Why Your Union Square Greenmarket Produce May Not Be USDA Certified Organic

Union Square Greenmarket, New York City. 2014.

Less than 10 percent of the farmers at the ever-popular Union Square Greenmarket are selling organic produce. But many more of them farm in organic ways – they just don’t want to pay the price to get licensed.

It’s not that these uncertified Northeastern farmers are flying false flags. They say they are committed to the government’s definition of organic farming: food grown without synthetic pesticides or chemical mutagens. Without a USDA Organic seal, however, self-evaluation verifies a farmer’s clean growing process. At the Greenmarket, some farmers debate if this is enough.

“There’s a lot of ambiguity on whether or not it’s important to be certified,” said John Adams of Hudson Valley Organic. “I think it is.”

Adams, 56, specializes in microgreens, tender, young salad greens. His greenhouse farm is in Wawarsing, New York, just west of Poughkeepsie. He has had his Seal since 1992, the first year the government began regulating organic farming but has been producing organically since 1986.

John Adams, owner and farmer of USDA certified organic microgreens farm, Hudson Valley Organic.

Adams claimed that many of the market’s farmers who dropped their government certifications in recent years own high-revenue farms. Because the label’s cost is based on a percentage of organic sales, these big farms are not willing (or sometimes, not able) to pay the higher fee.

“I think you should be certified,” said Adams. “I’m glad there are certifications out there for the big companies because they’re going to do a better job in their [practice], even if it’s not perfect.”

“Some of our farmers were doing organic farming before there was a certification process,” said a Greenmarket manager. They stopped using the “organic” label because “they don’t feel it represents their farm and what they do.” The government’s licensing standards are a key part of the rift, he added.

The farm stand of John and Sue Gorzynski, nestled along the west side of the park, proudly displays the name “Gorzynski Ornery Farm” on a white board of vegetable prices. The word “ornery” replaces a crossed out “organic.”

“Sun, seed, soil and water,” Sue said. “That’s what we use. That’s organic.”

Gorzynski Ornery Farm is formerly USDA certified organic. In 2002, owners John and Sue Gorzynski dropped the title.

Since 1979, the couple has been farming organic produce in Cochecton Center, in Sullivan County, New York. Then, their business was called “Gorzynski Organic Farm,” certified by the USDA. 

However, with the enactment of the 2002 Farm Bill, they chose to rescind their certification.

“Organic to us means no herbicides, no pesticides,” said Sue, behind the crates of carrots creating her Greenmarket cash desk. She claims that the USDA now allows organic farmers to use 137 different synthetics, while retaining their Organic Seal. This number is drawn from the National List of Allowed and Prohibited Substances. That doesn’t sit well with the Gorzynskis.

The Greenmarket inspects every farm at market annually to check inventory, not farming practices. It serves only to provide consumers with direct communication with those cultivating their produce. For consumers, the organic produce standards at stands like Gorzynski Ornery Farm require taking a farmer’s word.

“[Uncertified organic farmers] prefer to just talk to people about what they grow and actually explain why their food’s better,” the Greenmarket manager said, “not just with a label.”

Organic carrots and radishes from Gorzynski Ornery Farm.