USDA Certification

The United States Department of Agriculture (USDA) site offers the official guidelines and regulations of organic food production.

The Alternative Farming Systems Information Center is an accessible source for USDA information with quotes from new releases and wonderful information guides for further research.

ATTRA - National Sustainable Agriculture Information Service is funded by the USDA and managed by the National Center for Appropriate Technology.  Their organic farming page lists useful links and publications divided by type of product.  Information is offered in summary, HTML and PDF form.

The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) site refers to the USDA site above for official information, but also offers links to related topics including information on grants to reduce pesticide use.

The site of U.S. Senator Patrick Leahy chronicles his work toward the development of the "USDA Organic" label.

Organics on the Market

This page on Organic Farming and Marketing is from the Economic Research Service (ERS) of the USDA.  Be sure to scroll down their page to the Maps and Images Gallery.

"Organic Farming Goes Big Time" is an article from Environmental Health Perspectives (vol.102, no.5, May 1994) on large-scale organic farming.  Scroll down to the second article from top of page.

The Foreign Agricultural Service (FAS) of the USDA offers information on organic exports and imports.

Growing Your Own

Organic Gardening:  A Guide to Resources, from the Alternative Farming Systems Information Center, offers sources for the home gardener.  Areas covered include:  garden design, production, composting, growing food, ornamentals and pest control all in organic fashion.

The USDA Home Gardening page offers a link for "Organic Vegetable Gardening."  From deciding where to place a garden to tables detailing the composition of compost materials, this site will get you well on your way to growing organic.

Composting is a great way to create organic fertilizer for you home garden.  This site from the California Integrated Wastes Management Board offers all the basics on creating and maintaining a productive compost bin.

Vermicomposting (composting with worms) is another way to produce organic nutrients for your soil.  The Indiana Department of Environmental Management offers this site to learn the basics.