Each apple or asparagus spear isn’t checked for its organic veracity, nor is every container filled with processed food and labeled organic approved before it’s stocked on market shelves. Such meticulous diligence would be impractical and inefficient.
The inspection process for products labeled organic often is superficial, and it is fraught with inconsistencies and potential conflicts of interest. At least once a year, a third party inspects farms and food manufacturers that claim their wares are organic. The rigor of these visits ranges from simply looking over paperwork to mucking about in the fields to conducting detailed interviews with farm owners and workers, along with processors and transporters. The farmers and food processors inspected pay certifiers for the opportunity to be approved, and the various certifiers compete with one another for business. So, if an inspection is rigorous, a farmer may opt to work with a competing certifier that does a less thorough job.
The official USDA certificates guaranteeing that a product is organic are relatively easy to forge. And because the organic rules are designed for larger-scale commercial operations, mom-and-pop farmstands may be exempt from inspections if they yield no more than $5,000 a year in sales. So, whether food really meets organic standards is more a matter of trusting purveyors than trusting the organic label.