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Ask EWG: Is hydroponic produce organic?
This is our first Ask EWG video! We're pretty excited about it, but as a small nonprofit that focuses on research we're just getting the hang of this YouTube thing. If you've got any comments, suggestions, or original music we could use in our videos, please let us know by leaving a comment or sending an email.
Question: I bought hydroponic tomatoes at the store yesterday thinking they were organic, but when I looked again I realized that they weren't labeled "certified organic". Is hydroponic produce organic? How does it rate compared to conventional produce?
Answer: Hydroponic crops are grown in greenhouses, in solutions of chemicals and minerals, not in soil.
Just as with conventionally grown crops, growers often use synthetic pesticidies on crops grown hydroponically. But some of these crops can meet the organic standards using organic nutrient mixtures and no synthetic pesticides – when this is the case, you’ll see “organic” on the label.
Hydroponic does have some advantages. These fruits and veggies may contain fewer pesticides, since the need for chemicals to kill weeds and insects is reduced in greenhouses compared to fields. And they need less water to grow. On the other hand, certain diseases can spread quickly in greenhouses, and growing these crops is often energy intensive.
As with conventional crops, making the best choices for families, farmers, and the environment involves considering nutrition, pesticides and more. It’s important to pick produce low in pesticide residues - buy organic, or use our shoppers guide to find the fruits and veggies with the lowest amount of pesticides.
Got a question for our researchers? Send it in! We'll select one (or a few) for next month's edition of Ask EWG.
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Comments
Hydro growers don't use herbicides but they very commonly use routine systemic fungicides in the solution as water moulds are rife.Greenhouse prodn produces a different set of pest mites and insects ,so pesticide use is actually often higher than field growing where bio control is more easily achieved.
Posted by: Dave Forrest | July 31, 2007 10:07 PM
This comes up in my classes often and I need to ask students and patients to simply be careful about believing that one word is another word. The word hydroponics is NOT organic unless it also says so. This often comes up with dairy in a different way. In California, we have a couple of excellent RAW GRASS FED milk dairies. I keep having to remind people that Organic DOES NOT MEAN RAW. Always look for the word you want and never assume that some other word has the same meaning. My educational videos go over all of this in detail and are sold by the Non-Profit Price Pottenger Nutrition Foundation at www.ppnf.org The Environmental Working Group is one of my Favorite organizations. Support them!
Posted by: David Getoff | August 2, 2007 4:48 PM
Excellent first effort. I look forward to watching more EWG TV.
Posted by: Face Natural | August 5, 2007 8:03 PM