Certification is the link between the consumers and the producers. In order to assure consumers food is really organic, a certification process should take place.

The National Organic Foods Production Act (OPFA) was passed by congress in 1990 and implementation was supposed to be completed by October 1, 1993. The organic program cannot be implemented until specific national standards are published in the form of USDA regulations. There are proposed drafts to come out in 1997.

There are different organic certifiers that certify and then monitor farms wich produce the crops, raw materials, livestock, etc. sold as certified organic. It is an on going process by wich the farms are monitored annualy by these same certifiers.

There are about thirty states in this country with their own organic laws to compliment the OPFA standards. California has some of the strictest organic laws in this country. Find out more about California's State Law by contacting the responsible agency.

In the state of California the statement "Organically grown and processed according to the California Foods Act of 1990" should be stated somewhere to give credence to the organic foods being sold. Markets should post it either above produce racks and on packaged food items.

To find out more about organically gown foods, the OPFA, and California organic standards, please contact us through our guest form.