Seeds Trust was recently certified by Certified Naturally Grown^™, a non-profit alternative eco-labelling program for small farms using USDA Organic methods but are NOT registered with the USDA Certified Organic program.

The Certified Naturally Grown^™ label is available to farms primarily distributing Locally and Directly, through Farmer's Markets, Farm Stands, Community Supported Agriculture projects, local restaurants, coops, small grocery stores or through other direct sales channels such as the internet.

While Certified Naturally Grown^™ farmers are required to adhere to the same strict Organic Agricultural Practices and materials list publicly available on the USDA National Organic Program website (or as quoted for vegetable growers here on our site), as an independent program NOT accredited or in any way affiliated with the USDA National Organic Program, Certified Naturally Grown^™ farmers are exempt from the fees and paperwork requirements associated with USDA Certified Organic.

The USDA program requires an enormous amount of record keeping for diversified farms - a paper trail of everything that happens from seed to sale. This is appropriate for large farms that grow only a few types of vegetables and sell in bulk to chain stores or big processing plants. But it has proven excessive and largely irrelevant for diversified small farms that may grow upwards of 200 varieties of vegetables, herbs, flowers and fruits and then sell them directly to consumers right in their own neighborhood.

Every Certified Naturally Grown^™ farm should be physically inspected at least once per year. Unlike the USDA program, scans of each CNG farm's application, affidavit and inspector reports are available ON-LINE for any member of the public to review. This maintains total transparency in the certification process.

Certified Naturally Grown^™ is nationally recognized and endorsed. All Certified Naturally Grown^™ seeds are marked with an asterisk (*). (Until all of our seeds are CNG, we will continue to offer everything. CNG and diverse describe the sustainable future we envision.)

Below is a quote from the USDA National Organic Program Standards concerning the certification of seeds gathered in the wild.

205.207 Wild-crop harvesting practice standard.

(a) A wild crop that is intended to be sold, labeled, or represented as organic must be harvested from a designated area that has had no prohibited substance, as set forth in ¤ 205.105, applied to it for a period of 3 years immediately preceding the harvest of the wild crop.

(b) A wild crop must be harvested in a manner that ensures that such harvesting or gathering will not be destructive to the environment and will sustain the growth and production of the wild crop.