Certified Organic: A Farmer's "Problem"

Obtaining organic certification is no small potatoes.

The purpose of organic certification is to assure everyone concerned, especially consumers, of product quality. It is also a way to decrease the possibility of fraud.

Requirements for organic certification vary among countries. However, they all pretty much share certain standards, including:

*the use of farmland that's been free of all sorts of chemicals for a period of at least three years;

*agreeing to periodic inspection, often conducted without prior notice;

*making no use of pesticides, chemical fertilizers, and antibiotics;

*maintaining the non-certified products totally separated from the organic products.

Most farmers simply do not want to bother with the additional activities required to obtain certification. Some of the additional activities include:

*becoming familiar with organic standards;

*submitting extensive documentation, including water and soil test analysis results;

*keeping daily farming and marketing logs and have them available upon the inspector's request;

*paying an annual fee ranging from several hundreds to several thousands of dollars.

Perhaps now you can appreciate why organic products tend to cost you quite a bit more. However, in addition to asking yourself the question "Just how much organic do I want to go?" (and you really should give it serious consideration), read that package carefully!

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