I’ve long suspected there is quite a lot of fraud involved in the organic food market.

Missouri charmer led double life, masterminded one of the biggest frauds in farm history

You’d never have guessed that the father of three, grandfather of five was a liar, cheat and serial philanderer who masterminded one of the biggest and longest-running frauds in the history of American agriculture.

Actually, I might have guessed that.

A clever and unethical seller can successfully pass off cheaper conventionally grown grain for the more expensive organic kind and make a huge profit, if they sell a lot of it…

[Randy Constant] scammed grain buyers, meat producers and millions of American consumers for a decade or more. The organic beef and poultry countless Americans were eating during those years wasn’t organic after all…

“I know Randy was deeply ashamed of his conduct,” his widow said soon after his passing.

Ashamed he was caught, perhaps. If he was ashamed of his conduct it wasn’t enough for him to change that conduct.

Constant had sold the [purported organic soybeans] to Nevada Soy Product, which turned them into soybean oil. One of Nevada Soy’s customers canceled the sale after their tests showed the soybeans had come from genetically modified plants…

The USDA’s Office of Inspector General issued a searing 2010 audit faulting the organic program’s oversight efforts. Complaints were rarely followed up on, and when they were it sometimes took years to resolve them…

Those who make their living farming organically say it’s important that consumers be confident that they are getting what they pay for when they buy certified organic food.