (NRCS)<\/a> supports conservation practices required for organic certification and leverages partnerships to expand relationships within the organic community. NRCS and its partners offer field days, workshops, and one-on-one technical assistance to producers working to meet organic standards. OTI is a part of the USDA food system transformation initiative to support local and regional food systems, expand access to markets for more producers, and increase the affordable food supply for more Americans while promoting climate-smart agriculture and ensuring equity for all producers.”\u00a0<\/p>\r\n

The steps being taken are important but do not match the threat, according to Beyond Pesticides. Small and important steps, as welcomed as they are by advocates, are not viewed as expediting the transition to organic as a national priority.
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\r\n>> Thank USDA for expanding access to organic dairy in schools. Tell USDA and Congress that kids deserve all-organic school lunches.<\/a><\/strong><\/p>\r\n

The $15 million is a drop in the bucket compared<\/a>\u00a0to the $17.2 billion that USDA spent on the school lunch program in 2023 to provide low-cost or free lunches to children in public and nonprofit private schools (grades pre-kindergarten\u201312) and residential childcare institutions. However, any support for organic food in schools leads to greater health for growing minds and bodies, and schools should be serving our nation’s children meals that are wholly supportive of human and planetary health. \u00a0<\/p>\r\n

There are serious long-term health implications for children and youth exposed to the toxic soup of pesticide and chemical residues found in food grown in chemical-intensive practices. Research published in\u00a0Environmental Pollution<\/a><\/em>\u00a0in 2022 identified children with higher levels of certain pesticide metabolites are more likely to go through early puberty.\u00a0The American Academy of Pediatrics<\/a>\u00a0concludes in a study published this year that the proliferation of antimicrobial-resistant infections, resulting from overreliance on antibiotics in animal agriculture leads to potentially severe health risks for infants and children. Additionally, a 2024 study, published in\u00a0Environment International<\/a><\/em>\u00a0finds 60 biomarkers of pollutants and pesticides in hair analyses of children throughout France, which highlights the global crisis resulting from the inadequate regulation of toxic chemicals. Despite the known health impacts of pesticide exposure, Congress may end up removing 200-foot pesticide spray \u201cbuffer zones\u201d around 4,028 U.S. elementary schools contiguous to crop fields depending on how Farm Bill negotiations move forward, according to an analysis by\u00a0Environmental Working Group<\/a>. \u00a0<\/p>\r\n

There are additional associated benefits for children who consume organic food. Sticking to an organic diet has reduced toxic pesticide residues in the bodies of U.S. children and adults, based on several studies published in 2019 in\u00a0Environmental Health<\/a><\/em>, and in two 2015 studies published in\u00a0Environmental Health Perspectives<\/a><\/em>\u00a0and by the\u00a0Center for Environmental Research and Children’s Health<\/a>. A particularly noteworthy study published in 2014 in\u00a0Environmental Research<\/a><\/em>\u00a0found that organophosphate pesticide metabolites in the urine of adults were reduced after just a week-long organic diet. A 2019 study published in\u00a0Environmental Health<\/em>, led by\u00a0Barcelona Institute for Global Health<\/a>, found that organic food consumption among children is directly associated with higher test scores, after measuring for fluid intelligence and working memory. Conversely, lower scores on fluid intelligence tests are associated with, among other factors, children’s fast-food intake. \u00a0<\/p>\r\n

The transition to organic food in school cafeterias is not a new policy concern. In a 2004 article published in\u00a0Pesticides and You<\/em>,\u00a0School Lunches Go Organic: Science supports growing movement<\/a>, numerous examples across the nation demonstrate a pathway forward for broader adoption of organic mandates. \u201cStonyfield Farm has sponsored organic programs at schools in Rhode Island, California, Massachusetts, New York, New Hampshire and Connecticut,\u201d according to the article. Additionally, the authors wrote, \u201cAn organic salad bar started at Lincoln Elementary School in Olympia, Washington has proven so popular and economically feasible, all grade schools in Olympia now have one. California school districts in Berkeley, Santa Monica, and Palo Alto also have organic food programs. In 2004, the Seattle school district adopted H61.01,\u00a0Breakfast and Lunch Program Procedure<\/em>, a policy banning junk food and encouraging organic food in school cafeterias.\u201d More recently, Beyond Pesticides called for requiring organic school lunches in order to\u00a0eliminate obesogenic pesticide residues<\/a>.\u00a0<\/p>\r\n

In September, U.S. Senator Cory Booker (D-NJ) introduced\u00a0S. 5084<\/a>,\u00a0Safe School Meals Act<\/a><\/em>\u00a0(SSMA), identifying four objectives:\u00a0<\/p>\r\n