Across the world , gazillion of honeybees are hard at work , pollenate vital crops and deform nectar into honey . In various location near Wilmington , Delaware , more than a million of those bee return home to “ microapiaries ” under the care of Stephanie Grant .
“ I am selective in my locating , as the prop can not be plow with synthetic herbicides or pesticide , ” she state . “ There needs to be an abundance of natural resource , including a variety of pollen and ambrosia generator , as well as a water source . And I need to guarantee that the safety of the bee and the great unwashed are always at the forefront . I consider we need to practice nature and work with it , not against it . ”
This notion system is what conduct Grant to pursueCertified Naturally Grown certificationfor herSassy Bee Honey two years ago . for the most part depict as a grassroots alternative to the U.S. Department of Agriculture Certified Organic recording label , CertifiedNaturally Grown producer see it as that and more .
“ I read the acronym somewhere online , and I did not get it on what it was . So I research it , ” Grant says . “ As I read , I thought it was completely in line with my current philosophy and many of the practices I already follow . I did have to make a few modifications to become endorse , but they were changes that are for the advance of the bees . So I was completely on board . ”
For beekeepers , USDA Certified Organic approval is difficult . To commence , the National Organic Program does n’t have an beekeeping standard . Rather it bank on the livestock standards , a few item on the allowed synthetic - materials inclination , plus some “ draft guidance”—standards that have been issued but not made prescribed by the National Organic Standards Board .
Because bees can travel miles to forage , a USDA Certified Organic operation must prove their bees forage from plants not treat with nix materials in a 1.8 - mile radius , which is difficult to come by .
Courtesy Stephanie Grant
The Certified Naturally Grown label , on the other hand , has an apiary authentication , making it easy for apiculturist to understand what is expect of them and best exercise for beekeeping in line with nature .
Livestock farmers , mushroom agriculturalist , aquaponics producer and veggie Fannie Farmer , too , see to Certified Naturally Grown as another way to show their client they ’re serious about responsibly managing their resources .
“ In 2002 , when the natural law instal the [ USDA ] National Organic Program take on issue , farmers were command to complete the organic certification process to continue using the ‘ type O - word ’ or else they ’d take a chance usurious fines for bring out the newfangled law , ” says Alice Varon , executive film director of Certified Naturally Grown . That ’s when Certified Naturally Grown was base by a grouping of farmers who did n’t want to undergo this government certification .
Courtesy Stephanie Grant
More than 700 Fannie Merritt Farmer hold this certification as of mid-2022 , including several farm thatHobby Farmsreaders may be familiar with , such as Soul Fire Farm in New York , Indian Line Farm in Massachusetts , Broadfork Farm in Virginia , and River Queen Greens in Louisiana . Courtesy Stephanie Grant
Getting Educated
Most of Demetra Markis and Dan Ginsburg ’s 33 - Accho Milleflora Farm is in grassland in Sonoma County , California . On the 2 land under cultivation , they have an orchard and about1⁄2acre of no - till , intensively planted vegetables and medicinal herbs . While their flock of two XII Katahdin and Navajo - Churro sheep is n’t Certified Naturally Grown , the vegetables and herbs are .
Markis develop the herbs for her holistic healthcare clients , and she require a label that would certify to them that she uses creditworthy develop practices .
“ I feel like the indorse Naturally Grown model is educational , and it tells people in our community that we ’re invested in increasing our education around the best sustainable practice , ” Markis say .
Courtesy Certified Naturally Grown
She learn advantage of Certified Naturally Grown ’s educational opportunities as much as possible . As conference have move online and become even more accessible , Markis says the farmer - to - farmer panel treatment and hear from others farming on a like range and scale have been priceless .
Rhinebeck , New York , farmer Suzanne Kelly focuses on farseeing - time of year crops — such as garlic , ginger , Curcuma longa and saffron — with a variety of more - common vegetables for farmers market sales and time value - added ware so nothing goes to wastefulness . Like Markis , she markets her Green Owl Farm mathematical product topically as opposed to with enceinte wholesalers .
Kelly says the Certified Naturally Grown recording label is courteous to show the consumer , but it ’s even more helpful to the James Leonard Farmer : “ We may all call up that we know what we need to be doing , in terms of grow organic food — actual organic food for thought — but having the monetary standard there , and to reinforce them every time , benefits the farmer , ” Kelly articulate .
The standards are easy to access on the Certified Naturally Grown internet site .
“ Our standards for green groceries and farm animal certification are based on the [ USDA ] constituent standards but have been modified in especial instances based on feedback from members , ” Varon order . “ We developed from dent our standards for apiary , mushroom-shaped cloud and aquaponic enfranchisement , based on [ USDA ] organic principles , and with counseling from advisory councils made up of expert in those case of production . ”
The largest deflexion from the organic rules comes in the livestock output standards . Certified Naturally Grown stock rules intelligibly outline the minimum amount of outer space each fauna must be reserve indoors and outdoors . “ This was a standard we clarify when first found the CNG stock standards in 2006 . It was a point of contention within the organic residential area where many feel larger organic dairy operation were admit to skirt the spirit of constitutive standards by not granting cow enough access to pastureland in the interests of supercharge Milk River product , ” Varon says .
Certified Naturally Grown ’s provender necessity are less rigorous than USDA ’s , allowing a more community - found approaching to source provender grown without synthetic fertiliser , pesticide and herbicides or genetically modified seeds . But it ’s still a sticking point for livestock husbandman , according to Varon .
“ The toll of feed that suffer this touchstone invest it out of reaching for many manufacturer who are otherwise doingeverything allot to the highest criterion . ”
Milleflora Farm ’s sheep are an exemplification of this challenge . Markis uses the sheep primarily for “ community grazing”—a means of asseverate the defensible infinite to thin the likelihood of wildfire unfold into the populated areas in her rural residential area .
“ CNG quite pretty has pasture - management and feed requirements for stock , ” Markis says . “ And since we graze for much of the year on other people ’s body politic , on wayside and on community - owned parcels for reduce pot as a likely [ wildfire ] fuel , we just ca n’t assure that all of the estate our sheep are put on is managed in a certified manner . Additionally , some grazing lot ask us to spread snowflake of Medicago sativa among compact stands of invasive grasses for pass the sheep toward trampling them down in effect . And there is no local beginning for constituent or CNG - compliant alfalfa in flake form . ”
Certified Naturally Grown is moot updating the livestock - feed criterion this year , with input from members and the public .
interpret more : There ’s a novel regenerative farm certification in the works . sink in to read more .
Getting Certified
When a manufacturer applies for credentials , three requirements must be meet :
“ The entire cognitive operation can take just a couple of calendar week or less , ” Varon says . “ CNG is very speedy to respond to interrogative sentence and program . The biggest factor is arranging the on - site inspection by another producer . ”
The covering paperwork and records you ’re need to keep are outlined on the Certified Naturally Grown website . These admit :
First - time applicants print and mail their paperwork . Those father recertified can do everything online .
The cost to become Certified Naturally Grown is flexible , determined by the husbandman , starting at $ 150 . producer can make monthly payments and can look to the establishment ’s Grassroots Fund and Equity Fund for payment help .
Certified Naturally Grown ’s third - party inspection is equal - to - compeer , rather than by an agency contracted with the authorities . While in - person inspections are the norm , farms run across certain standards can request a distant review with a senior inspector .
It ’s not just Certified Naturally Grown sodbuster who can scrutinise an surgical operation , either . Other James Leonard Farmer using “ born ” output methods , Certified Organic Fannie Farmer and annex agent can also step in .
“ You trust that they ’re go to tell you what they think about your practice session , ” Markis says . “ It ’s very intimate . Invite another farmer to do and take the air through your beds ? It ’s very vulnerable . And in that good sense , it really build up trust . ”
Farmers are n’t allowed to trade inspections of each other ’s operations within 24 months , and the farm must have a different examiner each year or have a community of interests observer join the review . Part of being evidence Naturally Grown is a prerequisite that you audit another farm each year if you have a farm within an hour ’s drive .
Kelly has appreciate the unconscious process so much that she became a senior examiner and give out to farm in her area to provide inspections . Courtesy Certified of course Grown
Getting the Word Out
While manifest Naturally Grown has been in existence for 20 eld , it does n’t have the name recognition of other farming labels .
“ I do not believe I have come across a client who had any idea of what [ indorse Naturally Grown ] was before hearing it from me , ” Grant says . “ They know Certified Organic , as that is get word and advertised all over . Education is a big piece of it . As hoi polloi begin to see the CNG label more , they will know that the grower / beekeeper is one they can trust and share their values . ”
The Certified Naturally Grown organization understands that customer didactics is a part of what their farmers do . “ We have produced educational carte du jour and mark that explicate what it stand for for a farm to be Certified Naturally Grown , ” Varon says . “ We also produce social media mental object that helps members easy excuse what it mean that their farm is Certified Naturally Grown . ”
The producers who contributed to this article take advantage of these resourcefulness . “ They sent me a bounteous heap of postcard that I was able to hand out at our local farmers mart and residential district meetings , ” Markis says .
“ I can make a polarity with their logotype . They ’ve created a really loose - to - use merchandising - fabric resource on their web site that you may use for your farm , which is a Brobdingnagian help . So I ’m not pen the spoken communication or having to design the merchandising to explicate what CNG is . It allows me to chat with people about precisely what that signify and what we ’re doing . ”
Kelly , too , post a Certified Naturally Grown sign at her farmers marketplace and festival booth , use Certified Naturally get twist necktie for her bunched green groceries , and puts its poser on her wintertime squash vine . “ It is a fortune of education , because people do n’t know the difference , but people love the idea , when you explain it to them , ” she state .
In looking for more of a lifestyle than a label , license Naturally Grown ’s grassroots sensitiveness has appealed to now hundred of husbandman .
“ CNG is also about so much more than natural or constitutional praxis . It is about sustainability , creativity in method , integration of our intellectual nourishment system and nature with the ‘ human world . ’ It is of import to sleep together where your food comes from , how it was produce , who produced it , ” Grant say .
This article originally appeared in the November / December 2022 issue ofHobby Farmsmagazine .
