In an age where locavores run rampant, juice cleanses are trendy and Whole Foods seems to be the bourgeois supermarket of choice, “all natural,” “pesticide-free” and “hormone-free” labels are more prevalent in pantries than ever before.

But what you see is not what you get. The term “all natural” has no legal definition. That’s right — the U.S. Food and Drug Administration, a federal agency with immense authority over food label regulation, has nothing more than a vague guideline for what constitutes a natural product: one in which nothing has been included in, or added to, “a food that would not normally be expected to be in that food,” as defined by the FDA website.

New York state Gov. Andrew Cuomo, however, brought this little known issue to the forefront in his State of the State address earlier this month when he proposed new goals to define and regulate terms like “natural” and “pesticide-free” on food labels. It will be voluntary — at least at first — and farmers who participate will be given a “New York Certified High Quality” seal of approval.

This push for transparency by New York state should set a precedent for every state government. The people deserve to know what’s going into their bodies, a right that is long overdue in the face of a generation with a growing concern for healthy living.

One in four millennials are already parents, and according to a study by research group Produce for Better Health, are likely to place local produce at the center of their kids’ diet. Cuomo is tapping into a value that millennials hold to ensure a clarity and culture for ourselves and future generations of healthy eaters.

But, in recent years, the FDA has been reluctant to address the controversy regarding the word “natural” on labels. In a 2014 letter, the agency explicitly explained that they chose not to define the buzzword because they have not been able to prioritize the issue.

The FDA’s lack of involvement has led to approximately 50 private lawsuits filed against companies for their misleading labels between 2004 and 2014, as estimated by Stephen Gardner of the Center for Science in the Public Interest.

When Cuomo decides to define the term “natural,” however, he will be having the final say on a philosophical discussion. Essentially, all food we eat is not in its innate form, so who’s to say when the modification becomes too much to deem it natural? It might be in the best interest of consumers to do away with such a term, and stick with more specific ones: “GMO-free,” “pesticide-free,” “hormone-free.”

The U.S. expects its citizens to make the best choices for themselves. But if a citizen’s literacy of food labels is their way of making the best choice for him or herself, and they can’t trust what’s put before them, then they are lost, with nowhere to turn.

For Cuomo’s initiative to gain traction, it needs the participation of farmers and New York food producers. The proposal requests a budget of $2 million to be approved by the legislature, which has yet to be drafted, according to the Governor’s spokesman. By making New York a leader in this fight for transparency, the Governor will be setting the standard for other states and the nation as a whole. With that, he needs to tread carefully.

The mainstay of opposition stems from the opinion that government should not interfere with business. Yet keeping citizens safe requires particularly stringent and standardized regulation, so the government should not shy away from guiding people through the rubble of misleading claims. The insufficient and long overdue attention that this murky problem warrants has long passed the threshold for businesses to handle on their own.

When it comes to health, safety and belief, it is the job of the government to protect its citizens in a way that businesses cannot. In the meantime, businesses can take responsibility and assess their ethics when it comes to marketing “natural” products.

The power struggle between the U.S. Congress and the FDA to act on this issue has created stagnancy, as any legislation passed in Congress may undermine the actions of the FDA when they choose to define the term. Thus, state leaders are forced to take the matter into their own hands.

Very few have, but Cuomo is making an effort that will mark New York state as a pioneer in this new realm of regulation.

Joanna Orland is a freshman newspaper and online journalism major. Her column appears weekly. She can be reached at jorland@syr.edu.

Published on January 26, 2016 at 12:58 am