This is the first question asked when someone want to know if a food is healthy. We are all worried about the quality of the food we are eating. The organic certification is a powerful trend but what is organic exactly?
What is organic food
A food can be qualified as organic when it meets and is certified by an organic standard. Almost every country has his own organic standard. However, the criteria are different from one country to another. It means that all organic foods are not equal. The aim of the organic standard is to produce food with a lower impact on the environment. It is generally ensured by limiting the quantity and varieties of pesticides and antibiotics used. Some organic standards also focus on the production technique and resources involved.
Organic doesn’t mean natural or pesticide free
Yes, you read it well, pesticides and antibiotics are allowed in organic production. The list available and the quantity of treatment are limited but allowed. In France for instance, the organic certification “agriculture biologique” allows 2 antibiotic treatments in the life of the fish. This is far from natural!
Permaculture and aquaponics better than organic
In aquaponics, antibiotics would simply kill the bacteria. It would require opening the loop and lose the precious nutritive water. In small scale aquaponics we don’t use antibiotics and pesticides. Classic aquaponics production is more “natural” and healthier than organic food.
aquaponics not complying with organic certification
Aquaponics food involves less or no pesticides/antibiotics. Therefore, we could think that it could be organic certified. Some organic standards request the involvement of “soil” in the food production. In this case, the whole question relies on the definition of soil…
Soil definition
Here is the Wikipedia definition: ”the upper layer of earth in which plants grow, a black or dark brown material typically consisting of a mixture of organic remains, clay, and rock particles”. Earth definition: the substance of the land surface; soil
So I don’t know about you, but once I read the above definitions, I am not advanced any further…
Aquaponics involves a media full of organic materials, bacteria and other animals. For me we are very close to the definition of soil. But I believe this is up to your interpretation. The outcome is: some countries have a standard that require to use soil. Media is not considered as soil. So in some countries, aquaponics can be considered as organic. While in other countries, aquaponics is not considered as organic.
you will probably be interested to discover Jonathan’s six steps to build and manage an Aquaponics system. Click here to access for free! Thanks and good reading 🙂
