Federal Judge Sides With Hydroponic Farmers in ‘Organic’ Fight
modernfarmer.com
The legal battle over whether hydroponic farms can qualify for the certified organic label appears over for now: The soil-less growers will continue to qualify for the coveted—and profitable—designation, thanks to a new federal court ruling late last week. US District Judge Richard Seeborg on Friday ruled against a coalition, led by an advocacy group called the Center for Food Safety, that had asked the court to bar hydroponic farms from being certified organic by the US Department of Agriculture. The ruling, however, did not try to answer the question of whether such growers should be considered organic but only

It’s an interesting discussion here. I also think, for those who think it’s unfair that conventional to organic farmers need three years to allow the soil to recover but hydroponic farmers dont need to worry about this…are hydroponic farmers required to study the effect of the water they use in their system? Where they source it, how they dispose of it?

  • @AgreeableLandscape
    1•3 years ago

    for those who think it’s unfair that conventional to organic farmers need three years to allow the soil to recover but hydroponic farmers dont need to worry about this…

    How is this relevant to the health effects of the food?

    As for environmental impact, hydroponics don’t contribute to soil degradation and their fertilizers are in a closed system, so…

    • MetawishOP
      1•3 years ago

      Are you asking how soil is relevant to health effects of the food? unsure what you’re asking here…

      For the second part, right, it makes sense but where do they source their water? How do they manage that resource? If the point of organic certification is ensuring proper use of resources, mainly soil but can include other items, then have we investigated enough about hydroponics to make the assursion?