Why Shoppers Need CHiPS

Sometime around 2010, USDA organic certifiers began quietly allowing hydroponic growers to certify their facilities as organic — and to market their produce using the USDA Organic Seal. That bending of the rules has lead to some farms circumventing the legal requirement that organic food be grown in biologically active soil. Undisclosed and unlabeled, “organic” hydroponic food is now marketed to consumers without their knowledge.

The CHiPS Alliance for Sustainable Hydroponics Clean Hydroponic Produce Standard was created to provide distinct and transparent marketing for quality produce grown without “soil in the ground.” We believe consumers should always have real choices, and that choice requires they know fully how their food is grown. We believe hydroponic farmers should be proud of the food they grow, and they should have a seal of quality to proudly show the world.

There’s organic. There’s hydroponic. But there is really no such thing as “organic hydroponic”. The CHiPS program intends to give clean hydroponic produce farms the distinct recognition and support they deserves.