Certified Organic

Rock Spring Farm's vegetable, herb, and flower production is certified organic by the Midwest Organic Services Association (MOSA).

Certifying our product as organic - rather than claiming to "use organic methods" or using another "ecolabel" - means that we follow the USDA's standards for the practices and materials that qualify as "organic". At its most basic level, organic farming means an absence of chemical fertilizers, pesticides, and genetically modified organisms from all aspects of our crop production. Organic farmers also must farm in a way that improves soil and does not deplete natural resources. In addition, the National Organic Standards forbid the use of sewage sludge and irradiation, as well as the application of raw manures to food crops within 90 days of harvest.

Each year we complete an "Organic Farm Plan Questionnaire" and open our farm to an inspector to verify our compliance with the organic standards. In addition, we maintain a complete audit trail to verify our compliance with all aspects of the organic standards, from certified organic seed and transplants to accepted sanitizers in the packing shed.

Since the implementation of the National Organic Program in the fall of 2002, the organic community has debated their impact on small farms, as well as the appropriateness of continuing to certify now that the USDA controls the label and the definition of the word "organic." We feel that following the rules of certification helps us to become better farmers, improving the environment on the potential health of our children and our customers; it means more to us than just following the law.

Mary Howell Martins wrote an excellent column on the subject of organic certification for the New Farm website in the fall of 2003. It provides an overview of the current issues being faced by organic producers and the organic community at large as we learn to interface with the newly-implemented USDA rules; it also sums up very well why we have chosen to remain certified. Click here to read it: