Organic farming isn’t just about planting and harvesting foot without any additives or preservatives, believe it or not. It’s all about the soil. The Earth. And more importantly — it’s about using anything organic, anything coming from the Earth not only when planting, but harvesting. Why do you always see certain containers made from wood or baskets when organic farmers? Wherever you store your organic produce, it better be completely natural for good reason. Plastic and other materials can potentially contaminate your product, so as far as organics go, the complete natural model sticks.

That’s Why Organic Farmers Are Deliberating on What the Term “Container” Actually Means

As far as USDA organic certification, the term “container” has a certain meaning. When concerning hydroponics, there’s the issue of the possibility that there can be loopholes now. What is a container? What constitutes a “container”? The issue’s made more of a problem given the fact that hydroponic farmers utilize everything from a system of tubes to large vats in growing the produce.

There lies the problem, of course: can it really be considered organic if they’re using all of those materials? They’re not using the Earth to grow their crops. They’re not even using fertilizer. There’s no visible nourishment in the soil. When considering the language of USDA organic certification, the term “container,” as you can see, becomes more and more of a problem.

What Does That Mean for Hydroponics?

The issue is that hydroponics would like to tap into the organics industry in a big way, but they’re receiving plenty of controversy in the matter. The question is what do you think? Does the container matter? Or the manner in which they grow their crops? Is the way they grow their crops truly organic? Or is it just a synthetic method of growing crops resulting in the exact same quality, freshness and healthy contribution?