Today we hosted a group of students studying horticulture at the Thompson School of Applied Sciences from the University of New Hampshire. A very interested group with a lot of great questions. As we often do — when giving tours and talks at our location — we discussed the general business of being a grower in addition to all things biocontrol. Naturally one thing led to another and the old topic of organic certification came up. We like this topic as we see it as a good time to clear up some misunderstanding.
The question in particular isn’t whether or not to grow organically — to that we emphatically say yes — but whether or not to become a certified organic grower. To that question, even though we like the idea as it broadens the market and pushes organics in general into the limelight, we always have to take a step back and ask a question of our own in reply:
“Do you have a ready market seeking organically-certified goods and willing to pay a little more for said goods?” Then we wait for an answer before going further. If one has to think about the answer to our question or if the answer is no, or I don’t know, then our immediate answer to the original question is “no, don’t be a certified organic grower.” As much as we like organics and the idea of broadening its reach, certification is also very restricting. It removes from the grower’s arsenal many valuable tools, most notably many pesticides. It’s not that we support pesticide use, but being practical is important, and we feel growers should leave any and all options open; don’t burn bridges.
To be an organic grower all one has to do is grow organically. Simple. It becomes a matter of choice (a good choice we’d like to add). Certify, though, and the choice part of it is removed. You must test, pay, and comply. If you don’t certify, you can still grow as organically as you’d like, but you don’t have to test and pay. And if you have no market demanding and willing to pay extra for organically-produced, plants, fruits, and vegetables, why restrict oneself?
For more information and insights on this topic, please see the Transition I page in the Necessary Info section.
