Certified
Naturally Grown™
Certified
Naturally Grown is a grassroots effort by over 500 farmers and ranchers across
the country to provide an alternative to USDA Organic that’s tailored for
small-scale, direct-market producers. The certification program is available
only to farmers and ranchers that support local markets and sell directly to
their customers, and therefore don’t need to buy into the expense, paperwork, or
more agribusiness/wholesale focus of
Organic.
Certified Naturally Grown uses the publicly available USDA National Organic
Program Standards as the basis of our growing practices, however the program is
NOT affiliated in any way with the USDA National Organic Program, and is not
administered or overseen by the USDA or any other government agency.
Certified Naturally Grown
uses an application process, inspections, and unlike the USDA Organic program,
makes use of random pesticide residue testing to help ensure consumer
confidence.
Farmers commit to the following practices:
·
Absolutely no use of synthetic chemical insecticides, herbicides,
fungicides, or fertilizers on our crops
·
Minimal
and careful use of even Organically approved soil amendments and sprays
·
Care for
our soil, water and air quality with crop rotations, cover crops, protective
buffer strips and ecologically sustainable farming practices
·
No use of
chemically treated or Genetically Modified seeds
·
Humane
treatment of livestock including the use of no hormones or antibiotic-laced
feed and consistent access to pasture
·
Adherence
to sanitary post-harvest practices including proper transport, storage and
the use of only potable water for the washing of produce
·
A
commitment to pass on the land and surrounding environment in an even better
condition than it was passed on to us
We grow this way
because we care about our families' and workers' health, the health of our
friends and customers purchasing and enjoying our food, and because we want to
be good, sustainable stewards of the small portion of this earth that has
temporarily been put under our care.
Certified Naturally
Grown is supported by national environmental groups, health organizations and
sustainable agricultural groups including the National Cancer Awareness
Coalition, the Sierra Club’s Atlantic Chapter and the International Federation
of Organic Agricultural Movements (IFOAM).
For more information
and to see the complete list of farms participating in the program nationwide,
please visit
www.naturallygrown.org
on the web.
