Organic was first used to describe a farming philosophy by Lord Walter Northbourne in his book Look to the Land, published in 1940. Nearly 40 years ago, in response to a growing demand for food produced outside of the dominant industrial/chemical-agriculture system, organic standards and certification programs took off in the U.S., facilitated by private organizations such as California Certified Organic Farmers (CCOF). Washington was the first U.S. state to regulate organic standards, beginning in 1988. In 1990, the U.S. Organic Foods Production Act was passed, and in 1992 the National Organic Standards Board (NOSB) was established, but it would take another decade (and hundreds of thousands of consumer comments about issues like genetically modified crops, sewage sludge, and irradiation) before the National Organic Program (NOP) standards were put into effect in 2002. The NOP standards are set and continually reviewed by the NOSB, comprised of 15 appointed members, including four farmers/growers, two handlers/processors, one retailer, one scientist, three consumer/public interest advocates, three environmentalists, and one USDA-accredited certifying agent. Today, there are more than 27,000 USDA Organic certified operations.
