First, a bit of information on the process a business must go through in order to put that little sticker on their product:

A grower or handler seeking organic certification submits an Organic Farm Plan or an Organic Handling Plan to a USDA-accredited private or state certification program. The Organic Plan must detail all current growing or handling methods and any materials that will be used. The Plan also covers future intentions and improvements to all areas of production.

Even growers or harvesters of organic wild crops, such as fiddlehead ferns, must develop a Plan showing that harvesting practices will not be destructive to the environment or to the future productivity of the crop.

Five-year records must be kept of all management practices and materials used in organic production.

In addition to assessing the Organic Plan, the certification agency performs annual on-site inspections of each farm or handling operation participating in its program. Certification is then either awarded or denied. User fees are collected from each grower or handler to cover the cost of the certification program. Source

Ok, so it looks like a “pay to play” scenario for some of the larger producers of organic fare. What I don’t know is how much that fee is. According to owners of smaller farms (those that you would typically find in a local farmers market) the organic certification often costs too much money. This helps explain why organic is almost always more expensive..someone has to pay for the certification and re-certification process each year. More often than not these smaller growers will label their items as “chemical free” or “pesticide free” since they don’t have the legal rights to call themselves organic under the current regulation. On one hand I agree with charging a fee so that funds are collected to employ inspectors to keep growers honest. On the other hand, if having that organic label helps small growers sell, they need to be able to afford it.

Ultimately, we can only trust the growers and inspectors to do what’s right. Good old truth in advertising. Personally, I feel that items with the organic label are truly organic. Until Dateline goes undercover and finds out we’ve all been fooled, I feel comfortable dropping the extra cash on the organic items.