Is Certified Naturally Grown {CNG} better than USDA Organic?
The answer in many if not most cases is Yes!
What most people do not realize about the USDA Organic label is that the label only requires a product be 95% “organic” not 100% and what constitutes a product being organic for that 95% is not always what consumers believe the term “organic” means.
CONSUMER REPORTS® NATIONAL RESEARCH CENTER did an Organic Food Label Survey in 2014 to get a “Nationally Representative” account of what people believe the “organic” label means.
The full report is available here in PDF format...
http://www.greenerchoices.org/pdf/CR2014OrganicFoodLabelsSurvey.pdf
In short the overwhelming majority of consumers do not realize that the “USDA Organic” label allows for the use of synthetic pesticides and herbicides, man made chemical fertilizers and antibiotics to atleast some degree. However one of the biggest surprises to many was that the “USDA Organic” label can be applied to produce not grown in the United States AND there is no requirement for indicating a products place of origin.
Because people believe organic certified produce is better, it sells for more and has become big business. So it's common for much of the products being sold in the market place to be labeled as organic. However, something else many people are not aware of is how frequently imported “organic” products are turned away … not because they do not meet USDA Organic certification standards but because they fail to meet FDA minimum requirements to be used as any type of food.
Here's a quote from the Seattle Times ...
“Questions remain about organic foods grown in China
...
The U.S. Food and Drug Administration, which is responsible for checking most imported foods, samples less than 1 percent of all regulated products. It regularly refuses shipments of purportedly organic foods because of pesticide residues or unsafe food additives — not because the food does not meet organic standards, but because they do not meet standards for any food. For example, organic soybean meal coming through the Port of Seattle in 2007 appeared to contain "a poisonous or deleterious substance which may render it injurious to health," according to an FDA report.
… “
http://seattletimes.com/html/businesstechnology/2017179239_organic08.html
So what is Certified Naturally Grown?
“Certified Naturally Grown (CNG) is a non-profit alternate farm assurance certification program created for small-scale organic farmers, and striving to strengthen the organic movement by preserving high organic standards and removing financial barriers that tend to exclude smaller farms that are selling locally and directly to their customers. … ”
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Certified_Naturally_Grown
As naturallygrown.org puts it CNG is “The Grassroots Alternative to Certified Organic” or as I see it CNG is what the term “organic” meant before the government stepped in and messed it up.
If you are curious about the requirements for being certified as naturally grown the details are listed at … http://www.naturallygrown.org/programs/producestandards but in a nutshell they are what the majority of people believe “organic certified” means. If you are inherently paranoid and investigate the “except as provided in 205.601” bits mentioned you will see that it's a provision that allows for the use of chemicals like ethanol, bleach {sodium hypochlorite}, etc. all of which I consider safe and reasonable to be used on equipment to keep food safe and still consider it “organic” but it is good to take a look at.
Another thing I like about the CNG movement is there is a map {and list} of all their producers so you know who is certified and where they can be found. Incidentally so far this is just the United States and Canada but it makes verifying a product very easy as well as finding a trusted supplier.
So is Certified Naturally Grown a better choice than USDA Organic? Right now the term organic used in labeling could mean what people think it means but there is no easy way to be sure. Then when you consider how the term is too frequently used as a marketing ploy to sell regular produce at a higher price a Naturally Grown Certification makes sense.
It should be noted that there are indeed many small-scale operations that aspire to the lofty goals of what was originally intended by “certified organic” but consumers need to be aware that packaging labels do not necessarily aspire to the same goals, simply because they are not required to.
Fortuitously I was just told that Dr. Oz on a recent episode of his show {May 2014} explained that many “organic” products {especially those from China} contain dangerous levels of heavy metals. I will need to check it out but the timing is rather nice.
So here's my wrap up … the term “organic” does not mean what most people think it does, the FDA only checks about 1% of imports and if you research “organic certification” you will see there is a great deal of debate over certification checking … lastly there is no easy way to tell if a product really is “organic”. In contrast Certified Naturally Grown {CNG} follows a philosophy that is exactly like what the popularized term “organic” was supposed to mean AND you can lookup the producers on their website … http://www.naturallygrown.org/programs/producestandards so yeah if “organic” is something important to you then you want Certified Naturally Grown {CNG}.
*Disclaimer: I'm not associated with naturallygrown.org and I'm not even a fan of “organic” foods in general. I try to avoid overtly toxic foods … like those with heavy metals but mostly I just hate paying more for items that are not even what they claim to be.