We were in the application process to be certified organic by the USDA, but decided against completing the application almost at the end of the process due to high cost associated with the audit visit. On top of that, certified organic allows certain pesticide/chemical sprays that can be bad for human and environmental health. It’s also too much busy work and a list of don’ts rather than proving farmers are caring for the soil. And at the end of the day a large majority of ‘certified organic’ farms do not undergo actual lab analysis to prove whether of not prohibited materials are present in plants or soil.
At BFF we use no synthetic pesticides or fertilizers, we use no GMOs, we plant habitat for pollinators, use aromatic and medicinal plants for immune boosting crop sprays, we use lots of compost to replenish burnt carbon lost in uncovering the soil, plant cover crops and make compost teas with cultured micros to nourish the soil. Our annual practice is to preform in depth soil samples and make custom amendments per crop to grow the most nutritious veggies that we can.