With next month’s National Organic Standards Board (NOSB) meeting in Denver just a few weeks away, the issue of hydroponics in organic is at the forefront of many people’s minds.
As of now, hydroponics is still allowed in organic despite the fact that the NOSB recommended to ban it in 2010. However, the USDA, which has the ultimate rule-making authority, refused to accept the NOSB’s recommendation and never made a decision on this rule.
Since then, some organic certifiers have granted certification to hydroponic operations, and it has been reported that organic hydroponics is now a billion dollar business. That is a serious number.
As I wrote about a few months ago, no decision was made at the fall 2016 NOSB meeting in St. Louis regarding hydroponics, aquaponics, bioponics, and container growing systems. The issue was subsequently sent back to a crops subcommittee for further definition and clarification.
Believing that this matter would get buried in bureaucracy and that subcommittee members would be overwhelmed by pressure from industry lobbyists, I was pleasantly surprised when the NOSB recently released a discussion document which said the following:
Aeroponic, hydroponic, and aquaponic production systems can be productive cropping systems which can be appropriate and well adapted to specific situations. However, that does not mean those systems are compatible with the principles of organic production or should qualify them for organic certification.
This is very, very heartening news.
The basic foundation of organic is the soil. Period. By negating its importance, you are changing the fundamental meaning of organic.
The crops subcommittee at the NOSB, while evaluating and acknowledging the pros and cons of aeroponic, hydroponic, and aquaponic, seems to agree.
We Are Not Out of the Woods…..By Any Means
This discussion document is not a formal recommendation, and the NOSB has not voted on anything yet.
Furthermore, even if we were to get a formal NOSB recommendation banning aeroponic, hydroponic, and aquaponic, the USDA and Ag Secretary nominee Sonny Perdue will have to go along with this.
Given all of the talk about how Big Ag wants to go after organic, which I have outlined in previous Organic Insider emails, we are facing a very uphill battle.
That being said, we must do everything we can to win at the NOSB level.
Here is what you can do:
1) Leave a comment on the USDA’s website saying that you do not want hydroponic in organic. Comments are due by midnight on March 30, 2017.
2) Attend the NOSB meeting in Denver (April 19-21) and comment in front of the NOSB, arguing that hydroponics should be banned in organic.
The opposition has started its propaganda campaign in the media and will show up in full force in Denver pleading its case for hydroponic in organic.
To give oral comments before the NOSB committee, you can register here and the deadline is March 30, 2017.
I will be in Denver, and I have already registered to give my oral comments.
3) Watch a short clip from Rally in the Valley, a video of some of our country’s most committed organic family farmers. This will give you a good idea of the how they feel about soil being an essential part of organic.
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Have a fantastic day! 
Max Goldberg, Founder |
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