The Cornucopia Institute released late last week a Guide to Organic Certifiers. The apparent point of the document is to encourage growers opposed to certification of organic production systems that include containers to switch their certification companies.

As efforts supported by Cornucopia to pass a National Organic Standards Board recommendation to modify USDA Organic Regulations in order to prohibit hydroponic systems failed, a new avenue to achieve their goals is to economically damage USDA approved and regulated certification companies to the point where those certifiers would drop growers that produce some portion of their crops in containerized production systems.  

The Washington Post did publish a story on Friday on the subject (a repost of the story can be found here). The article states that the purpose of the certifier scorecard "is mostly a mechanism for shaming certifiers and the organic businesses that employ them."   

CCOF Chief Executive Kelly Damewood responded in the article by saying "We are a federally accredited certifier and cannot deny certification based on philosophy or values alone. The scorecard is showing that they have an issue with the National Organic Programs allowance of hydroponics, not with CCOF."
  

Your Membership and Activity Still Needed 

The efforts of growers and other members of the organic community like yourself helped to create more regulatory certainty and to safeguard your rights to select the most appropriate growing methods in your organic operations continues. 
 
Join the CSO if you have not done so already.  Our sustained efforts on behalf of the hydroponic, aquaponics and container industry around the country and in Washington, DC rely on dues from farming operations like yours.