cycl
trends & technology
A
Will Hydroponics Be
?
Organic
Certified
Consumers want it, the USDA currently allows it, but several
organizations are fighting it. Kathleen Marshall explains why
certified organic hydroponically grown foods are under scrutiny,
and what changes may come from the hotly contested battle.
by Kathleen Marshall
88
grow cycle
round the world, most countries
require that organic crops must be
grown in soil. This includes the European
Union, Australia, Canada, Mexico, and
Japan. Because other countries do not
allow hydroponically grown produce to be
sold as organic, those products are being
shipped to the US so they can carry the
coveted organic label. In the US, hydro-
ponically grown lettuce and tomatoes from
Mexico have been allowed to carry the
organic label despite the 2010 recommen-
dations of the National Organic Standards
Board (NOSB) to the contrary. Spurred by a
lawsuit filed by the Cornucopia Institute
alleging that the USDA was illegally
allowing organic labeling on hydroponi-
cally grown foods, the NOSB revisited the
topic last November in St. Louis, MO.
Bioponics and
Organic Certification
More specifically, they discussed a
proposal to allow bioponics (hydroponics,
aeroponics, and aquaponics) to be
considered for organic certification.
While the board did concede to send the
issue to its crops subcommittee to more
clearly define these growing systems and
consider them each individually, they also
restated their 2010 recommendation to
prohibit growing systems that use entirely
water-based substrates.