The USDA outlines standards for organic agriculture on their website. The following is an exert from their website introducing these standards:

“Organic agriculture produces products using methods that preserve the environment and avoid most synthetic materials, such as pesticides and antibiotics. USDA organic standards describe how farmers grow crops and raise livestock and which materials they may use.

Organic farmers, ranchers, and food processors follow a defined set of standards to produce organic food and fiber. Congress described general organic principles in the Organic Foods Production Act, and the USDA defines specific organic standards. These standards cover the product from farm to table, including soil and water quality, pest control, livestock practices, and rules for food additives.

Organic farms and processors:

  • Preserve natural resources and biodiversity
  • Support animal health and welfare
  • Provide access to the outdoors so that animals can exercise their natural behaviors
  • Only use approved materials
  • Do not use genetically modified ingredients
  • Receive annual onsite inspections
  • Separate organic food from non-organic food”

There are so many descriptors and labels used now in the alternative food movement it is nearly impossible to keep them all straight. There is Certified Organic, Certified Naturally Grown, Certified Non GMO, Biodynamic Certified, Beyond organic, Deep organic, Locally grown, Certified Environmentally Friendly, Certified Sustainably Grown, and there are No-till farms and there are Grass-fed and Pasture raised animals, and the list goes on and on. While some of these labels provide more substantive assurance as to how the food was grown or raised, many labels are not much more than a weak attempt at luring environmentally conscious consumers.

Eighth Day Farm is Certified Naturally Grown. That means we follow the rules laid out by the USDA, but are not audited by a USDA agent. Instead, a peer Certified Naturally Grown farmer visits us once a year to see our operation, make sure we’re following guidelines, and discuss plans for future improvements to our growing methods.

Two schools of agricultural thought have played a significant role in shaping our practice. These are bio-intensive farming (out of Ecology Action) and permaculture. We have gravitated towards these schools of thought because we believe they have done the best job of keeping questions of sustainability and ecological wisdom at the center. These schools emphasize a regenerative agriculture that mimics living systems (such as the forest floor or prairie) and attempts to facilitate resilience that doesn’t simply sustain, but enhances life. Over millennia, we have done tremendous damage to the earth, but it is possible to cultivate systems that accelerate a positive succession- building soil organic matter, creating wildlife habitat, diversifying species, purifying water, sequestering carbon. While these ideas respect and seek out the insights of genuine science, they have not disavowed the accumulated wisdom of ancient and traditional agricultural practices around the globe like our reductionist modern industrial system has. We’ve attended farming conferences where it was made quite clear that the only matter of concern for those present was increasing profitability. The land grant universities had their professors spelling out on power-points how to do this, but there were no larger questions asked about the ecological soundness of it all. Wendell Berry probed this problem when he wrote, “What is the point of further study of nature if that leads to the further destruction of nature?” (Berry, Life is a Miracle). Our goal is to continually be learning from and about nature so that we can best fulfill the commission assigned to us in Genesis 2:15, to “serve and protect” it.