Those of you who have been eating organic produce since before 2010 have no doubt noticed a relentless and continuing decline in quality in recent years. This deterioration has occurred simultaneously with the increased availability of organics at places like Super WalMart and Target.
Persistent examples I’ve noticed of organic produce that doesn’t live up to its top tier reputation include: overly large, water logged strawberries and raspberries that rot and start to mold within days of purchase, bagged organic salad mix that rots long before the “use by” date, cucumbers and peppers that taste bitter and are soft in the middle despite a firm feel in your hands at the market, and celery that is woody, tasteless and nearly impossible to chew.
When I first started purchasing organic produce in the early 1990s, this type of thing never occurred. Organic produce was consistently tasty and long lasting in the vegetable bin in the refrigerator. I didn’t need any tricks or gadgets like the BluApple or FreshPaper produce saver sheets to keep my produce edible.
The truth is that nutrient dense, high quality produce shouldn’t rot or mold easily. In fact, one of the clearest signs of high brix (nutrient dense) produce is that it will actually start to grow in your veggie bin. Carrots and onions, for example, will sprout new shoots. Root vegetables which get soft or moldy instead of sprout new growth is a worrisome sign of inferior produce and low nutrition, not just a sunk cost in the food budget.
Hydroponic Produce is to Blame
The reason why organic produce isn’t as good as it used to be is the rapid and widespread proliferation of hydroponic produce labeled USDA Organic. Hydroponics is a technology for growing plants with their roots immersed in water with dissolved fertilizers often containing synthetics. An inert, nutritionless medium like peat or coconut fiber might also be used in place of the soil with the roots periodically bathed with a fertilizer solution. Aeroponics, a related practice eschewing soil, grows plants in an air or mist environment.
Despite its popularity today, hydroponic production was never mentioned in the Organic Foods Production Act (OFPA) of 1990. In addition, the widespread inclusion of hydroponics within the USDA Organic program since 2010 has occurred despite the formal objections of the National Organic Standards Board (NOSB), and the refusal to issue any guidance or regulations on the industry by the National Organic Program (NOP).
The NOSB first attempted to define the term organic in 1995 and it was described as follows:
an ecological production management system that promotes and enhances biodiversity, biological cycles, and soil biological activity. It is based on minimal use of off-farm inputs and on management practices that restore, maintain, and enhance ecological harmony.
In its recommendation to formally exclude hydroponics from the USDA Organic program in 2010, the NOSB further stated that “Growing media shall contain sufficient organic matter capable of supporting natural and diverse soil ecology. For this reason, hydroponic and aeroponic systems are prohibited.”
To date, the NOP has issued no guidance on the issue despite the NOSB urging rulemaking action on the situation.
Hydroponic Not to Be Confused with Aquaponic
When fish are added to a hydroponic system, it is called aquaponics – the integration of aquaculture and hydroponics.
Such a system cycles nutrient-rich water from fish tanks to naturally fertilize and irrigate, aka “fertigate”, the plants. This is considered a highly sustainable system as the water is recirculated and reused with the plants acting as natural biological filters. Synthetics are never used as part of the process.
In contrast, hydroponics without the aquaculture component frequently involves plant fertility maintained using off-farm and even synthetic inputs.
However, because aquaponics does not involve stewardship of natural and diverse soil ecology, it still should not be considered organic according to the NOSB.
Most Countries Do Not Allow Hydroponics to be Labeled Organic
The vast majority of organic hydroponic produce sold in the United States is grown in Mexico, Canada, or Holland. What’s so hugely ironic is that this very same produce cannot be labeled organic in the the country where it’s grown. It has to be shipped to the United States to obtain the coveted organic label.
Mexico, Canada, Japan, New Zealand, Holland, England, Germany, Italy, France, Spain, and 17 other European countries all prohibit hydroponic production to be sold as organic.
How the Hydroponic Invasion of USDA Organic Occurred
How has hydroponics so effectively taken over the USDA Organic produce market in such a short time with the NOSB formally recommending against it?
According to the Cornucopia Institute, the reason is because of the National Organic Program’s failure to issue any guidance or regulation on the situation for such a long time. This caused some accredited certifying agents (ACAs) for the USDA Organic program to declare “full steam ahead” and certify hydroponic farms to augment their revenue base. How many is anyone’s guess because certifiers are not required to state whether an organic farm is producing crops hydroponically.
Pressure came to bear when a petition to the NOP from David Chapman, an organic farmer in Vermont, asked to formally accept the NOSB recommendation. He was joined by the National Organic Coalition (NOC) which released a position paper on hydroponics in February 2014 in support of the NOSB recommendation saying, “Organic farmers are not just tillers of the soil, but also stewards of soil ecology on the farm. Until a clear definition has been provided by the NOP, (organic) certifiers should not be allowed to certify hydroponic systems.”
In response, the NOP stated on its website in February 2014 and again in its May 2014 quarterly publication that organic hydroponic production is allowed.
This simple statement in no way constitutes rules or regulations that are specific to hydroponics, however. No guidance has been given to the organic certifiers who are bringing these farms into the USDA Organic program about the use of synthetics, water quality and other issues with hydroponics.
Organic Hydroponics: Buyer Beware
As a result of the NOPs lack of attention to this matter, it is a buyer beware situation when it comes to organic hydroponics. As for me, I avoid organic hydroponic produce as much as I possibly can. The taste, nutrition and overall quality just doesn’t compare (not even close) with the same produce grown in nutrient dense soil. I know I’ll get a lot of nasty emails about this, but the truth is the truth. I’ve been buying organic produce for over 20 years, and organic hydroponic produce doesn’t fool those of us who know what real organic produce grown in ecologically balanced soil is supposed to taste like.
How to tell if produce was grown hydroponically? Unfortunately, nothing on the label will clue you in. With strawberries and sometimes cucumbers, it is easy. If they are huge, they are water logged and most likely hydroponic. Also, if the produce comes from Mexico, Canada, or Holland, it’s a good bet that it is hydroponic. With other produce, it’s not that simple.
One good way to tell if produce was grown in carefully tended, nutrient rich soil is to look for the word “biodynamic” on the packaging. Unfortunately, biodynamic and organic produce is still in the minority.
The best way to avoid hydroponics is to note which farms you are buying from that have produce that doesn’t last when you get home or taste very good when you eat it. Continue to buy only from those farms that are producing the good stuff no matter if it is organic or not. A phone call to the farm to confirm growing practices is a good idea if you want to avoid the trial and error approach.
There is one local, conventional farm near me that I have started to buy cucumbers from. Even though they are conventional, the cucumbers taste far better (which indicates superior nutrition) and last longer than the huge organic hydroponic ones at the healthfood store that taste bitter, are soft in the middle and rot quickly.
Keep the Soil in Organic
If this issue concerns you and you would like to lend your opinion, click over to this petition to the National Organic Program to urge them to “Keep the Soil in Organic”.
More Information
The Organic Hydroponics Dichotomy: Can a Soil-Less Growing System Be Organic?
Organic Hydroponic Produce? Not for Me
4 Steps to Keep Monsanto OUT of Your Garden!
Heirloom vs Hybrid Produce
Is Organic Really Any Better?
Was planning my garden this year and was curious about trying a hydroponic setup but was skeptical about growing quality, nutrient dense food without soil. Didn’t realize that Organic produce can be grown hydroponically. Great article and very informative. Looking forward to growing food the natural way, in soil.
I would love to see some actual data on your assertions. Despite the references to various organizations, there is a paucity of actual information.
1) have you looked at studies showing nutrient density in hydroponic vs conventional?
2) have you examined what chemicals are allowed in organic farming?
3) for foods that travel long distance, did you know that Vitamin C and folate are nearly gone, compared to locally-grown (hydroponics included)?
4) blind taste tests?
Without any data, it is very disappointing to see such harsh words against something you have no proof of.
It is amusing to me that hydroponic supports demand DATA, when we consumers don’t need any … just give me hydroponic produce and some soil grown organic produce and I can tell the difference most of the time JUST BY LOOKING AT IT. Certainly I can tell by eating it and seeing how quickly it molds (or doesn’t mold) in my veggie bin.
Hydroponic produce is LOW QUALITY produce even if raised “organic”.
Hydroponic produce has NO BUSINESS being labeled organic. It is low quality garbage that consumers are paying an arm and a leg for and it rots quickly and has little to no taste (which incidentally, means low nutrition). Some thing don’t need data, my friend. If you have common sense and the powers of observation, that’s all you need when determining that organic hydroponic produce doesn’t stack up in comparison to soil grown organics.
thanks , interesting,
yes, local trumps organics
i wonder if that’s why when i get herbs these days, like basil, i put them in water. but still they dont’ keep for > 2 days.
i remember being able to keep them like this for 5 days to a week.
cheers,
Sorry, but this article is confusing and misstated in so many places- I don’t even have time to respond to each problem.
I 100% agree with your avoidance of hydroponic produce. Hydroponics is just another way to grow conventional food.
It’s extremely difficult to get organic certification as a hydroponic farm and there are only a couple farms that have achieved this status. 99% of hydroponic produce is conventional.
It’s highly unlikely for produce from Mexico or any where to be grown hydroponically using synthetic nutrients, because synthetic nutrients are not allowed in organic production.
Yes- aquaponics is completely different than hydroponics. Aquaponics is basically the organic version of hydroponics. And I would argue that aquaponics should be considered organic for two reasons: 1. It saves the land by not farming it, allowing it to be restored, and 2. Most aquaponic farms dump the fish solid waste on to the soil to compost and provide nutrients back to the soil. So aquaponics is saving the land and adding nutrients back to it.
Interesting article,
I have noticed that Organic and Free Trade Bananas are looking drastically large does this mean that the hydroponic method is being used in farming bananas?
noone in their right mind would farm bananas hydroponically
There is one comment in here I don’t understand. You equate Brix with nutritional density.
Brix is a measure of sugar content. It is used in the wine industry to measure sugar of grapes and identify the exact time to harvest depending on the characteristics the wine maker desires.
Why would you equate sugar content with nutritional density? They seem like two different concepts.
Sugar content also happens to equate with mineral density from what I have learned from my farmer friends who work the soil to grow high brix produce. Produce that tastes better due to a higher brix (dissolved sugars) also provides you with more beneficial organic minerals like calcium, phosphorus etc.
Just saying We do a small bit of hydroponics as a family and there are all kinds of ways to do this type of garden. We have done it over tilapia pond, in sand boxes, where water with nutrients are put on the plants once a day, and in the more traditional lay out of pvc with a large water container that waters the plants on a timer.
Our tomatoes have never tasted better. We pick all pest off with our fingers, there has never been any pesticides put on anything. Beyond that we have used natural products to provide the nutrients, that are recycled as the water drains back into the whole container.
My lettuce last up to a week-ten days once picked. tomatoes the same… I have never known any root veggies personally to be done in hydroponics so I can not speak on those. Any fresh veggie picked from the garden like tomatoes, or lettuce, have always needed to be used relatively quickly.
If I wait for something to be vine ripe it has a short shelf life, I am okay with that, the fresher the better.
I am sure there are some terrible hydroponic gardens that are not organic and should not be open, but that does not mean everyone is existence is operating that same way.
Confusing article, arguments such as “it doesn’t taste as good” or “it doesn’t last as long” aren’t really good nutritional data measurements IMO and heavily biased. I would suspect the real reason is that simply plants grown in a nutrient rich solution grow and decay faster than plants grown slowly in a soil environment. And being submerged completely in water while growing adds a lot of water base to the plant and dilutes the flavor a bit. but the nutrient and mineral content? Naw… Then being offended because plants are grown aquaponically instead of hydroponically is just a level of madness I can’t fathom. People this picky have many viable solutions. Go to a local farmers market and inspect the farm you are buying from or grow it yourself with your own specifications. But in a world where people eat pink slime nuggets from McDonalds, arguing over a piece of organic lettuce’s origin is just madness. Pick your battles people! Of course I tend to not agree with hippies much, so I should have known this going in to the article I guess 😛
At the end of your excellent article, I followed the link to the article about keeping Monsanto out of my garden. For the next half hour I searched for the labels from the zucchini starts I had bought from Lowe’s, hoping to find they are not GMO. Thankfully, they turned out to be from heirloom seeds.
Since I carry the Weston A Price Foundation’s shopping guide in my purse, in the future it might be useful to add a page in it that lists “Best” seed and plant brands and guidance, in the format of the rest of the guide.
Although I am now aware of a few best brands and can stay with those, that page would also serve as an alert for people who are not yet aware of the hidden issues. And It’s important to flow dollars toward responsible suppliers and away from the tricksters.
We used to buy tomatoes from a hydroponic grower (in the winter). One day we were over there and he’s adjusting the water ph with battery acid! Somehow, I just couldn’t bring myself to eat those “organic” tomatoes anymore.
I just choked on my tea reading this comment.
i too visited a large hydroponic farm that supplies whole foods and up scale restaurants in the washington dc area. the owner was gracious and took a long time to teach us about hydroponics as we were looking into investing in a system for our home and aquaponics was a little advanced for us. he did show us how he used sulfuric acid (battery acid) to adjust the water pH circulating through the troughs. i was aghast! we visited another hydroponic farm that was very well run also servicing restaurants and whole foods in DC. they didn’t use acid, but were high tech in using the big four nutrients green plants need to grow. i wondered where the micronutrients would be coming from…..they also used chlorox to keep the place from any mold growing. i don’t know how much of that chlorine gets absorbed by the green leaves–they are air filters, right?
i do want to say that hydroponics does give you the option of planting in soil and a timer is set to circulate water in a flood style system. many of the hydroponic stores have a vortex machine in which they mix a phenomenal blend of bacteria and nutrients. some of the soil blends are volcanic soil mixes-very rich in nutrients. not the easiest way, but workable.
I’m sorry to inform you, but if that hydroponics farmer said he doesn’t use acid to adjust his pH he lied or he doesn’t know what he’s talking about. Acid is a main ingredient in hydroponics nutrients as it is nitric, phosphoric, sulfuric, citric, ect. Nutrient solutions drift as co2 levels change and plants uptake nutrients. I hate to inform you and about every health minded athlete who uses vitamins. Lol it isn’t poop in that capsule, look on the label of sports drinks you will see mono potassium phosphate. Omg that’s the potassium I use in my hydroponics solution. My tap water has a TDS of 1500 ppm my hydroponics solution has a total of 300 ppm, you tell me which is safer to drink lol.
Lots of ground to cover regarding impressions of bias and ignorance and not using the word as a slight. The person who commented about the use of battery acid id ask do you know what kind of acid it is? It’s the same used to lower PH in aquaponics so plants and fish do not die.
Citric acid of which is one of many acids I use in hydroponics cannot be used in aquaponics due to its anti bacterial properties is not used. The author stated no synthetics are used in aquaponics, untrue as you can see. Many softdrinks, drinking water is pH adjusted with “battery acid” phosphoric acid leaves elemental phoporus, nitric acid leaves elemental nitrogen, citric acid leaves nothing which is bennificial if I do not want to increase any NPK.
As for the whopla of Brixinh, I add M.O.S.T mix of soluable traces to my solution in just the right tiny amount. aluminum, lead, arcenic, radioactive compounds are not amung them as can be present in soil that plants love and increase brix. Because my water is pure to start I can say not only do I precisely know what is in my food, but what is not.