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 For the purposes of this
article, crops are defined by the USDA as “plants that
are cultivated either for sale or for subsistence.”
Some plants are considered to be specialty crops when
cultivated.
A specialty crop, then, is defined as “fruits and
vegetables, tree nuts, dried fruits and horticulture and nursery
crops, including floriculture.”
According to the USDA, “in order for a plant to be considered
cultivated, some form of management must be applied.”
This definition includes plant related bi-products harvested from
“wild areas” that are documented for research purposes.
If a naturally occurring population of plants is managed by people,
and satisfies the definition of a specialty crop, then those plants
would be considered as such.
For the purpose of government programs, states may choose to define
plants collected from the wild as specialty crops.
There is still some confusion in defining specialty crops with
regard to horticulture.
- Horticulture is
defined by the USDA as “that branch of agriculture concerned with
growing plants that are used by people for food, for medicinal
purposes, and for aesthetic gratification.”
The reason for the confusion stems from the descriptions of these
specializations. The descriptions refer to common usage, which
differs from scientific language.
- For example, vegetables are frequently defined as herbaceous
plants, of which some amount can be eaten raw or cooked as some sort
of meal.
- Fruits on the other hand, are commonly eaten as a snack outside of
a meal.
Take tomato or cucumber,
which scientifically are classified as fruits; but by the above
definition above those are eaten as vegetables.
Believe it or not, the description of plants by common usage
required legal intervention in 1893 via a U.S. Supreme Court
decision.
Horticultural crops are still considered to be separate from what
most people think of with regard to cash crops.
Cash crops are agricultural crops grown to sell and
return a profit. Cash crops are usually purchased for sale on a
large market.
The term cash crop is used to differentiate from subsistence
crops, which are fed to the producer's own livestock or
grown as food to be used by the immediate population.
Organic crops are sometimes considered different from specialty
crops.
Organic products (crops or otherwise) have to be certified by the
USDA, under one of four categories: crops, livestock, processed
products, or wild crops.
Organic products have to be produced with the
following requirements in mind:
-
Produced without excluded methods, e.g., genetic engineering,
ionizing radiation, or sewage sludge
- produced using allowed substances
- overseen by a USDA National Organic Program-authorized certifying
agent
- following all USDA organic regulations
Most farms and businesses
that grow or sell organic products must be certified, such as farms
or handlers, processors, and vendors that sell products online or
otherwise deliver organic products to a customer, and make more than
$5,000 doing so. Other operations may voluntarily apply for organic
status, but it is not required.
Organic farming requires the growth of non-GMO products.
Unfortunately, non-GMO products are not legally defined by federal
or state government, nor are said products required to be identified
as such.
According to journalist Elaine Watson, the lack of a clear
definition leads to trouble for organic farmers and food marketers.
According to both the FDA and the USDA, a GMO is
defined as “an organism produced through genetic engineering.” The
closest definition we could come to for a non-GMO product is one
that is not produced through any kind of genetic modification, nor
influenced by products that are. By example, beef may be sold that
claims to be from a cow that was never fed GMO’s.
[to top of second column] |
 Examples of such statements
that might be found on non-GMO related products include:
“Not bioengineered.”
“Not genetically engineered.”
“Not genetically modified through the use of modern biotechnology.”
“We do not use ingredients that were produced using modern
biotechnology.”
“This oil is made from soybeans that were not genetically
engineered.”
“Our corn growers do not plant bioengineered seeds.”
The FDA currently does not
require products to be labeled as such. One reason for this is
because of the difficulty in interpreting the term genetically
modified. According to the FDA guidelines:
“because the term ‘genetically
modified’ can encompass any alteration to the genetic composition of
a plant, including alterations achieved through traditional
hybridization or breeding techniques, that term could apply to most
cultivated food crops since most food crops are the product of
selective breeding.
"An example of a food that is derived from a plant that has not been
subject to any form of selective breeding might be berries collected
from wild plant varieties.”
The FDA guidelines reiterate
that “the ‘O’ in the acronym ‘GMO’ refers to the word ‘organism…’ In
light of potential confusion regarding the meaning of the acronym,
the FDA encourages manufacturers to consider the use of other types
of statements to indicate that a plant-derived food has not been
produced using bioengineering.” In other words, because of the
confusion surrounding these labels, the FDA recommends avoiding the
term GMO in some instances, because to do so might
involve accidentally mislabeling products. In addition, most
individual customers (those not representing a corporation) do not
buy entire organisms at one time, meaning that a GMO is not
technically found on most store shelves.
Every so often, a reminder of what these terms mean is useful for
both farmers and non-farmers alike. These terms and definitions are
intended for general educational purposes. They are not intended to
replace any definitions currently in use in any U.S. Government laws
or regulations. For specific definitions applying to laws or
regulations, please consult directly with the relevant agency.
Sources
“Agricultural Biotechnology Glossary.” U.S. Department of
Agriculture.
https://www.usda.gov/topics/ biotechnology /biotechnology-glossary
“Guidance for Industry: Voluntary Labeling Indicating Whether Foods
Have or Have Not Been Derived from Genetically Engineered Plants.”
U.S. Food and Drug Administration. November, 2015.
https://www.fda.gov/Regulatory Information/Guidances/ucm059098.htm
“Organic Certification.” U.S. Department of Agriculture,
www.ams.usda.gov/services/ organic-certification/certification.
“USDA Definition of Specialty Crop.” U.S. Department of Agriculture,
https://www.ams.usda.gov/sites/ default/files/
media/USDASpecialtyCrop Definition.pdf
Watson, Elaine. “With no clear legal definition, non-GMO claims
legal minefield for food marketers.” Genetic Literacy Project. April
25, 2016.
https://geneticliteracyproject.org/2016/04/25/with-no-clear-legal-definition-non-gmo-claims-legal-minefield-for-food-marketers/
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