Dean and Ramona
Thanks for engaging in this conversation.

Dean writes: The govt has the ability to control by statute what constitutes "certified organic".

I am not sure that is the point. The government apparently has the ability to do just about anything, but at one time they were not involved in the whole Organic Farming issue. Then, the USDA decided to get involved, either out of concern that the term should "mean something" or as others have averred: to help the large players get into the game. All the same, the movement has not been taken over by the government. 

Under ideal circumstances, government would assist the key constituents in setting standards, oversight, and if needed: enforcement. There are other issues, as well. Some organic farms have been implicated in unsanitary practices leading to human illness. Many of the chemicals used in food help make it free from contamination, disease and spoilage. Honey scarcely falls under this category, in any case.

Ramona: Many are also mistrustful of "organic" labeling, certification and standards. 

The purpose of the USDA involvement, in my view, was to alleviate this problem. There is certainly no need to feel that organic doesn't stand for something. It does, of course. But in my view as well as others, it is more comparable to Kosher food, inasmuch as it is expected to be produced under certain conditions that the consumers demand, that they feel comfortable with, that they insist upon. It isn't based upon a scientific distinction, however.

My chief objection in this whole debate is that those who sell organic, or treatment free, or natural seem bound and determined to characterize other beekeepers' honey as "bad for you" or somehow contaminated, polluted, etc. There are legal tolerances for the various hive protection products and if labels are read and followed, these levels would not be exceeded. If I use Terramycin or Coumaphos correctly (I don't use them, actually) I have not damaged the honey and nobody should feel reluctant to eat it. 

If your bees stay alive without intervention and you get salable honey, then by all means brag about it. But to try to set a high price or present your honey as superior based upon some false distinction would be dishonest at best.

PLB

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