Announcing: "Just Organic"™
FOG is participating in a pilot project to test social justice standards intended for use domestically. The objective of this project is to run through a social justice certification process in order to get feedback from all the participants. The information gathered during the pilot project will be used to mold the social justice certification program including the standards. You can view the standards at www.rafiusa.org/pubs/SocialJustice_final.pdf
The social justice standards are detailed in the document entitled "Toward Social Justice and Economic Equity in the Food System: A Call for Social Stewardship Standards in Sustainable and Organic Agriculture" found on the RAFI-USA website at http://www.rafiusa.org/programs/JUSTFOODS.html.
The phrase "Just Organic" is registered service and or certification mark registered as a trademark of Florida Certified Organic Growers and Consumers Inc. for use in certification of socially just agricultural practices. While the standards governing the use of the mark require that the operation certified under the "Just Organic" mark be either certified organic by a USDA accredited organic certifier or an operation who is excluded from the NOP requirement to be certified but otherwise complies with the USDA organic regulations, this certificate is not a certificate of organic certification under the National Organic Program and should not be used as a substitute for verification of the operation's current organic status. For verification of the operation's current organic certification status, please contact the operation or their organic certifier. This certificate only verifies that the operation meets the social justice agriculture standards of the "Just Organic" certification program and that at the time of issuance of this certification the operation was certified organic by a USDA accredited certifier or claimed exemption from the requirement to be certified and compliance with the NOP regulations contained in 7 CFR 205 of the Code of Federal Regulations. For a copy of the "Just Organic" socially just agricultural standards or to obtain more information about the proper use and meaning of this certificate please contact Florida Certified Organic Growers and Consumers Inc. at www.foginfo.org or call (352)377-6345.
The new FOGhorn Newsletter Summer '06 can be found here
2005 Survey of Certified Organic
Agriculture in Florida released.
Organic agriculture in Florida is a rapidly
growing industry that is
characterized by many diverse types of certified organic operators,
including certified organic growers, value-added growers, and
processors. This report summarizes the data collected from the first
survey ever conducted of Florida’s certified organic operators. This
report describes the survey responses to questions about various
aspects of certified organic operations in Florida, including:
ownership types, acreage in production, products produced, sales,
markets, labor usage and employment, and program and policy priorities.
This survey and report were funded by a grant from the Florida
Department of Agriculture and Consumer Services and the United States
Department of Agriculture.
To download this report in it's entirety, use
these links. (MS Word .doc format)
www.foginfo.org/docs/2002
SurveyofCertifiedOrganicAgriculture inFloridaPreface.doc
www.foginfo.org/docs/2002
SurveyofCertifiedOrganicAgriculture inFloridaBody.doc
Newsletter:
QCS News, No. 1 Volume 6: Summer 2004
QCS News, No. 1 Volume 9: Summer 2005
[Adobe PDF]
(Requires Adobe Reader 6.0 )
Who We Are . . .
The name 'Quality Certification Services'(QCS) was adopted by the
certification program of Florida Certified Organic Growers and
Consumers, Inc., (FOG) in 2001 to adapt to expanding services, a
growing clientele, and demand for a geographically neutral name. QCS is
simply a new name for the same committment to customer service and
affordible certification as shown in FOG's thirteen year history of
certifying Organic operations.
What We Do . . .
Quality Certification Services offers USDA ISO Guide 65 and USDA
National Organic Program accredited certification options. QCS
currently offers the following certification options:
Certified Organic
Certified Transitional
Certified Hormone and Antibiotic Free
QCS certifies Farming, Wildcrafring, Livestock, Processing, Packing,
and Handling operations. While our home office is in Florida, we
certify entities nationally and internationally. QCS meets the needs of
operations regardless of type, location, or size.
