Producers of THC cannabis products can’t go organic under the USDA National Organic Program, thanks to federal prohibition. But alternative certifications are bubbling up, and an ambitious program born in California has arrived in Oregon.
It’s called Sun+Earth, and growers East Fork Cultivars, Green Source Gardens, Oshala Farm and Phoenix Rising Farms, along with product manufacturer Luminous Botanicals, were recently introduced as the first certified businesses in the state.
Sun+Earth says it’s a "beyond organic" cannabis certification program. It starts with customary limitations on the use of chemicals, but also brings in regenerative cultivation practices such as composting, cover crops, mulching and reduced tillage, and includes farm worker and community involvement standards.
At an event to introduce the inaugural Sun+Earth Oregon businesses in Portland this week, Executive Director Andrew Black said East Fork Cultivars planted 10,000 pounds of potatoes in their cannabis rows last year.
That prompted Nathan Howard, the farm’s co-founder, to pipe up, "Now we have about 100,000 pounds."
Sun+Earth isn’t limited to THC cannabis — it will also certify hemp farms, which are eligible for USDA organic certification. But it will only certify cannabis grown under the sun and in the actual earth, not in plastic containers that use purchased potting soil, which is pretty common.
The organization has published a manual with its full certification protocols.
The program is backed by soap producer Dr. Bronner’s, whose CEO — that’s cosmic engagement officer — David Bronner has a cannabis grow in Northern California, Brother David’s, that's promised to devote its profits to the organization.
"Sun+Earth wouldn’t exist without David Bronner’s vision for a greener, more ethical legal cannabis industry," Black said at an event in Portland this week.
Bronner was at the Portland event.
"Organic is mostly about what you shouldn’t do," he told the crowd, which included Rep. Earl Blumenauer, the Portland Democrat and founder of the Congressional Cannabis Causus. "But regenerative organic is about what you should do."
It’s called Sun+Earth, and growers East Fork Cultivars, Green Source Gardens, Oshala Farm and Phoenix Rising Farms, along with product manufacturer Luminous Botanicals, were recently introduced as the first certified businesses in the state.
Sun+Earth says it’s a "beyond organic" cannabis certification program. It starts with customary limitations on the use of chemicals, but also brings in regenerative cultivation practices such as composting, cover crops, mulching and reduced tillage, and includes farm worker and community involvement standards.
At an event to introduce the inaugural Sun+Earth Oregon businesses in Portland this week, Executive Director Andrew Black said East Fork Cultivars planted 10,000 pounds of potatoes in their cannabis rows last year.
That prompted Nathan Howard, the farm’s co-founder, to pipe up, "Now we have about 100,000 pounds."
Sun+Earth isn’t limited to THC cannabis — it will also certify hemp farms, which are eligible for USDA organic certification. But it will only certify cannabis grown under the sun and in the actual earth, not in plastic containers that use purchased potting soil, which is pretty common.
The organization has published a manual with its full certification protocols.
The program is backed by soap producer Dr. Bronner’s, whose CEO — that’s cosmic engagement officer — David Bronner has a cannabis grow in Northern California, Brother David’s, that's promised to devote its profits to the organization.
"Sun+Earth wouldn’t exist without David Bronner’s vision for a greener, more ethical legal cannabis industry," Black said at an event in Portland this week.
Bronner was at the Portland event.
"Organic is mostly about what you shouldn’t do," he told the crowd, which included Rep. Earl Blumenauer, the Portland Democrat and founder of the Congressional Cannabis Causus. "But regenerative organic is about what you should do."
