Representatives from the organic food industry and the U.S. Department of Agriculture will host a public input session today at Iowa State to discuss a new proposal issued by the USDA.

The public input session is the second of four held throughout the United States. The first was held in Austin, Texas, and the other will be held in Seattle, Washington and New Jersey.

The conference held in Room 240 of the Scheman Building today is to represent the Midwest.

Laura Ticciati, executive director of Mothers for Natural Law, said if the new proposal is approved, it will cause major problems for the organic food industry.

“Most people feel that [the proposal] has watered down standards and made the organic label meaningless,” she said. “[The USDA] has ignored many critical points.”

She added that the organic market is the only growing segment of the food industry, and that the USDA is diluting its standards.

According to Bill Crist, independent publicist of Mothers for Natural Law, organic products are fruits and vegetables that are grown without the use of chemicals and pesticides.

The USDA’s proposal was published on Dec. 16, 1997, and it describes potential standards for the definition of “organic.” Sewer sludge, irradiation, as well as genetically engineered products would be considered “organic,” according to the proposal.

Since the organic industry has recently been growing fast, Crist said, the USDA is trying to come up with a formal definition of what is organic.

He said genetic engineering can pose an extremely dangerous risk, citing the example of an amino acid called L-tryptophan. This dietary supplement was manufactured in the 1970s and was genetically engineered in 1988.

As a result of genetically-engineered L-tryptophan, 37 people died, and 1,500 people became seriously ill. The drug has since been removed by the Food and Drug Administration.

Ticciati also expressed concern for the organic market’s future.

Mothers for Natural Law has launched a national letter writing campaign to get the proposal changed.

“Our nation is built on people’s opportunity to voice their opinions,” Ticciati said. “We urge everybody and anybody who has interest in preserving the organic market to contact us or the USDA.”

She also said the purpose of the session hosted today by the USDA is to “solicit feedback from the American public.”