Hi Alan,
From the press release:
"We live in the real world. The lower we go (on a threshold),
the more expensive it will be for organic producers. We have
to find the right balance," she said.
Dale wrote:
This is a wise strategic adjustment given the legal
realities. And biologically speaking, the previous limit
was not zero. I believe it was 0.1%. It seems to me that
the difference between 0.1 and 0.9 is not all that large.
But 0.9 is much easier to achieve in practice.
Alan wrote:
This is the tail wagging the dog. The ends are used to justify
the means. Until there are metrics that can be applied to
quantify organic food quality and attributes, we will continue
to have silly discussions like this.
It is not a silly discussion because small changes in the stringency of
organic production standards could allow organic farmers to either make
a go of it, or put them out of business.
Let us be pragmatic about this. Is it really biologically plausible
that changing the standard from 0.1% to 0.9% for contamination by
transgenic pollen is going to have an impact on health? Remember,
nobody is arguing for a standard of zero.
It IS apparent biologically that a standard of 0.1% is too low in
practical terms. This is not an angels-on-the-head-of-a-pin issue. If
you want to have organic grain available for a reasonable price, a 0.1%
contamination threshold is too low, at least for maize.
I find it outrageous that negative externalities from one
industry or group are foisted on others with complete
disregard for their interests.
The prevailing opinion is that transgenic pollen is not a negative
externality. I understand where you and Joe are coming from, but you
need to understand where the society-at-large is at on this issue.
Dale
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