Aiden Irish

March 25, 2026

One of the most common questions I get at any market is “are you organic?” When people ask me this, what they mean is, am I certified organic under the U.S. Department of Agriculture National Organics Program (NOP). This is the program with the green and white “USDA Organic” label that you will recognize from the grocery store.

My response is always the same: “My practices far exceed the standards, but I’m not certified.” The longer answer is that, I would love to be certified and likely will be someday, but it just doesn't make sense for my farm at this moment. 

So let’s talk about it (Buckle up, this gets nerdy).

A Brief History of Organics

The National Organic Program – I’m going to refer to it as NOP from here on – is a voluntary certification offered by the U.S. Department of Agriculture available to any business producing, processing, and/or selling animals, crops, or derived products that are, to some degree, “organic.” Before we get to talking about what “organic” means as a regulatory program, let’s talk about its roots as a farming movement.

As a philosophy, organic agriculture emerged from the humus farming movement in England and the U.S. during the early and mid-20th Century that sought to return agriculture to practices that “feed the soil.” Humus farming emphasizes animal and crop diversity and integrating production within natural biological processes that feed the soil through decomposition (“Humus” refers to the fully decomposed organic matter that makes up the top layer of healthy soil). If you’ve read my growing practices page or heard me talk about them, this will sound familiar.

The humus movement was responding to the rise in what we now call “conventional” agricultural practices that rely on high levels of fertilizers, pesticides, fungicides and herbicides (and more recently genetically modified organisms). The push for organic production became stronger in the 1970s and 80s in response to the Green Revolution, which was an international effort to increase global food production by encouraging producers around the world to adopt conventional growing practices. Concern about the environmental impacts of agriculture in the U.S. – namely the impact of chemicals on wild animals – spurred by figures such as Rachel Carson, added further fuel to the organic fire.

Responding to growing consumer interest in the late 20th Century, many independent organic certification programs emerged to help communicate that farmers were using organic practices. All of these programs used different certification standards with varying levels of quality.

Eventually, Congress established the National Organic Program in 1990 to help clarify the term. However, it wasn’t until 2002 that regulations were established to govern the definitions, processes, and requirements for becoming certified organic through the national program. As NOP became more widespread after 2002, it took the place of many of the other organic certifications that had emerged before it.

As a regulatory program, the purpose of the 2002 NOP is to “develop and enforce consistent national standards for organically produced agricultural products sold in the United States.” Drawing on its humus movement roots, the NOP defines organic production as “a production system that is managed [in a way that]… respond[s] to site-specific conditions by integrating cultural, biological, and mechanical practices that foster cycling of resources, promote ecological balance, and conserve biodiversity” (Section 205.2 of the regulations).

Confused by that definition? You’re not alone. Let’s talk about what this means in practice.

What it Means to be Certified “Organic”  

Let’s take each of the key terms in the organic definition above one-by-one, starting with the use of “system” to describe farming.

Organic farming recognizes agricultural production as a “system” that exists within other complex systems. My farm (and all others) is impacted by everything from macro-level factors like climate change to micro-level things like soil microbes. A “systems perspective” like organic farming recognizes the complex interconnection of these factors, which contrasts with simpler, industrial perspectives of farming that see farming as a matter of inputs and outputs.

The phrase “site specific” recognizes that farming methods are always adapted to specific contexts where they are used. For example, how I grow and produce food will not look the same as a similar farm in the Southwest U.S. or elsewhere in the world. Additionally, how my farm operates must respond to changing conditions around my farm, both over the course of the year and over time (i.e., in response to climate change). This contrasts with how conventional agriculture is practiced, which attempts to apply the same or similar practices regardless of context.

Within these complex systems and site-specific conditions, organic farmers have three basic toolkits, each of which is mentioned in the definition. First, we can use cultural practices, which simply means planting crop species and varieties that are adapted to our climate, soil types, etc.

Second, we can use biological practices to manage things like pests. For example, I love seeing snakes on my farm because they eat mice and slugs. Creating spaces for predators is an important tool organic farmers use to manage pests that might otherwise destroy crops. Biological practices involve leveraging natural systems to benefit our farms. Finally, we can use mechanical practices like tilling, pruning, trellising, etc. to manage crop health. For example, I prune and carefully trellis crops like tomatoes and cucumbers to reduce the risk of mold and increase production. All three of these toolkits – cultural, biological, and mechanical practices – are used in place of relying on chemical solutions like pesticides, herbicides, or commercial fertilizer.

The Goals of Organic Agriculture

With these tools, our goal in organic farming is not only to produce food, but to improve the environment. The NOP definition emphasizes three goals. First is to cycle resources. Using compost and growing cover crops are both examples of intentionally (re)cycling resources, either directly on the farm or in the surrounding region. This contrasts with conventional farming methods that use nonrenewable materials like potash (a key ingredient in commercial fertilizer).

Our second goal is to balance our farm system with the surrounding ecological systems. My appreciation of snakes is an example of this. In fact, when we see “pest problems” in organic farming, it is often a sign of a larger ecological imbalance, such as the lack of an appropriate predator. Resolving the pest issue is really a matter of creating a healthier ecological environment that can manage those pests for us. In contrast, conventional farming methods approach pests with further inputs (e.g., pesticides).

Finally, if done correctly, organic practices help conserve biodiversity. Protecting and maintaining diverse predator-pest dynamics, growing a variety of crops, and maintaining habitat zones are all part of this conservation. Again, this contrasts with conventional agriculture, which is linked to habitat and biodiversity loss.

The Challenges of Legislating a Philosophy

Everything outlined above is a farming philosophy that describes principles, practices, and aspirations of the organic farmer (In addition to hopefully making a profit). Making decisions within this philosophy involves balancing sometimes competing needs, making the best of imperfect situations, and aspiring towards goals that we often only partially achieve. If you’re a working parent, trying to juggle your job, raising good humans, and maybe preserving your own sanity, you’ll be familiar with this kind of imperfect juggling act.

Just like parenting, there are also different interpretations of the same philosophy in organic farming. As just one example, a major debate in my world of farming is over “no till.” My farm uses minimal tillage in order to limit soil erosion and maintain ecosystems. However, in order to do this effectively, I have to use large inputs of compost beyond what the farm itself can produce. Other farmers critique this approach and advocate careful tillage in order to incorporate on-site nutrients. They argue that the harms of disturbing soil structure and critters are outweighed by the benefits of incorporating on-site organic matter. I disagree, but also recognize that this argument has merits. Organic farming is replete with these kinds of nuanced debates.

This gets us to the conundrum of turning a philosophy into policy. How do you create a program that applies consistently across all farms and is specific enough to be meaningful while also allowing for nearly infinite “site specific” practices and philosophical interpretations of the philosophy? To return to our analogy of parenting, think about what you would do if you had to create a policy to recognize “good parenting” that allows for different philosophical, economic, regional, and cultural interpretations of what that phrase means.

The answer to this challenge is to legislate what ISN’T permitted, rather than what IS desired. The primary consideration in receiving and maintaining organic certification is the demonstration that prohibited items – synthetic herbicides, pesticides, fungicides, GMO materials, etc. – are not being used. Trying to do the inverse – legislating what should be done – would invariably result in some fully defensible organic practice being excluded from the standards.

None of this is a critique of the organic certification program (I’ll describe why you are right to want organic food below). It’s important to know that when you buy organic food, you are buying something that is certified to be produced without specific materials. It does not guarantee soil quality, biodiversity, or human well-being on the farm (Organic certification says nothing about labor practices, though it's worth recognizing that organic farms by definition do not expose their workers to harmful chemicals that many farm laborers are routinely exposed to). A farm with bad soil management and mono-crops can still be certified organic, even if that doesn’t fit with the philosophy and historical roots of organic farming.

The shortcomings of organic certification are a large part of why many growers choose to instead use terms like biodynamic, regenerative, sustainable, etc. In practice, all of these terms have similar goals. But “organic” has come to narrowly mean “certified” in a way that many farmers (myself included) do not feel lives up to the actual goals of the original movement. Some of these shortcomings are the result of lobbying that water down organic standards. But they are also the inevitable result of creating a nationwide certification that needs to be applicable to a wide variety of different contexts, operations, and philosophical approaches.

Is there any value in buying organic?

Absolutely! There are still many valid reasons for consumers to prefer organic food and for farmers to want to be certified organic. On the consumer side, buying organic ensures that the food you eat contains fewer pesticides, herbicides, fungicides, and other harmful chemicals. There are, of course, caveats to this statement. Importantly, certification does not guarantee that the final product will be completely free of herbicides and pesticides (See pg. 11 of this resource for more detail on this) and organic production does permit a limited number of organic pesticides that rely on biological processes. Additionally, organic fraud – where a nonorganic product is sold as organic – is a problem, particularly in longer national and global supply chains.

Despite these imperfections, when you’re buying food – particularly when you don’t know the farmer – buying organic is an important assurance that your food is less likely to contain these contaminants. If you need to prioritize, the Environmental Working Group's list of the “clean 15” and “dirty dozen” is a great, science-based resource to help you spend your organic dollars wisely.

On the farmer's side, being certified can have significant financial value, but with some caveats. For farmers who sell wholesale or through grocery stores – and thus are not able to speak directly to their customers – organic certification provides a legally enforced quality standard that many customers seek out. As a result, organic crops typically have a higher market value than their conventionally grown counterparts. Additionally, being certified can provide access to markets that are not otherwise accessible to farmers who are not certified organic.

That being said, organic profitability is not always a guarantee. The actual profitability of organic farming depends heavily on the context and crop. It is also undermined by availability. Simply put, as organic becomes a larger share of the market, the scarcity that historically gave it relative value declines.

Many farms, however, choose organic practices for personal and value reasons rather than financial ones. I once did research with dried bean farmers in the northeastern U.S. and many of the certified organic growers described personal and family health as a principal motivator. These farmers were concerned about the health impacts on them, their workers, and their families that come from using chemical sprays. Additionally, many farmers are concerned about the environmental consequences that conventional practices cause and choose organic methods to avoid these. My motivations for using organic practices fall into these latter, non-financial reasons.

Why My Farm is Not Certified

Let’s finally answer the question of why my farm is not certified even when my practices are organic.

The first reason is something I have not mentioned yet, which is the cost of becoming certified. Organic certification is not free. It requires an application, in-person inspection, and annual maintenance. Initial inspection costs for a new certification are generally higher than the annual maintenance fee costs. These are not onerous, ranging from a few hundred to several thousand dollars per year for an operation like mine, and cost-sharing programs are available. Nonetheless, they are a deterrent, particularly for new farmers like me who are still building a financially viable business.

A related “cost” of being certified is the administrative work. Establishing and maintaining organic certification is more of a paperwork challenge than a pure financial one. These are, again, not overwhelming. Nonetheless, maintaining the requisite records for certification adds a meaningful administrative burden than can be a barrier, particularly (again) for a new farmer like myself. In short, while these costs will be manageable for my operation eventually, they are a sufficient barrier now to encourage me to delay certification.

The final, and far more important barrier to organic certification for my farm is the time involved. Becoming a certified farm requires a three-year certification process before being able to market products as organic (this is not true for processors and food handlers). This time is required to demonstrate that any chemicals that might have been used on the land have had time to leave the soil.

If I owned land or had a long-term lease, this wouldn’t be a deterrent. However, my farmland leases are only three to five years long. As a result, I could find myself navigating the organic certification process only to need to move my operation to new land before getting to see the financial benefit. Because a certification is to land and not the farm business, I would need to start over from scratch.

Eventually, I would love to become certified, primarily because it would provide a meaningful and recognizable assurance to new customers and in wholesale markets. I’m holding off on that process until I know I won’t need to leave my land and until I’m sufficiently established and the financial and administrative costs are easier to swallow.

What does all this mean for you when you’re buying food?

The organic label is an important one in U.S. and global agriculture, but consumers often ascribe more meaning to it than the certification actually carries. My hope here is that, when you look for organic, it is with a little more understanding about what the label means.

With that in mind, here are a few key takeaways you should keep in mind when looking for organic products.  

1. Understand that there are legitimate reasons to NOT be certified organic. The NOP is a great program, but not a perfect one. In many ways, the standard does not fully live up to the goals of the movements that informed it and factors like cost, time, and land lease arrangements can make it an unwise choice depending on the farm. Just because a farm isn’t certified doesn’t mean they are not pursuing the true spirit of the program. Keep this in mind when talking to farmers about their farms and products.

2. Extend a little trust. If you find yourself talking directly to a farmer, they are very likely to be willing to describe their growing practices, sometimes in excruciating detail! Lying about farming practices is not something I have encountered among farmers selling in local markets where reputation and consumer trust are fundamental. Fraud does exist in organic markets, but it tends to be in long supply chains and by larger companies that already have less-than-stellar reputations, according to a 2020 study. It also tends to exist in situations where there is a lot of money riding on the claim. But that just isn’t the case for small farmers like me selling their goods one $10 sale at a time. Our reputation is more important than the few dollars we might make from a fake organic sale. More importantly, most of us take enormous pride in our work and aren’t willing to misrepresent it.

3. Prioritize organic choices in “long supply chains.” If you are concerned about chemical exposure - and you really should be, if not for yourself, then for the workers who are exposed to chemicals - prioritize choosing organic in grocery stores or other purchasing situations where you don’t know where the food is coming from. If you’re constrained by cost, refer to the “dirty dozen” described previously when choosing what to buy that is organic.

4. Follow policy and regulations on organic. Despite its limitations, I cannot emphasize enough that the organic certification is arguably one of the most important food certification labels available. The continued trustworthiness of that label, however, depends on sustained funding, administrative support, and checks on lobbying influences that would benefit from weakening or eliminating it. There are many current threats to the ongoing trust and reliability of this program (The major ones are outlined here). Even if you aren’t a farmer, follow potential changes to this program and pester your representatives to protect it. I recommend the National Organic Coalition, the National Sustainable Agriculture Coalition, and American Farmland Trust as good organizations to follow, all of which offer well-researched analyses of current agriculture and food policy issues.