Organic farmers in the United States are being pushed out of business by cheap organic imports of hazelnuts, turmeric, and other products that may not be grown to the expected organic standards. The Organic Food Production Act of 1990 (OFPA) is a U.S. federal law that established national standards for the production and handling of organic foods.
The law requires that agricultural products labeled organic be inspected by an independent third party overseen by the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA). This process imposes additional costs and requirements on U.S. organic farmers, which should theoretically be offset by higher prices for organic food.
However, uninspected organic produce imported from grower/producer groups in developing countries is flooding the U.S. market, and these products are not inspected annually and without USDA authorization.
“The bottom line is this: Food is being imported for less than it costs to produce, and this is putting law-abiding American growers out of business,” OrganicEye reported.One “Committed to protecting family-sized farmers and preserving the availability of authentic, organic food.”2 in America
USDA Protects Farm Business Lobbyists at the Sacrifice of America's Organic Farmers
In some developing countries, the USDA has allowed the formation of grower/producer groups. These groups are often used for crops such as coffee, nuts, chocolate, tea, and herbs, and began as a way to help small farmers or indigenous groups in developing countries, but this loophole is now putting U.S. organic farmers and organic standards at risk. According to OrganicEye:three
“While there is no legal provision for exemptions, certification bodies began allowing cooperatives, small villages or indigenous groups producing high-value specialty crops such as coffee, chocolate or spices to group together as 'peer-directed' producer groups in recent decades.
It was assumed that small landowners would not be able to afford individual certification and inspection, and this exception would help them enter global markets, improve their economic position, and provide organic food products that were authentic to wealthier Western countries.”
However, the global organic industry is currently worth $205.9 billion and is expected to reach $532.72 billion by 2032.4 And the grower group has morphed to include commercial-scale farms that avoid USDA oversight, Organic Insider reported.5
“As the organic industry gained popularity and became a multi-billion-dollar industry, industry watchdogs began to suspect that grower groups were being manipulated by agribusiness and compliance certification agencies around the world, allowing them to circumvent rules and avoid direct USDA oversight.
The story goes that a farm business contracts with a for-profit, accredited certification body to inspect the farm business's own suppliers rather than the certification body itself.
… these agribusinesses were not only not recognized as USDA-approved organic certifying agencies, but there were no restrictions on the number of people participating in these grower groups, the size of individual farms, or the geographic scope. Furthermore, these agribusinesses did not even have to be farmers.”
Only about 2% of farmers participating in these grower/producer groups are inspected annually, meaning the vast majority (98%) are either not inspected at all or do not do so at all.
“While compliance is almost universal in domestic production, the system is completely broken when it comes to imports,” OrganicEye Executive Director Marc Castel said in a press release. “A significant portion of all foreign imports, which make up a significant portion of the organic food Americans eat, come from ‘grower groups’ whose grower members the USDA has exempted from certification requirements.”6
The Suffering of American Organic Turmeric and Hazelnut Farmers
OrganicEye interviewed certified organic turmeric farmers Brian and Valerie Quant, who say they are being squeezed out of the wholesale market by cheaper organic imports. “What bothers me is that as an American farmer, because we are GAP (Good Agricultural Practices) and organic certified, we are held to a much higher standard, with annual inspections, associated fees, and extensive required accounting responsibilities,” said Brian Quant.7
“It may not be a very good deal for them (small foreign farmers) because they are 'tied' to the certified entity,” he added.8 The USDA Organic Integrity Database is an online resource that provides comprehensive information on certified organic operations and helps ensure transparency and accountability in the organic certification process.
However, when OrganicEye investigated public records on Fiji’s organic turmeric production, they discovered significant discrepancies between the USDA’s Integrity Database and the information from Fiji’s major exporters. They have since filed a legal action asking the USDA to investigate and take any necessary enforcement action for alleged violations of National Organic Program (NOP) requirements.9
Bruce Kaiser, OrganicEye farm owner and attorney, explains, “‘Organic’ generally has to be farm grown, but there’s a huge imbalance in the USDA ‘Integrity Database’ where there are very few certified turmeric farmers, while there are a ton of certified handlers. It’s a huge inverted pyramid that suggests a completely broken system.”10
The complaint refers to certification by Ecocert, a certification body based in France. According to OrganicEye, “some international certification bodies, such as France-based Ecocert (which has had issues with the USDA and international agencies over the years), only certify to 600 or more entities, which likely represent thousands of individual farmers and agricultural businesses.”11
Hazelnut growers were similarly affected. The USDA’s Organic Integrity Database did not list any certified organic hazelnut growers in Turkey. Nevertheless, Turkey is the largest importer of organic hazelnuts to the United States, and prices are comparable to conventionally grown hazelnuts. After filing a legal complaint with the USDA, Kaser sued the agency when it failed to take action.
According to Organic Insider, “The basis for the lawsuit is that under OFPA, all organic farms must be certified annually by a qualified, approved organic certifying agency. Therefore, the plaintiffs are asking the district court to declare grower group certifications unlawful and to instruct the USDA federal administrator in charge of the USDA’s National Organic Program, currently Dr. Jennifer Tucker, to immediately stop certifying grower groups.”12
'Agricultural Business Puppet Troupe' Leads Organic Import Inspection
Castell describes the scheme as a fraud that turned USDA-approved group certification into “an agribusiness puppet show.”13 As a result, organic importers are failing to meet the rigorous standards that American farmers adhere to, and the system is supporting agricultural businesses rather than helping Native communities.
In fact, one in two out of every 100 growers tested may be a ringmaster agribusiness with a fake grower front, OrganicEye reported.
“There are certainly documented conflicts of interest and potential fraud in this USDA-approved ‘shadow’ inspection/certification program, which has the full support of the Organic Trade Association, a major industry lobbying group,” Castell said.
Under new, stronger regulations following repeated high-profile fraud incidents, commonly known as the Organic Produce Enforcement Enhancement Rule, USDA mandates only for-profit certifying agencies operating overseas to design their own group management systems and internal controls to prevent fraud by their customers.
“We believe that a certification body with a profit motive will oversee its agribusiness ‘clients’, who in turn are responsible for overseeing all their suppliers (i.e. group members),” Kastel added.
Fraud is rampant in American organic farming
USDA’s Enhanced Organic Food Enforcement Rule aims to strengthen the integrity and transparency of the organic supply chain through expanded certification requirements, improved supply chain traceability, enhanced oversight and inspection, and fraud prevention procedures.
The rule follows decades of problems with USDA organic oversight and widespread fraud in the industry, including several recent high-profile cases. One of the major fraud cases in the U.S. organic industry involved the late Randy Constant, a Missouri grain broker who sold tens of millions of dollars worth of conventional grain as organic between 2010 and 2017.14
According to the SC Times, “Prosecutors said Constant used the fraudulent money to travel to Las Vegas more than 20 times, staying at luxury hotels, hiring escorts and gambling. He was sentenced to 11 years in prison before committing suicide in 2019.”15
In another case from 2021, South Dakota grain broker Kent Duane Anderson made about $71 million selling conventionally grown grain as organic. And in 2023, Minnesota corn, soybean, and wheat farmer James Wolf was also indicted on charges of selling “organic” grain that was actually organic, making $46 million in the process.16
Critics have expressed doubts that the USDA can effectively prevent fraud in the organic food sector, despite the new rules. A better option, says food lawyer Bailon Linekin, would be to return oversight to organic industry groups and the states.17 OrganicEye also recommends seeking out organic products grown in the United States and contacting your members of Congress to help protect the authenticity of our organic food supply.
Taking Action to Protect Organic Farmers and American Organics
After OrganicEye supported a federal lawsuit demanding that the USDA stop its practice of allowing foreign agribusinesses to inspect their own suppliers (a serious conflict of interest), the industry’s corporate lobbying group, the Organic Trade Association (OTA), suggested that if the USDA lost the lawsuit, it would simply go to Congress and lobby for a law change to legalize “group certification.”
Don’t let that happen to you! Current federal law requires all organic farms to be certified and inspected annually by an independent, accredited third-party certification body, not a foreign company with a financial interest.
Click the button below and take 2 minutes to send a private message directly to your representative and two U.S. Senators, asking them to honor the letter and spirit of the laws that protect organic farmers, ethical businesses, and consumers. To make your voice heard even more, forward or share this action alert on social media with your friends, family, and business associates.
