Organic to be sound and sensible

farmers have reported spending more time completing forms and maintaining records. A certain amount of records are essential to ensure organic farmers are meeting the organic standards, such as planting non-genetically modified seeds or raising dairy cattle on organic pasture. But, too much focus on paperwork can detract from farming activities that support organic principles, such as conservation and cycling of resources. - See more at: http://blogs.usda.gov/2013/04/19/organic-101-sound-and-sensible-approach-to-organic-certification/#sthash.eV7lihko.dpuf

farmers have reported spending more time completing forms and maintaining records. A certain amount of records are essential to ensure organic farmers are meeting the organic standards, such as planting non-genetically modified seeds or raising dairy cattle on organic pasture. But, too much focus on paperwork can detract from farming activities that support organic principles, such as conservation and cycling of resources. - See more at: http://blogs.usda.gov/2013/04/19/organic-101-sound-and-sensible-approach-to-organic-certification/#sthash.eV7lihko.dpuf

farmers have reported spending more time completing forms and maintaining records. A certain amount of records are essential to ensure organic farmers are meeting the organic standards, such as planting non-genetically modified seeds or raising dairy cattle on organic pasture. But, too much focus on paperwork can detract from farming activities that support organic principles, such as conservation and cycling of resources. - See more at: http://blogs.usda.gov/2013/04/19/organic-101-sound-and-sensible-approach-to-organic-certification/#sthash.eV7lihko.dpuf

farmers have reported spending more time completing forms and maintaining records. A certain amount of records are essential to ensure organic farmers are meeting the organic standards, such as planting non-genetically modified seeds or raising dairy cattle on organic pasture. But, too much focus on paperwork can detract from farming activities that support organic principles, such as conservation and cycling of resources. - See more at: http://blogs.usda.gov/2013/04/19/organic-101-sound-and-sensible-approach-to-organic-certification/#sthash.eV7lihko.dpuf

"Farmers have reported spending more time completing forms and maintaining records. A certain amount of records are essential to ensure organic farmers are meeting the organic standards, such as planting non-genetically modified seeds or raising dairy cattle on organic pasture. But, too much focus on paperwork can detract from farming activities that support organic principles, such as conservation and cycling of resources." writes the head of the US National Organic Program Miles McEvoy explaining the administrations ‘Sound and Sensible’ initiative*.

An article by Grace Gershuny in the latest issue (#146) of The Organic Standard, describes the background to this awakening. The new orientation was partly a result of a white paper by the IOIA  developed at the request of NOP. This in turn was prompted by the receipt of a memo on the subject of ‘Opportunities for the Organic Program - Practices, Not Paperwork’, submitted by Jake
Lewin, Chief Certification Officer of California Certified Organic Farmers (CCOF) in November 2012. CCOF says: 

“over the last 10 years we have observed the evolution of the accreditation system: concepts that were written into the NOP standards have driven some certifiers towards paper-heavy practices that may act as barriers to success for operations”

I will not go into the technical details here, just want to express my support for these efforts. I find a specially rewarding that in the letter from CCOF to NOP that triggered this development, Jack Lewin refers to my presentation at Biofach 2012. "The core of the problem is that through a reliance on third party auditing theory we have over emphasized process and paperwork instead of fundamental organic practices".


I have written many blog posts about this and related topics before:
Quality management is a management fad elevated to divinity
Organic certification - Is it worth it?
Where does the buck stop?
The danger of predictable procedures
Standards as tools for power
How quality Management can result in low quality....
What gives value to an eco label

*Five Principles of Sound and Sensible
Efficient Processes: Eliminate bureaucratic processes that do not contribute to organic integrity.
Streamlined Recordkeeping: Ensure that required records support organic integrity and are not a barrier for farms and businesses to maintain organic compliance.
Practical Plans: Support simple Organic System Plans that clearly capture organic practices.
Fair, Focused Enforcement: Focus enforcement on willful, egregious violators; handle minor violations in a way that leads to compliance; and publicize how enforcement protects the organic market.
Integrity First: Focus on factors that impact organic integrity the most, building consumer confidence that organic products meet defined standards from farm to market