A growing battle in the $47 billion organic food industry could fundamentally change the program — and some farmers are worried

by Leanna Garfield
Business Insider
11.3.17

The United States organic industry — whose 2016 sales totaled around $47 billion — is facing a battle between traditional farmers and high-tech producers.

In recent years, hydroponic, aquaponic, and aeroponic farms — which grow produce in nutrient-rich solution without soil, often indoors — have boomed. Some of these businesses have been granted the organic label for their products. 

But that trend has dismayed some traditional farmers, who argue that allowing non-soil producers to label their food organic weakens the integrity of the program. True organic farming, they say, requires nurturing, natural soil. 
….
Lisa Stokke, founder of farmer and food advocacy group Next 7, said in a statement that the USDA's definition "reflects the beliefs of the international organic movement."

"To suggest calling hydroponic 'organic' is to completely misunderstand the meaning of organic," she addd.

Read more…
https://www.businessinsider.com/hydroponic-grown-food-organic-labels-2017-11?r=UK&IR=T