US (CA): Consulting service to help with organic certification

Karyn Lee-Thomas, owner of Signature Coffee in Redway, recently attended a IOIA (International Organic Inspectors Association) professional training for organic inspectors. The four-and-a-half-day intensive course involved rules, regulations, protocols and a great deal of course material about international, national and state organic certification. IOIA is an educational nonprofit based in Broadus, Montana, whose mission is to provide training for inspectors and global training for the organic sector through international training partnerships and alliances. The training Lee-Thomas attended was in Cherry Valley in Southern California.

Lee-Thomas can become a crop certifier and work with certifying agencies such as California Certified Organic Farmers (CCOF). She said the three areas of organic certification are crops, production and livestock. Lee-Thomas already knew about the production side from the organic certification process of Signature Coffee. Now she has learned about crop certification as well.

To be certified organic, farmers need to have an organic system plan, and a lot of details and record keeping are required, Lee-Thomas explained. An inspector makes sure the farmer is compliant with their plan and complying with all the rules to be certified organic.

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