This is long but this is important.

I want to preface this note to you all and say that I am NOT an expert here. I am a customer, a mother, a farmstead cheesemaker but recently had the pleasure of attending the Real Organic Project Churchtown Conference and listened to MANY experts on the topic. Coming back I felt the desire and responsibility to distill some of what I took from this conference because it taps into concerns, confusion, and hopes that are constantly rattling around my brain as someone who produces and eats food in 2024.

The Real Organic Project is an add on label certifying to higher standards (similar to Vermont Organic Farmers) than the USDA’s Organic Program. They work to address the fact that the “USDA has recently embraced hydroponics.” and that “Many farmers now feel the USDA organic label no longer adequately reflects how we farm, and many in the organic community feel a loss of identity within the label” (realorganicproject.org).

Two weeks ago we became certified.

Honestly I was overwhelmed when I first heard we should start being certified with the Real Organic Project. We spend time and money on organic certification and adding anything to our plate (even though certification is free through Real Organic Project) felt frustrating. How is it that we need a further guarantee for our customers to trust our processes? However, after learning more I understand the importance and distinction of being certified by Vermont Organic Farmers (one of the most rigorous certifying bodies in the country, yay Vermont!) and by the Real Organic Project. USDA Organic is critical to Organic in our country and many certifying bodies like our own here in Vermont adhere to all of the standards we believe are at the root of Organic, but there is work to be done.

The issue is complex but I’ll try to summarize one example of what I learned. USDA organic is now allowing hydroponics which in essence has become a complex way to grow “food” without soil. The largest organic berry producer in the US who inhabits 70% of the shelf space for organic berries is allowed to buy coconut husk pods wrapped in plastic from Sri Lanka and place them 6 inches off the ground that they have previously packed, sprayed with glyphosate, and covered in plastic. They then take a plant and put it into a pod and run plastic tubing that delivers water and nutrients to the plant. After the berries are harvested, everything is put in the landfill including the plants. This was shocking to me.

On the other hand, Real Organic Project only certifies farms who are creating healthy soils which in essence is the foundation of organic. Organic farmers have worked tirelessly to create an organic label that people could trust but unfortunately the USDA/National Organic Program has allowed certifiers to ignore soil management as the primary focus of organic farming.

What is rattling around in my brain along with the certification and the politics of food production in the US is how the heck do we do this as customers? How do we cut through pervasive greenwashing to understand who is truly making food without the use of pesticides, in healthy soil, with healthy animals, while treating the agricultural labor force well. On our drive home from the conference, Sebastian and I started to do a deep dive into the berries we have in our freezer. They are “wild” and have many other claims on the label that make you feel so so good. But as I dove deeper into their website I got more and more confused. They are wild and say they fertilize with cuttings and left over berries at the end of the season but then when searching their name and “pesticides” several lawsuits were noted about them spraying pesticides illegally. ARRRGGGGHHHHHHHH. How do I possibly have the time to be an investigator of each one of our foods? (Tip: Real Organic Project does this for you!). People will say we shouldn’t buy any packaged foods, we should only buy local, we should only buy organic and I believe that and we try our best but I’m also in the same position we are all in, too busy, too confused, and with too little money to do it exactly as I would like to. Unfortunately that works for big Ag because it continues to be supported by the majority of customers who buy subsidized ultra processed foods grown in monocultures that are destroying the soil, the environment, and making us all sick.

So although we definitely DO NOT have the answer I’m wondering if maybe just maybe we can reject the food system that has been pushed down our throats for the last 50 years and go back to supporting farms and food producers right here. If even half of the population of the Mad River Valley (not including visitors) bought 1.4 pounds of our cheese each month (~$30), we would sell ALL of our cheese within our community, and our farmland and creamery would be able to secure a long future. For the cost of a few cups of coffee out, this purchase helps preserve the landscape, secure a food system that is good for people and the planet, and enjoy a dang good piece of cheese while doing so.
Thank you,

Molly + Sebastian

A Letter from the Owners: Real Organic + State of the Food System