USDA & QAI Organic Certification
- USDA and QAI certified organic products are grown and processed according to federal guidelines addressing: soil quality, animal raising practices, pest and weed control, and use of additives. Organic producers rely on natural substances and physical, mechanical, or biologically based farming techniques to the fullest extent possible.
- Produce can be called organic if it’s certified to have grown on soil that had no prohibited substances applied for three years before harvest. Prohibited substances include most synthetic fertilizers and pesticides. In instances when a grower has to use a synthetic substance to achieve a specific purpose, the substance must first be approved according to criteria that examine its effects on human health and the environment.
- Animals that produce meat, poultry, eggs and dairy products are not given antibiotics or growth hormones on an organic farm.
- An organic production system is managed to respond to site-specific conditions by integrating cultural, biological and mechanical practices that foster cycling of resources, promote ecological balance and conserve biodiversity.
- Companies that handle or process organic food before it reaches grocery store shelves or restaurant kitchens must also be certified.
- Food products that are certified organic by QAI have been verified to meet strictly defined standards issued by national and international standards issuing bodies, like the USDA, or other independent agencies.
Fair Trade Certification
Fair Trade Certified helps guarantee a level of quality is delivered and sustainable practices are in place. A third party certification agency assures human rights are protected. This means that at every stage of production, workers experience fair conditions and earn fair wages.
Members of the World Fair Trade Organization adhere to ten principles, which are:
- Opportunities for economically disadvantaged producers – Support for workers in moving from poverty to economic self-sufficiency
- Transparency and accountability (in management and commercial relations)
- Fair trade practices – Includes prompt payment of producers
- Fair payment – Prices, wages, and local living wages
- No child labor, no forced labor
- No discrimination, gender equity, freedom of association
- Good working conditions
- Capacity building – Improvement of productivity and management skills
- Promoting fair trade – Raising awareness, honest advertising and marketing
- Respect for the environment – Maximization of raw materials, sustainable sourcing, reduction of energy consumption, minimization of environment impact
Why Our Local Products Aren’t “Certified”
For Many Small Farmers, Being Certified ‘Organic’ Isn’t Worth the Trouble
The USDA certification is arduous and costly to upkeep for micro-farms. So small community farmers are finding alternate ways to assure buyers that their produce is pristine. It’s not necessarily prohibitive startup costs that turn small farms off of the organic certification process. The required record-keeping and hoop jumping can be unmanageable.
USDA certification requires a farmer to keep daily records of everything. This includes how often they irrigate to total hours spent weeding. And the more diverse the crop, the more complicated the paperwork. Another very strict USDA standard is not sharing equipment with a sister farm. Sometimes, this a necessary practicality between neighboring small farms. Playing by the organic-certification rules is an increasingly inorganic day-to-day process.
Instead of relying on third-party certificates, we personally take the time to visit and investigate our local farm sources. The hands-on direct investigation is worth so much more than any label one can buy. Unfortunately, we can’t do this with all of our non-local ingredients from around the world. This is when we use the certifications to help in curating our ingredients for the best assured quality.
Since our farms are local and directly inspected, they are “certified” by our staff to assure quality and production techniques. Our local, grass-fed, raw, pasture-raised, free-range, local, organic-fed, “sustainable” and “renewable” animal ingredients are personally audited by yours truly.
Learn more about our local farmers and how you can find them: