Why isn't everything you carry organic?Updated 7 months ago

USDA Organic is a great certification that helps us gain insight into the practices of a lot of farmed products, but it might not paint the whole picture. Since organic growing practices have a lower crop yield, and organic-certified growers don’t represent a large percentage of farms, a brand may not be able to source 100% reliable quantities of organic ingredients all the time. 

Another common misconception is that “organic” is synonymous with “pesticide-free.” That’s not the case. Organic crops are often sprayed with pesticides. The constraint here is that they’re probably not synthetic pesticides. And actually, naturally-derived organic varieties can sometimes be more toxic than their synthetic conventional counterparts. On top of that, organic pesticides break down more quickly and so have to be sprayed more frequently.

Don’t get us wrong though. We’re not saying “don’t shop organic.” We just want you to know that there’s no perfect way to evaluate farming practices. And there are a  lot of factors to consider when looking at a product for sustainable qualities. So, while we’re definitely relying on certifications like USDA Organic to help inform our onboarding criteria, we leave the door open to non-certified ingredients as part of a more holistic vetting process.