Content
below is excerpted from the Certified Naturally Grown Web site: www.naturallygrown.org
Sustainable agriculture doesn't start and stop
with a commitment to allowable and non-allowable materials and practices.
Certified Naturally Grown farmers work within the natural biological cycles
that are necessary for a truly sustainable farming system in harmony with
micro-organisms, soil flora and fauna, plants and animals, to maintain and
increase the long-term fertility of soil, leaving it even more vibrant and
alive for the next generation of farmers.
Certified Naturally Grown was created to
ENCOURAGE people to purchase from the small, diversified farmers that make up
their local landscape.
The CNG
Standards and growing requirements are no less strict than the USDA
National Organic Program rules. The primary difference between Certified
Naturally Grown and the USDA Organic program is cost to farmers and paperwork requirements.
Once the National Organic Program was
implemented in 2002, farmers that proudly used the term "Organic" for
decades are no longer allowed to do so unless they are "certified" as
such by a USDA sanctioned agency.
We use the USDA
National Organic Program Final Rule as the basis for the Certified
Naturally Grown (CNG) Certification Standards. Our farmers must also conform to
the USDA's National List of Allowed and Prohibited Substances.
It’s important to understand that USDA NOP is
really designed to serve the larger farming operations. Most Organic food you
buy in a grocery store is produced on huge factory farms owned by corporations
that are more interested in earning profits than producing safe, sustainably
grown food. The biggest organic food companies are now owned by Dole, Kraft,
General Mills, Unilever and even Coca Cola!
The point is, don't base your buying decisions
on certification status. Instead, know your farmers and how they produce the
food you're eating.
