Never let progress or the truth get stand in the way of your business model.

Organics lobby takes on vertical farms

The organic industry’s lobby has always been VERY aggressive in shaping the policy landscape to support their narrative of what organic farming is and should be. If they can convince consumers that food with the “USDA Organic” label on it is superior to everything else then consumers don’t have to think about the choices they make at the grocery store or corner restaurant. But nothing as complex as feeding 300 million Americans can be that simple.

The current organic standard allows for use of plenty of inputs that consumers would probably be surprised to learn are allowed. They include: Calcium hypochlorite, Chlorine dioxide, Hypochlorous acid, Sodium hypochlorite, petroleum-based Plastic Mulches, Aqueous potassium silicate, Copper sulfate, Peracetic acid, and many others. Here is a link to the USDA’s National List of Allowed and Prohibited Substances. You will see that some chemicals may only be used “when the provisions set forth in §205.206(a) through (d) prove insufficient to prevent or control the target pest.” Which means that if non-synthetic chemicals fail to protect the crop organic farmers may use synthetic chemicals on their crops and still market them under the USDA Organic label.

The organic foods industry lobbied successfully for these rules because the costs and risks associated with having only a limited number of non-synthetic compounds available to provide their crops nutrition and to protect them against disease and pests would result in an unsustainable business model. And USDA agreed to create these loopholes. Loopholes of which consumers mostly are unaware.

When consumers buy “organic” they do so because they are seeking foods that are “better” for them and for the environment, and because they are looking for more flavor and freshness. They also may want to support locally grown foods, but in so many cases the organic label and local are inversely correlated.

So, as consumers learn more about indoor and vertical farming it is no surprise they are attracted to it. Vertical farms do, as the Center for Food Safety points out, grow food in “sterile buildings” without soil, which can limit land use, keep out pests and diseases so no chemicals are needed, efficiently use water and nutrient inputs and enhance flavors. And for consumers seeking to buy “locally grown”, what if that building is in the next township? Or at reclaimed mill or factory site? Isn’t that buying local, too?

So if you take food safety seriously, give fresh produce from your local indoor or vertical farm a try…regardless if it has the USDA Organic label on it.