Bloomberg writer Robert Burnson reported yesterday that, “Food activists and farmers sued the Trump administration over its decision to let hydroponic operators use the prized ‘organic’ label.
“The Center for Food Safety and farmers from Maine to California say in the lawsuit that the decision ‘undermines the very integrity’ of the country’s organic food label — ‘that consumers trust and that organic farmers rely upon.’
“Hydroponic operations grow plants that have their roots in water or air and receive nutrients from solutions created by the operators. Under federal rules, organic crops — aside from being grown without pesticides and other harmful chemicals — must foster ‘soil fertility,’ according to the lawsuit filed Monday in U.S. District Court in San Francisco.”
The Bloomberg article stated: “But how can you foster soil fertility without soil, the farmers asked.
“The farmers want a judge to declare that the hydroponic operations don’t meet the soil fertility mandate and to order the U.S. Department of Agriculture to comply with the requirements for organic certification.”
