Certified Organic Green Tea and Oolong Tea

>>> "Is Mauna Kea Tea Organic?"

>>>  Why do we care about being certified organic?

>>>  What are some of the organic rules that get in the way of our natural farming practices, or some reasons to avoid certification?

>>>  Organic speaks of growing and processing practices bus does not ensure quality

Is Mauna Kea Tea Organic?

YES.  

We are Certified Organic under USDA National Organic Program (NOP) by International Certification Services (ICS).  

Teas sold under Mauna Kea Tea label are 100% organic as stated in 2011 organic certificate schedule below.

Organic Certifier:

International Certification Services, Inc. 

301 5th Ave SE Medina, ND 58467 United States 
Tel: 701-486-3578 * Fax: 701-486-3580 * email: This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it

Why do we care about being Certified Organic?

There are many seemingly irrelevant organic rules in USDA NOP, but certified organic is much more than just us saying organic..  

USDA National Organic Program is a third party certification and involves annual inspection.   

Certified organic means the farm and the products are inspected by a third party.

We have come across many farmers and market vendors saying their products were organic although there was no clear indication of understanding organic principles.  

Some farmers even say that they are organic with big "EXCEPT..., (use roundup, spray only few times, just a little chemical fertilizers, etc) which they conveniently fail to mention.

Even though some people are more conscious about not using synthetic chemical fertilizers and pesticides, being organic also involves:

• Field map clearly labeled and indicated to avoid potential contamination (it's not okay to just put chemical fertilizers on your ornamentals 3 feet away from your corn)
• seed logs for organic seeds and planting stocks (to avoid GMO and fungicide treated seeds)
• organic input (fertilizers, amendments, pesticides, etc) application logs and purchase logs
• field activity logs
• auditing (to make sure cabbage is not sold organic more than they produce organically, mysteriously it happens)
• fertility management (how to keep soil fertility)
• ecological diversity management (to maintain natural enemies, soil microbes and insects alive and well)

Many farmers try to avoid the topic altogether and make people believe that they are as organic as they can be, just by being at farmers market, selling locally or even being friendly or looking earth friendly.  (Ironically, being friendly does seem like organic quality sometimes.)  

What are some of the organic rules that get in the way of our natural farming practices and some reasons to avoid certification.   

Many people agree that many of the organic rules are not necessarily relevant to organic standard, such as use of animals for weed and pest control.  

1. Animal use

One of our biggest challenge is weed control.  Farm animals are great for keeping weeds down.  Traditionally some tea gardens in China and Japan used goats to keep weeds down since they do not typically eat tea.  Modern day practice replaced goats with roundup and chemicals to kill weeds.  Organic rule does not allow animals or animal manure within 3 months of harvest for non-contact crop (e.g. oranges that fruits don't touch animals) or 6 months for animal contact crop (e.g. lettuce, broccoli, carrots).

Our organically managed farm animals cannot get in organic fields.  Ironic, isn't it?

It is an indication that organic is not same as traditional farming practices.

2. Unfair use of word "organic" by non-organic growers

Many non-certified small farmers use the word organic to sell their produce and have no penalty.  Typically, this cannot be effectively enforced.

Organic speaks of growing and processing practices but does not ensure quality. 

"Organic" is a production and processing practice that involves chemical and other safety measure.  It does not determine tea grades, flavor profile and other important qualities in tea.  I repeatedly hear that people in the position of educating consumers say that their tea is better quality because it's organic.  Organic is one quality if you can taste the difference. 

To further understand the quality in tea, read "understanding tea quality ". 

   --> Is organic farming sustainable?