The 'Standard' Organic: A Case Study of Biodegradable Plastic Mulch Films

Organic agriculture is often defined in contested ways, with a particularly powerful site of contestation in the creation of organic standards by the United States Department of Agriculture’s National Organic Standards Board... [ view full abstract ]

Organic agriculture is often defined in contested ways, with a particularly powerful site of contestation in the creation of organic standards by the United States Department of Agriculture’s National Organic Standards Board and National Organic Program. It has been argued that this standardization reduces organic agriculture to a set of allowable inputs, limiting what counts as legitimate knowledge and excluding important cultural and social dimensions. A representative example of this tension is the recent debate over the organic certification of biodegradable mulch films (BDMs). These films are intended to replace polyethylene plastic mulch films, which are approved for certified organic agriculture as long as they are removed from the field. However, these mulches are often disposed of via landfilling and constitute a serious environmental problem. BDMs present an attractive alternative, providing many of the same benefits along with the ability to be tilled into the soil for disposal. BDMs have been approved for use in U.S. organic production, but with the requirement that they are produced from 100 percent bio-based materials. No commercially available BDMs meet this standard, and none are likely to in the foreseeable future. This effectively deprives certified organic growers of a tool that supports both their viability and ethical commitments. Indeed, organic growers appear to be the most likely adopters of currently available BDMs. This creates a situation in which the application of a narrow measure restricts the pursuance of organic farmers’ goals and undercuts their judgment. Using the case of BDMs, we draw on a survey, case studies, and interviews to investigate the irony inherent in organic standards – including an analysis of how BDMs fit into increasingly bifurcated organic standards and how these differing definitions of ‘organic’ impose limitations on growers’ ability to produce environmentally, economically, and socially sustainable food.