Local, Sustainable and Certified Organic

What is Local?
Local is certainly a flexible term, but the basic concept is simple: local foods are produced as close to home as possible. Buying local supports a more sustainable food system because true sustainability goes beyond the methods used in food production to include every step that brings food from farm to the fork.

Local, Sustainable and Certified Organic
Sustainable agriculture involves food production methods that are healthy, do not harm the environment, respect workers, are humane to animals, provide fair wages to farmers and supports farming communities. Sustainability includes buying food as locally as possible. Buying local food does not guarantee that it is sustainably produced or organic. Pesticides, chemical fertilizers, factory farming, hormone use, and non-therapeutic use of antibiotics can all be involved in local food production, so it's important to make sure that the local food you buy is from farmers or gardeners using sustainable methods.

Certified Organic is a certification process for producers of organic food and other organic agricultural products. In general, any business directly involved in food production can be certified, including seed suppliers, farmers, food processors, retailers and restaurants. Requirements vary from country to country, and generally involve a set of production standards for growing, storage, processing, packaging and shipping that include:

  Avoidance of most synthetic chemical inputs (e.g. fertilizer, pesticides, antibiotics, food additives, etc), genetically modified organisms, irradiation, and the use of sewage sludge;
 

  Use of farmland that has been free from chemicals for a number of years (often, three or more);
 

   Keeping detailed written production and sales records (audit trail);
 

   Maintaining strict physical separation of organic products from non-certified products;
 

   Undergoing periodic on-site inspections