Hydroponic Foods May Be Called ‘Organic'; Soil Not Required

Hydroponically grown foods may be labeled “organic,” the Ninth Circuit affirmed, rejecting the Center for Food Safety’s request for rules that would block the organic certification of foods produced without soil.

The center and organic growers asked the US Department of Agriculture to issue new regulations barring organic certification of hydroponically grown crops, and sued after the department refused to do so.

• Last year, the US District Court for the Northern District of California agreed with the department that the Organic Foods Production Act of 1990 doesn’t require hydroponics to be excluded from the organic program.
• Affirming that conclusion, the ...