About Certified Organics

What do we mean when we say Certified Organic?
Certified organic farmers must produce their crops in an economically and environmentally sound process. Once they have this process in place, they must ensure their land and harvested crops are not contaminated from non-organic material. Sources of such material can include pesticide and herbicide drift or water run off from neighboring farms.

A certifying company ensures a farmer adheres to guidelines for organic production. Guidelines cover seed selection, greenhouse techniques, soil preparation, fertilizer selection and application, water sources, crop rotation, weed and pest control and post-harvest handling. If the farmer passes the certification process she has the right to use the certifier's and USDA Organic logos.

Genesis Growers was certified by Ecocert Indiana Certified Organic. Ecocert-ICO has been certifying US farms since 1995 and are a recognized leader in organic certification.

The Certification Process
The process of certification includes selecting a certifier, developing a plan for operating your farm free from non-organic contaminants, submitting an application, approval of application, site visit and then finally, certification; phew! It took us over 5 years to complete the process.

The foundation of certification is developing a complete and workable organic system plan. Our plan includes:

• Codifying the procedures we use during every phase of production and distribution.
• Evaluating and listing each substance we use on the farm including documentation of seed origin. If there is not organic equivalent for a seed, this too must be documented.
• Developing and documenting a set of monitoring techniques we will use to maintain continued organic production.
• Developing and describing what we are doing to prevent contamination from outside sources throughout every phase of production.

We completed our organic system plan in early 2010. Our plan was accepted and a site visit was completed by an Ecocert Indiana Organic Certified inspector later that year. We were approved and now use the badge "organic" with confidence and pride. We will be subject to annual review in order to maintain our status.