Unbeknownst to most of us, more fruits and vegetables are being grown in industrial settings, with nutrients primarily coming from a liquid fertilizer solution instead of rich, fertile soil.
Does that sound like organically grown produce to you? Or do you picture berry or tomato plants grown in healthy fertile soil as the earthy heart of organic farming?
Would it surprise you to learn that many berries, tomatoes, and some vegetables, such as peppers and cucumbers, that are now labeled organic in the United States are grown hydroponically, without any soil at all?
Organic Farming in the United States
The Organic Foods Production Act of 1990 made it clear that replenishing and maintaining soil fertility is foundational to organic farming. In 1995, the National Organic Standard Board (NOSB), the USDA’s expert advisory panel, defined organic agriculture as “an ecological production management system that promotes and enhances biodiversity, biological cycles, and soil biological activity.”The USDA’s organic regulations describe organic agriculture as a set of practices that “support the cycling of on-farm resources, promote ecological balance, and conserve biodiversity.”
That “enhancing soil” part is key in the minds of many organic advocates. To that end, in 2010, the NOSB recommended prohibiting crop production systems that eliminate soil, such as hydroponics, from obtaining organic certification. However, the National Organic Program, part of the USDA’s Agricultural Marketing Service for the USDA organic standards and the accreditation of organic certifying agents, never adopted this recommendation.
In the autumn of 2017, after a massive lobbying effort on the part of industrial agribusiness, the NOSB voted 8–7 against a recommendation to prohibit hydroponic crops from being labeled organic.
What Is Hydroponics?
Hydroponic systems grow plants in water, essentially, often with an inert medium, such as coconut husk, to give the roots stability. The plants are fed nutrients through the water and no soil is involved in the process.Because hydroponics eliminates soil, it removes the entire process of nurturing healthy soil capable of sustaining a rich microbial life and a variety of healthy plants. Hydroponics supporters say the method can conserve water and grow plants quickly.
Not everyone who supports hydroponics agrees with NOSB’s 2017 vote.
Dan Lubkeman, an avid proponent of hydroponics, was disappointed that the USDA granted organic status to hydroponics. He’s president of the Hydroponic Society of America (HSA), a 46-year-old nonprofit organization that promotes hydroponics.
“The word ‘organic’ was very specifically created for soil-grown plants, and hydroponics was very specifically created for soil-less growing,” he said in an email.
“Consumers want to know their food is safe. As you know, the word organic gives consumers that warm fuzzy perception of healthy, pesticide-free food.”
Lubkeman said consumers are willing to pay a premium for organic foods and the clean ideals the organic label represents.
“The hydroponic industry wants to cash in on that consumer perception of safety without putting in the years of developing their own version of the word ‘organic.’ It’s easier for them to charge more, faster, by piggybacking off the soil farmers. I think the hydroponic industry has no rights to the word organic, I think it’s lazy marketing and misleading to the consumer. Hydro-organic is an oxymoron in my book,” he said.
While the “organic” label may not be perfect, and there are issues with organic fraud, it is meaningful to consumers and organic foods are generally superior to conventional food. But organic is not hydroponic, in Lubkeman’s view, and it doesn’t need to be. Hydroponics has its own merits and should stand on them, he suggested.
“In a well-run hydroponic growing operation there’s never pesticides, no animal feces or blood/bone meals, nothing composted, and less risk of pathogens and disease. My definition of hydroponic food is ‘more food, in less space, with less water and in less time.’ Hydroponics has many advantages and is the future of farming,” he said.
Lubkeman and the HSA aren’t the only ones taking issue with hydroponics’ organic status, although most of the groups that oppose it do so because they see unique benefits from soil that are not replicated in hydroponics.
It’s All About Soil
Putting aside the food merits of hydroponics vs soil-grown foods, there is an essential benefit to organics. Organic farming has always been based on “feed the soil, not the plant.” Real organic farming relies on the microbial activity of the soil to slowly release nutrients to the plant.That means that the soil is capable of nurturing food for future generations without the more complex technology of hydroponic operations. It also means that the soil is returned to a natural state of rich microbial activity and ecological diversity.
When it comes to organic versus conventional agriculture, this difference is distinct. Conventional agriculture uses herbicides such as glyphosate to kill off other vegetation and then feeds the plants through chemical fertilizers.
The Struggle to Keep the Soil in Organic
While “organic” hydroponic operations don’t use chemical pesticides and herbicides, they also don’t contribute to the ecological health of the larger planetary ecosystem. This distinction seems more clear to organic regulators in different countries.Labeling hydroponic produce as “organic” is basically only occurring in the United States. Hydroponic produce is explicitly prohibited from being labeled as organic in Canada, Mexico, and most other developed countries.
The preponderance of “organic” hydroponic production comes from corporate-owned, industrial-scale facilities in the desert Southwest and Mexico (where it’s exported to the U.S.) or is imported from countries such as Holland where it is also illegal to market soil-less production as organic, according to the 2018 report.
Organic experts say hydroponics is one of a few primary threats to the integrity of the organic program. One expert leading the charge for organic foods to keep to the standards it was founded on of being grown in healthy soil is Dave Chapman, an organic tomato grower at Long Wind Farm in Vermont.
Between 2011 and 2013, Chapman started to notice something different about the organic tomatoes at all the grocery stores he visited.
“The truth is at this time the vast majority of fresh ‘certified organic’ tomatoes in the stores are hydroponic, and more of some other vegetables will become hydroponic. Organic will mean hydro-grown stuff from massive greenhouse complexes,” he said.
“Is that what organic means to us? I don’t think it is. It’s not what it means to me, and I’ve barely met anybody in the organic community who says, ‘Yes, that’s what organic means.’ Nobody believes those places should be organic except the people that run them.”
One of those people is Jim Kras, CEO of Edible Garden.
Edible Garden says it produces “sustainable, local produce, grown in Zero-Waste Inspired greenhouses.” The company works with local greenhouses to get produce it says consumers can trust.
“Edible Garden welcomes the ability to have the same opportunities to grow certified organic crops hydroponically and in CEA [controlled environment agriculture] facilities as traditional field growers. This sign of support from USDA will allow consumers to ultimately benefit from a wider selection of organic produce at their local grocery stores,” Kras said in an email interview.
Companies such as Edible Garden produce foods free of chemical pesticides and herbicides, but critics such as Chapman say that isn’t enough.
Chapman believes it’s impossible for hydroponic growers to recreate soil conditions.
Sorting Through the Confusion
Hydroponic is a radical departure from the way that a plant gets its nutrition in nature, though hydroponic supporters such as Lubkeman say hydroponics just makes it easier for a plant to absorb inorganic, processed elements derived from organic elements such as nitrogen, phosphorous, and potassium.But for those who want to do more than avoid toxic inputs into agriculture and want to support a food production system that nurtures the essential health of the soil, hydroponics doesn’t quite cut it.
Ways to Select Soil-Grown Organic Produce
Better yet, find soil-grown organic produce and products by looking for two relatively new add-on labels to USDA Organic. Farmers and advocates of strong organic practices haven’t abandoned the USDA organic program but have taken action to build on it to maintain the integrity of real organic farming.Real Organic Project
After unsuccessful efforts to get hydroponics out of produce with the USDA Organic label, Chapman co-founded the Real Organic Project—a farmer-led movement that was created to distinguish soil-grown produce and pasture-raised products under USDA Organic.Real Organic Project operates as an add-on label to certified organic, meaning it only certifies farms that are already USDA Organic. It doesn’t cost any money for a farm to become Real Organic Project certified because the certification program is funded by eaters, farmers, and private foundations that want to differentiate farms that are growing their animals and their crops to the letter—and spirit—of the certified organic standards.
