What is certified organic?

It is important to understand what it means to be certified organic. There are many sceptics about claims of quality or uniqueness, especially when these claims seem to include a higher price for the product in question. It is precisely because of this scepticism - unfounded or not - that some sort of relationship with the farmer/producer is important.

In answer to some justifiable concerns about the impact of conventional agriculture on the environment and on the quality of food, farmers around the world have maintained or adopted practices that have come to be known as "organic". These practices addressed concerns among farmers themselves about toxic chemicals, dead and lost topsoil and water systems, tasteless produce and weakened crops. Organic farming has been about a rejection of the industrial agricultural model in favour of something more sustainable.

In small communities throughout the world and in many communities up until the middle of last century, most people know where their food comes from. They can walk down the road and inspect the fields in which it is grown, talk to the farmers who are tending the animals or fields and see what is being used to control pests. But many people are now greatly distanced from their food supply and cannot know how it is being produced. As a result of this distancing, there is a need to create an alternate relationship of trust between the producer and the consumer. Certification enables the consumer to know exactly what the claim of organic means for any given food item.

Terms like "natural" and "cholesterol-free" can be found all over products for which the term is more or less irrelevant. However, to use the term "certified organic" means something very specific. It means that there is a set of standards - something which describes how things are to be grown or raised; what they are to be fed and how they are to be handled; what "inputs", if any, are allowed - and that there is an independent third party who is verifying that the farm is living up to those standards.

There are many versions of organic standards and that is part of the wealth of the system - we don't need guidelines for growing organic avocados in the Kootenays but they do in Hawaii. Despite these geographically based differences, all organic standards subscribe to the same basic philosophy of treating the soil and growing environment in such a way that it can continue to produce good food for generations to come.

While many have developed their own organic standards to address the crops, livestock and climate of their specific region, many of these small certifying bodies belong to larger organisations. This provides them with a greater resource base and can facilitate sales for farmers outside their immediate region - in a cash-poor region, this can really help a local economy. Of course, membership in a larger organisation requires harmonisation of standards - this does not mean a lowering of standards so much as inclusion of issues not relevant to the smaller organisation.

The standards of all organic certifying bodies are available for review by anyone who is interested. Kootenay Organic Growers Society adheres to the Standards of the provincial organisation to which it belongs: Certified Organic Associations of BC (COABC). These Standards can be obtained from the KOGS office or viewed on the COABC website. Most large certification organisations post their standards on their websites. Have a read if you want to know exactly what that standard means to the product in your hand (or mouth!).

There are organic farmers who choose not to be certified. Farmers choose not to be certified for a variety of reasons - sometimes it is because they do not make enough money from their farm product to justify the cost of certification; sometimes they are in the process of learning about organics and belonging to a certifying organisation a great way to acquire this information; sometimes they don't want someone else telling them that they are farming the right way ( -they know that!); and sometimes they only sell to the folks who do come by the farm and check it out themselves and therefore do not need certification for their specific market.