The lawsuit was filed in U.S. District Court for the Northern District of California (Case #: 3:20-cv-1537) and also includes the consumer . This allowance of soilless production in the organic program punctures the very heart of the legal and philosophical principles foundational to organic agriculture. (UPDATED, Jan. 31) The U.S. Department of Agriculture wants organic growers to know that hydroponic, aquaponic, and aeroponic operations can still be certified under USDA organic regulations. Organic Interests Contest USDA Certification of Hydroponics The USDA's National Organic Program is allowing the certification of hydroponic operations despite the law governing organic agriculture which clearly states that nurturing the fertility of the soil is an integral part of organic management. The National Organic Standards Board, which advises the USDA on labeling rules, voted 8-7 to continue allowing hydroponic and aquaponic certification, dealing a blow to the dirt-firsters . USDA denied the petition in June of 2019, stating for the first time that hydroponic operations are exempt from the mandatory soil fertility requirement of the Organic Act that applies to all other organic crop producers. The proposals would make aeroponics, aquaponics and hydroponics prohibited practices under Section 205.105 of the USDA Organic Regulations. My gorgeous wife Susanne got USDA Organic Certification for our farm's aquaponics systems in 2008. By Mike Pomranz March 23, 2021. • The USDA organic regulations do not currently prohibit hydroponic production. PRESS RELEASE - A friend of the court brief filed jointly by the Coalition for Sustainable Organics, the Western Growers Association, the Aquaponics Association and the Scotts Company was formally accepted this past week by the judge in the case seeking to compel the U.S. Department of Agriculture to initiate the formal rule making process to revoke certification of growers using organic . The Center for Food Safety, et al v. Thomas Vilsack, et al, 9th U . There are certified organic hydroponic operations in the United States that are certified by USDA accredited certifying agents based on the current regulations and the CFS now seeks review of the USDA's denial letter. Wu said the USDA was "repeatedly told" by these groups that hydroponic operations could not meet the legal requirements for organic certification, yet it chose to do nothing. However, just a few months ago, a lawsuit was filed by a group of organic farmers and advocates against the US Department of Agriculture (USDA) over this decision. Organic Interests Contest USDA Certification of Hydroponics. The USDA followed those recommendations with new policy clarifications about hydroponic organic certification in early 2018. The USDA definition for certified organic produce includes maintaining soil health, a requirement hydroponic farmers are exempt from. It's mainly about access to the $39 billion annual organic food market. To the chagrin of soil-based organic growers, the USDA chose to maintain certification of both hydroponic and aeroponic production systems if they met the NOP requirements. Accredited organic certification agencies have been permitted to certify hydroponic operations as organic by the National Organic Program (NOP), with some agencies certifying hydroponic operations and some choosing not to. The USDA maintains the soil-production standards only apply to farmers who grow their crops in soil. CFS petitioned the USDA early last year, asking the agency to develop rules that would prohibit organic certification of hydroponic operations. The lawsuit claims that hydroponic operations violate organic standards for failing to build heathy soils. It was reaffirmed by the 2010 NOSB recommendation to prohibit hydroponics in organic certification. March 04 , 2020. She was the first in the world to obtain this organic certification for aquaponics! Some of these activists, such as Dave Chapman, a soil organic . I believe that Organic certification needs to be limited to soil farming because that is the basis of being certified to begin with. Today , the lobbying efforts of Big Ag have ultimately won, allowing the input-dependent confined animal operations and hydroponic industries to bend the rules for their own benefit. The suit . Aeroponics would be defined as "a variation of hydroponic plant production in which plant roots are suspended in air and misted with nutrient solution." USDA declined the request. Hydroponics is the process of growing plants in a water and nutrient solution. SAN DIEGO, CALIFORNIA March 19, 2021 - The Coalition for Sustainable Organics (CSO) is ecstatic with the ruling issued today by the U.S. District Court in San Francisco that affirms the legality of U.S. Department of Agriculture certification of organic hydroponic . Contact: FPAC.BC.Press@usda.gov WASHINGTON, Aug. 17, 2021 - Organic producers and handlers can now apply for U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) funds to assist with the cost of receiving or maintaining organic certification. When food grown without soil is allowed to carry the organic label, the environmental and health benefits that . Although a number of the organic farmers had positive thoughts on the hydroponic . The Center for Food Safety and growers of organic food are suing the U.S. Department of Agriculture, to stop the National Organic Program from . For these products to be labeled as organic, the operation must be certified by a USDA-accredited certifying agent, and maintain compliance with the USDA organic regulations. CFS petitioned the USDA early last year, asking the agency to develop rules that would prohibit organic certification of hydroponic operations. According to the USDA, "Produce can be called organ ic if it's certified to have grown on soil that had no prohibited substances applied for three years prior to harvest.". The legal battle over whether hydroponic farms can qualify for the certified organic label appears over for now: The soil-less growers will continue to qualify for the coveted—and profitable—designation, thanks to a new federal court ruling late last week. The agency denied the petition in June. Dec. 6, 2021 at 10:15 AM. (Update: On March 3, 2020, the Center for Food Safety and a coalition of farmer plaintiffs filed a lawsuit challenging the USDA's decision to allow hydroponic operations to earn USDA Organic certification.) Increased Sustainability — However, hydroponic farmers in genius fashion argued this point. Several organic food companies and organic certifiers on Monday filed a lawsuit challenging the U.S. Department of Agriculture's (USDA) decision to allow hydroponic operations to be certified organic. The plaintiffs said that, as of 2019, about 40 hydroponic operations were certified organic under USDA's National Organic Program. "USDA is here to help all producers, including those who grow our nation . The USDA's organic certification program, which is administered under the Organic Food Production Act of 1990 (OFPA), currently sets certain requirements for certifying produce as organic based on the soil in which it is grown. The National Organic Standards Board should side with science and continue allowing hydroponic and aquaponic farms to be certified as USDA Organic, writes Marianne Cufone. Ctr. A lawsuit brought just more than 12 months ago by the Center . Organic grower groups sue USDA over hydroponic certification. Since that time, the USDA-convened Hydroponic and Aquaponic Task Force (HTF) has issued a report, which may have elevated the confusion on an issue that the NOSB addressed in 2010 when it upheld the requirementthat organic certified production must be soil-based. Yet, for Dave Chapman, Executive Director of the Real Organic Project and someone who is adamantly against hydroponics in organic, he believes the Clean Hydroponic Produce certification is a step in the . The exclusion of hydroponic and aquaponic food producers is in truth about more than the meaning of soil. In 2017 a petition calling on the USDA to prohibit hydroponics in organic certification got over 100,000 signatures in three weeks. In 2017, the National Organic Standards Board voted in favor of hydroponics being certified organic. Certification of hydroponic, aquaponic, and aeroponic operations is allowed under the USDA organic regulations, and has been since the National Organic Program began. The main issue is whether or not plants grown without soil can be labeled USDA certified organic. The organic system plan is the foundation of the organic certification process. USDA Organic Now Allows Herbicides A few weeks ago I got to ask an important question of Jennifer Tucker, the head of the National Organic Program (NOP). Hydroponics, or growing plants in a nutrient solution root medium, is a growing area of commercial food production and also is used for home food production by hobbyists. Hydroponics, including Aeroponics and Aquaponics, have been a hotly debated topic in the organic's world since at least 1995. The current position from the National Organic Program (NOP) is that certification of hydroponic production systems is allowed as long as the producer can demonstrate compliance with the organic regulations. USDA Organic Certification Of Aquaponics Systems If you were asking yourself: "Is organic certification of aquaponics possible?", the answer is a resounding YES! After USDA denied the petition, CFS, along with a coalition of . Hydroponics, aquaponics and aeroponics growers can earn organic certification, according to a recent clarification from the USDA. By allowing hydroponic production to be certified as organic, USDA is misleading consumers and undermining the integrity of the Certified Organic label.
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