Regulation by Proxy

How the USDA Relies on Public, Nonprofit, and For-Profit Intermediaries to Oversee Organic Food in the U.S.

By (author) David P. Carter University of Utah

Publication date:

18 September 2019

Length of book:

262 pages

Publisher

Lexington Books

Dimensions:

229x160mm
6x9"

ISBN-13: 9781498574198

Regulation by Proxy catalogues the intermediaries that are critical to organic certification, including the National Organic Standards Board, accredited certifying agents, organic inspectors, the California State Organic Program, the Accredited Certifiers Association, the International Organic Inspectors Association, and material review organizations. Drawing on a range of evidence, from original data to the work of prominent food policy authors, Carter assesses each intermediary’s contributions to organic standards development, administration, and enforcement. Carter’s analysis shows that there are undeniable benefits to how organic food is regulated in the U.S., however, relying on an assortment of intermediaries requires multifaceted oversight for which the USDA may not always have sufficient tools or capacity to realize.

Chapter 1. Regulation by Proxy

Chapter 2. A Framework for Examining Decentralized Regulation

Chapter 3. Institutional Emergence and Evolution: The History of Organic Food Governance in the U.S.

Chapter 4. Systems-Based Regulations and Rulemaking Counsel: USDA National Organic Standards and the NOSB

Chapter 5. The Regulator: The National Organic Program

Chapter 6. The Third-Party Administrators: Accredited Certification Agents

Chapter 7. The Inspection Intermediaries: Organic Inspectors

Chapter 8. A State-Level Enforcement Intermediary: The California State Organic Program

Chapter 9. Coordinating and Information Intermediaries: Professional Associations and Materials Review Organizations

Chapter 10. The Regulatory Targets: Certified Organic Producers

Chapter 11. Appraising the Analysis: Institutional Design, Intermediaries, and USDA Organic Certification

Chapter 12. Final Reflections: The Theoretical Implications of Regulation by Proxy

In 1862, President Abraham Lincoln signed legislation creating the United States Department of Agriculture (USDA), which was charged with making laws to protect the agricultural trades and ensuring food quality and safety. The job of overseeing food quality and safety had a strong, standardized, scientific component housed within the USDA. This was the situation until the advent of organic farming in the 1940s and the growing popularity of halal and kosher foods in the US. The USDA was not equipped to objectively define and consequently assess the standards for these specialty foods: there was a fair amount of disagreement about what constituted "organic" food, and it would be impossible for the USDA to oversee every halal and kosher practice. Carter (political science, Univ. of Utah) delivers a fascinating, detailed account of how the USDA made use of outside entities to develop guidelines and standards for certifying these foods. The author provides critical analyses of the benefits and risks of using these entities to determine parameters of food quality and safety. The book includes many case studies and references to prime sources, and it makes mention of the impact of genetic engineering on food production practices.

Summing Up: Highly recommended. All readers.