Why We’re Leaving Organic Certification

North Star Farm still farms with sun, water, and no spray. We are leaving organic certification because the bureaucracy now serves itself more faithfully than it serves farmers or eaters.

From the position of a man who has spent enough time in business to recognize when a system has become more devoted to itself than to its purpose, I want to explain why North Star Farm is choosing to opt out of organic certification.

This is not a confession. It is not a retreat from organic farming or a quiet slide into compromise. It is, in my view, th…