Certified Naturally Grown - An Alternative to Certified Organic

Have you heard about Certified Naturally Grown? I hadn't either until I attended this years PASA (Pennsylvania Association for Sustainable Agriculture) Conference. I've been dedicated to the Organic Agriculture movement for many years now and am quite familiar with the benefits of Pennsylvania Certified Organic...and also the rigors and high costs of certification that many of my farmer friends have faced.
I was delighted to learn about Certified Naturally Grown as an alternative to small scale (and budget) farmers. Since the conference, where I had the opportunity to speak with some Certified Naturally Grown farmers, I've explored the program further. Here's what I found out...

On the Certified Naturally Grown website, at www.naturallygrown.org, I learned that Certified Naturally Grown is perfect for small scale farmers who are committed to growing sustainable, organic agriculture, but who are unable to become certified organic due to high cost and extensive paperwork (which keeps them from farming).

Certified Naturally Grown is a grassroots effort of over 500 small farms and ranches both nationally and internationally. Certified Naturally Grown provides growers with a way to legally explain their growing methods and ideals to customers. The program is open to organic farmers selling their produce locally, directly to customers through CSA's (community supported agriculture), Farm stands and markets, Restaurants, Natural food stores, and Small Coops.

Certified Naturally Grown has gained the respect of several environmental groups, health organizations and sustainable agriculture groups such as: The National Cancer Awareness Coalition, The Sierra Club's Atlantic Chapter and the International Federation of Organic Agriculture Movements (IFOAM).

Okay, so this all sounds great, I thought, but what standards are followed? I studied further. Certified Naturally Grown farmers commit to using NO synthetic chemical insecticides, herbicides, fungicides or fertilizers on their crops or fields. They agree to support and supply local markets, thereby reducing environmental damage and use of fuel. They agree even to use organically approved soil amendments and sprays carefully and very minimally. Certified Naturally Grown farmers use crop rotation, cover crops and protective buffer strips as a means of caring for our soil, water and air. They will not use any chemically treated or genetically modified seeds. Farmers also agree to treat livestock humanely, using no hormones or feed laced with antibiotics. They give animals consistent access to pasture. Certified Naturally Grown farmers agree to adhere to very strict post harvest sanitary practices as well, including proper transport, storage and use of potable water for produce washing. Finally, farmers are committed to passing on their land in even better condition that they received it in!

Wow! Those are serious commitments. Just knowing exactly what the Certified Naturally Grown Standards are really reassured me about what kind of produce I was buying, but I still wanted to know more. So, I sought out a local Certified Naturally Grown Farm.

I was able to speak with a local Certified Naturally Grown Farmer in my area (Zeb Bartels, of Thousand Suns Farm) and asked about the certification process. Zeb told me that Certified Naturally Grown was a great solution to the dilemma of how to get his organic produce to customers while reassuring them of it's quality without going broke in the process. He shared with me the application process was fairly concise and that Certified Naturally Grown uses local farmer-to-farmer inspections (which explained the lower certification costs). He said that Certified Naturally Grown also conducts un-announced pesticide residue testings, ensuring no cheating!
The entire certification and inspection information is transparent and kept online for all customers to see. It is their reassurance that they can trust their local Certified Naturally Grown Farmer.

I really enjoyed learning so much about Certified Naturally Grown. It's still a very young program, but one that I hope will really catch on and will encourage more small-scale farmers to become certified and enter local produce markets.

As they say on the Certified Naturally Grown website, "Together, we are more powerful!"

Ask at Your local market for Certified Naturally Grown produce!