Should Jetlagged Food Get Kicked Off The Organics List?

Here's a tough question: should food that travels unsustainable distances be certified as "organic"? The organics movement aims, at least in part, to reduce the environmental impact of food production. To earn the "organic" label, food can't be treated with industrial chemicals or be genetically engineered - for now, though, it can guzzle jet fuel on its way across the world to your grocery store.

The Soil Association sees three ways forward on whether to certify as "organic" food that is flown in from far away: (1) Continue to license air-freighted food as "organic"; (2) Phase out organic licensing for such foods over a few years; or (3) Impose a selective ban. So where do I stand? Here is my rock-solid, hard-nosed, unto-the-death answer: I choose Number 3, a selective ban. Sort of.

The problem, I think, is that food labels are reaching their limits of usefulness. Does it make sense to have every product variously labelled "organic," "local," "fair trade," "climate-friendly," and anything else we might come up with? No. Instead, why not change the nature of certification?

Consider the way an ethical investment fund works: the fund audits potential investments and weighs each one against a set of guidelines. In some cases these guidelines are strict - no arms dealers - and in others they are considered case-by-case. The Soil Association, then, might have certain standards set in stone (no industrial pesticides, no genetic modification) and others that depend on circumstance (no fly-in food from Holland, but possibly from Ghana). The only label they would put their name behind for the product: Soil Association Certified. The labelling agencies, then, would have to win public trust and keep it by making smart, fair choices about who to approve or reject. Yes, this would be an imperfect system - just like any other. There would be a learning curve for consumers and it would take time before food labels settled into a useful number of brands. Still, the shift would have an immediate impact on "organic" operations that make little or no commitment to overall sustainability - companies wouldn't make the cut with the most aggressive certification agencies if they used air-freight to deliver out-of-season produce or "top up" insufficient supplies (or, for that matter, if they heated their greenhouses with coal).