Certified Organic - Where can I get that seal?

Mhonpaj’s Garden, the first Hmong-owned and operated USDA certified organic farm in Minnesota, is certified through the Minnesota Crop Improvement Association (MCIA). That is to say, you know that May, Chue, and Mhonpaj farm according to the Organic Foods Production Act of 1990, because they've been certified by the MCIA, which has been accredited by the USDA’s National Organic Program (NOP).

Wait, what?

The US Department of Agriculture is a busy department and cannot review all ~13,000 of the organic producers in the US. So they delegate the certification responsibility to outside organizations. The chain of command goes something like this:

USDA►Agricultural Marketing Service ►National Organic Program ►Accredited Certifying Agents

So, part of NOP’s job is to accredit private businesses, organizations, and state agencies which then certify organic producers and handlers. According to a data set here, in 2008 there were 20 state and 40 private certifiers, and according to NOP, there are 56 domestic and 42 foreign certifiers.

Mhonpaj’s Garden and Cornercopia (UMN’s student organic farm) are two of fifty crop producers certified through the MCIA. Loon Organics is another organic crop producer in Minnesota, and they are currently certified through Midwest Organic Services Association (MOSA).

Which begs the question: How does one pick an Accredited Certifying Agent among the almost one hundred out there? For one, some agents serve only certain areas. Case in point: MCIA serves only six states in the Midwest. To tease out other differences, the Rodale Institute has a nifty guide that lets farmers search certifiers by attributes, compare two side-by-side, and more. For kicks, I compared the top five (self-identified) strengths of MCIA and MOSA:

MCIA	MOSA
Personal contacts	Prompt, courteous service
Timely service	Always someone in the office to answer questions
Long history of independent status	Organic plan questionnaires are user-friendly
Professional	MOSA information meetings, conferences, events
Unbiased	Newsletter

What about the certification process itself? The basic process is as follows:

1. Farmer Joe Organic contacts MCIA for information.
2. Farmer Joe Organic receives introductory documents and fills out application.
3. MCIA office staff reviews application and sends it to Inspector Jane Growright.
4. Inspector Jane Growright inspects farm and files a report. Farmer Joe Organic corrects any noncompliance issues.
5. Organic committee reviews farmer's file, accepts it, and sends Farmer Joe Organic a contract and a bill.
6. Farmer Joe Organic signs contract, pays bill, and receives certificate.

In some ways, this process is reminiscent of applying to colleges. You hunt around for an institution that looks good, get information about their programs, fill out an application, and have an interview. A committee decides to let you in (or not), and you pay them a bunch of money every year for the privilege of their services.

What the application process lacks in self-reflective essays, it more than makes up for in management techniques, as probed in the organic plan questionnaire, #3 of MOSA's strengths and the topic of the next post.




Revised 7/20/2012.