Standards for ‘Comparable-to-Organic Cannabis’ Proposed by California Department of Food and Agriculture
Press release from California Department of Food and Agriculture (CDFA):
The California Department of Food and Agriculture (CDFA) released the proposed regulations today for the OCal Program, a statewide certification program that will establish and enforce comparable-to-organic cannabis standards. The release of these regulations marks the official start of the public comment period provided under California law. All interested parties are encouraged to submit comments about the proposed cannabis regulations by Tuesday, July 7, 2020.
The OCal Program will ensure that cannabis products bearing the OCal seal have been certified to consistent, uniform standards comparable to the National Organic Program.
Per Business and Professions Code Section 26062(a)(1), CDFA is required to establish a certification program for cannabis that is comparable to the National Organic Program and the California Organic Food and Farming Act by January 1, 2021. CDFA proposes adoption of Chapter 3, within Title 3 of the California Code of Regulations, to establish the OCal Program for cannabis.
Comments on the proposed regulations may be submitted until July 7, 2020, via email to [email protected] or by mail to:
California Department of Food and Agriculture
Attention: Kristi Armstrong
CalCannabis Cultivation Licensing Division
Proposed OCal Regulations
P.O. Box 942871
Sacramento, CA 94271The proposed cannabis regulations and additional information are posted on the CalCannabis Cultivation Licensing Division’s OCal Program web page. For tips on how to make effective comments about the proposed OCal regulations, please see How to Submit Your Comments.
Join the discussion! For rules visit: https://kymkemp.com/commenting-rules
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“Comparable to organic,” does this mean organic, or something less than organic?
Are they trying to get pesticides into the mix?
Or are they trying to get pesticides out of the mix? I thought the dispensaries weren’t supposed to sell anything that didn’t come back clean… What the heck is going on here?
Is this another market barrier for whatever’s left of small organic farms? Or will it actually help them?
If anyone feels like enlightening me, I’d appreciate it.
The federal government is the only one that can designate a product organic. Since marijuana is federally illegal, marijuana no matter how organic it may be, can not be designated organic. So California is developing something that means roughly the same but doesn’t require the federal government.
Thanks, Kym 🙂
good info thanks
What will likely become an issue is when the state requires farmers to join this program in order to represent their product as “organic”. (Gee! Yet another program to abide by, and no doubt, annual fees to pay! Oh Boy!!).
As usual what ‘makes it’ (or more often breaks it) are the rules, the agencies involved, the requirements to meet, the testing, the inspections, etc., etc., etc.
My companies are all Envirocann-Enviroganic Certified. We are also CCOF and California Certifiers certified for non-cannabis production. Cannabis grown organically, and certified, is way more stringent than your standard USDA organic certification. USDA organic certification allows for use of pest preventatives such as Spinosad and pyrethrins. Playing by the rules is more challenging. Perseverance ultimately pays off as you learn to grow exceptionally healthy plants without the crutch of needing to use toxins to mitigate pest pressures. It is all about balance, nutrition and microbiology/macrobiology.
While we still use fossil fuels…..ugh
there is no alternative to using fossil fuels.
Your house, Your Car & your Restaurant all run on fossil fuels.
“USDA organic” or not, your companies would certainly know that absolutely no cannabis flower is going to pass a mandatory COA test with spinosad or pyrethrins.
Just like a good, old fashioned, homegrown , organic Heirloom tomato… There’s only one best ! Commercial will never measure up to old timey, slow growin, slow cured buds. Grown ‘cuz we love to grow it…it’s what we do. Even if it’s only 6 of ’em! Especially if it’s only 6 of ’em!!
Organic is by definition is what any plant is. Rocks, chemicals, etc. are not organic matter. However, the first thing I learned in a college gardening class is that organic gardening is impossible. The reason is that plants cannot use organic compounds to grow. All organic matter must become inorganic for a plant to use it.
This means that compost, animal poop, etc, must all completely decompose to inorganic compounds prior to being able to feed a plant. Therefore it is a natural way to grow plants, but is biologically no different than putting inorganic fertilizers in the soil which are already inorganic.
The reality is “organic” is simply a misused word for a pesticide free product. Nutritionally there is no difference between food grown with fertilizer and that grown with compost and poop. The main difference is the pesticide usage.
There actually is some decent evidence that there are measurable differences in secondary plant metabolite content between organically and “conventionally” grown produce.
“The findings are part of a growing body of evidence documenting how farming methods can influence the nutritional content of foods.
Another large meta-analysis published in 2014, also in the British Journal of Nutrition, found that organic crops — ranging from carrots and broccoli to apples and blueberries — have substantially higher concentrations of a range of antioxidants and other potentially beneficial compounds. That review included data from more than 300 studies.”
https://www.npr.org/sections/thesalt/2016/02/18/467136329/is-organic-more-nutritious-new-study-adds-to-the-evidence
Yes.
Back in the 60s-70s I was a subscriber to the monthly “Organic Gardening” by Rodale Press. By following their guidelines I was able to slow down and do things the right way. Organic = slow. Conventional = speed.
What we do to our soil today is all about next years produce.
It’s a choice growers wrestle with every year.
I use the practices that are best suited to my own good health.
Organic does not have to = slow. This misconception and cost is why the industry prefers “conventional” farming practices. I too am an old subscriber of Rodale publications, and looking back on their literature they were in many cases advocating bio-dynamic gardening and permiculture. It’s my opinion that bio-dynamic gardening is a practice born of the necessity to dispose of animal litter and products. Misrepresentation of biodynamic methods often leads people to acquire animals for gardening reasons. With adequate financial resources, one can source enough organic materials to rapidly build and fortify organic gardening plots. This does not take a lot of time, but it is expensive and resource intensive. That said, one doesn’t need to run a chicken farm to produce litter, to fertilize garden plots.
There can be differences in nutrition by different methods, but the soil composition is key. If the required nutrients are in the soil, they will be in the produce. The method of getting the soil enriched is less important than some argue. The point is clearly that plants can’t use organic material. There is no difference between nitrogen in a fertilizer bag or nitrogen that comes from decayed plants. The difference between “organic” and other produce is and with always be the pesticide usage.
Of course, you will never get an “organic” farmer to admit this. You will never get natural foods businesses to admit it either. The truth is these folks have been duped by quacks. The worst part is that a lot of gullible people who can’t afford it are being robbed by the extreme price gouging on “certified organic.”
The soil microorganisms use organic matter. When ammonium nitrate is applied it burns the soil carbon, inhibits soil microbes and reduces nutrient cycling. The next year you start nutritionally deficient with less water holding capacity and are on the treadmill spiraling down to less productive soil and higher fertilizer bills. Also, bagged nitrogen leaches out more easily causing more pollution.
Beware of ducks. Quack Quack!
Any chemical compound containing carbon is considered organic. Within this class are organic acids.