What is Certified Naturally Grown?
Certified Naturally Grown (CNG) offers an alternative to the Certified Organic label.
Our program is based on the same organic practices, but CNG is different in several ways:
Grassroots
CNG is not affiliated with the US Department of Agriculture or any government agency. Started by farmers in 2002, member participation and support keeps us growing strong.
Family Farms
Most farmers who use organic methods choose not to be certified due to concerns about expense and paperwork. Certified Naturally Grown offers those farmers a streamlined process and a legal way to describe their products to customers.
Movement Building
CNG encourages farmers to adopt natural practices. Our peer-review inspections foster learning opportunities that build farmers' knowledge base and strengthen the farming community.
Local
When you buy from a CNG farmer, you can be confident that you're getting food produced nearby. Organic food from the grocery store may come from thousands of miles away, another country, or even another continent.
Internationally Recognized
CNG is one of the four models of "Participatory Guarantee System" (PGS) certification supported by the International Federation of Organic Agricultural Movements (IFOAM) and encouraged by the United Nations FAO for tens of thousands of small farmers globally.
Why Does "Land Reef Farms" Maintain the Coveted "Certified Naturally Grown" Certificate?
Land Reef Farms can very clearly see the vision behind the "Certified Naturally Grown" program and movement says owner Jonathan Kline, PhD. Not only does it promote sustainable agricultural practices, it strives to do so through "peer-review certification, grassroots networking and advocacy". The natural result of the program is a network of well-supported growers that are increasingly likely to be local. This to me is the beginning of a new, large-scale but local, planet-friendly food web of both producers and consumers. A new food web that produces pure, nutrient-dense food that increases the health of the planet and all of its inhabitants either directly or as a by-product of good food production practices."
