Even though sustainable practices, like remaining pesticide-free, were important to all of our producers, organic certification was not as universally valued and promoted.

Some of our producers like P2, P3, P4, P5, and P11, all believed strongly in organic certification. These were producers of an ‘older generation,’ ones who had been farming for many years. In many cases, they were one of the first producers to farm organically in their area, facing an uphill battle against many critics who believed such practices would not work.

These producers truly believed in what the certification was originally created to support, P2 thought that organic certification was important because the practices it supported were a part of “how much you are influential in healing the earth" and P11 felt that it meant “you are taking good care of the land and the animals.” P5 said that “organic is definitely a good thing, even if you produce less with an organic system. You’ve got a healthier system for a long period of time and it’s the way that things were done for thousands and thousands of years before 1940, before we started using war chemicals on our food.”

In order to have organic agriculture recognized, these producers had to fight hard to prove that such practices would work and that their crops would not die and to promote the certification, which they continue to do to this day. P2 stressed that "you have to be an organic farmer to be successful" and said that he would not work with people who did not “believe” in organic. He also mentioned that he "converted some pretty important people to organic.” P11 felt the same dedication to the certification, saying that "organic is just a baseline, we don’t even want to talk to you if you’re not organic.”

P11 went on to describe what organic really means to her and why she values and promotes the certification:

“It gives you a certain sense of ethics. You really pay attention to your ingredients and you never lie about them. I think that happens a lot in restaurants where there’s an impression that everything’s organic and everything’s local. There’s a couple things and there’s an impression, but it’s just...everything else comes from a commodity farm in the Central Valley. Cafe Vert* really believed in organics, really found seeds and said grow these seeds. It’s really different and Charles Meier* has that same ethic. He really believes in organic. It’s a better way to take care of the animals. It’s a better way to take care of the land. Charles* is like Cafe Vert*, he believes in it.”

Even with their staunch support of organic certification, these producers did recognize that the system has its drawbacks, its flaws. “Certification is a hassle,” P5 said, because of all the bureaucracy involved and the fact that paperwork is difficult and “doesn’t come naturally to the people who are growing organic.” But, he also said it was “a necessary evil.”

P11 felt that the set of metrics organic certification provided was better than not having any at all, even in light of existing problems with the system:

“It’s not a perfect system but it’s one that we have and we have a way to certify it. Unless you’re going to the farmers market and you can see that farm, how do you know if it’s a careful farmer. There’s no way of knowing. It’s still not a guarantee and it’s the only thing we have. I don’t want to make another set of rules. I know there’s issues with scale, but I’d still rather have a Muir Glen organic tomato in a can than a Del Monte with pesticides.”

_{* Names have been changed to preserve anonymity.}