I was reading the Sunday paper today and saw an article titled “A Naturally Grown alternative to organic”. I was intrigued…organic “alternatives” sounded a bit hokey to me…so I kept reading.
Ahhhhh…the article was validation on what I had learned from farmers at the North Little Rock Farmers Market (awesome Farmer’s Market by the way…). A lot of small “direct marketing” farmers have chosen not to seek organic certification from the U.S. Department of Agriculture. Instead they have adopted a different labeling: Certified Naturally Grown.
Essentially, these are farms that meet (and the ones I talked to stated they exceeded) USDA standards to meet criteria for organic. However, to avoid passing on an increase in cost to their consumers, they decide not to apply for the USDA certified organic label on their products.
I remember having this discussion with a couple of the farmers 4-5 years back, when we lived in North Little Rock, AR. I learned that they had to go through an application process for each and every variety of a vegetable they wanted to certify as organic. So, if the farmer had Roma and Heirloom tomatoes, that would be two applications that had to be done…along with the cost for each application. In the end, the farmers felt it was less time consuming and costly to not apply.
On the flip side, some farmers don’t feel it is much of a burden at all. Ryan Voilland, co-owner of a 100 acre organic farm, with 2 million in gross sales said he only pays $2000/year for certification and of that , received $750 rebate from a federal program.
Apparently, there are not many farmers that have the same sentiment at Mr. Voilland. According to the article, of the 2.2 million farms, only 13,000 are USDA certified organic.
The take home to all of this is to talk to the farmers at your local farmers market. Not only are you getting the freshest, in season produce; you may be pleasantly surprised that you are buying organic, just without the label.
Source: Associated Press, (Aug 16, 2013), A Naturally Grown alternative to organic, San Antonio Express News
Nice post. I did not know this. Great information.
What all boils down to is regulating the ones who wanted to mass produce and have high turnover for profit (non organic). Now that the “organic” labeling is making money, in labeling it organic, you know in any business they will try and find the loop holes to get through to make a profit. Supporting your local farmers market you are getting what is fresh, naturally grown, in season, and not produced for high volume. The way our grandparents did it.