After finding Food Alliance and studying their certification a little more, they are truly a group to look for in Pennsylvania as the PA Sustainable Agriculture Association ramps up their marketing of this certification, and gets farmers, food processors, and 
distributors on board with certification and using their seal of approval. As of today, there are no PA certified Food Alliance businesses, but they'll be coming, I'm sure as this new certification takes off. I took the Self-Assessment test to see if my "farm" would pass the certification. (I hardly classify my backyard a farm, but that's the only category I fit). I mainly wanted to see what criteria they were looking for in comparison to the USDA organic certification criteria which focuses mostly JUST on the organic aspect -- seed, soil, no pesticides, buffer zones, non-GMO, etc. Food Alliance goes a little further and gives the seal of approval that you care about the environment too. I love that! There were numerous questions in the Wildlife Habitat Conservation Section and I passed with flying colors given my backyard is a registered Wildlife Backyard Habitat by the National Wildlife Federation. Important aspects of wildlife gardening are letting "wild" areas remain, letting dead trees stand (for bird nests), putting up "perches" for birds, growing native plants - keeping a check on invasive species, growing plants/crops for wildlife and a host of other questions related to the native wildlife. As long as I keep saving the birdies, I'll keep passing this section. They also had a huge section on Integrated Pest Management which also is an important of an organic garden. It all works together -- if you look at what's going on and let it happen, or help it along. For example, I grow many plants in the umbrel family (dill, fennel, carrots, parsley), which attract the braconid wasp which kills the horned tomato worm. And in some areas, I let the weeds grow for the flea beatles to munch on so they don't munch (as much) on my vegetable plants. And of course there's the composting/soil management section. I can't say enough good things about composting. Food Alliance rocks... they are my new heroes. I may get the certification for my CSA (maybe) in two years. The certification costs $400 for 3 years -- much cheaper than the organic certification which I think is based on the sales of your food and for me, would be about $500 for a year.
distributors on board with certification and using their seal of approval. As of today, there are no PA certified Food Alliance businesses, but they'll be coming, I'm sure as this new certification takes off. I took the Self-Assessment test to see if my "farm" would pass the certification. (I hardly classify my backyard a farm, but that's the only category I fit). I mainly wanted to see what criteria they were looking for in comparison to the USDA organic certification criteria which focuses mostly JUST on the organic aspect -- seed, soil, no pesticides, buffer zones, non-GMO, etc. Food Alliance goes a little further and gives the seal of approval that you care about the environment too. I love that! There were numerous questions in the Wildlife Habitat Conservation Section and I passed with flying colors given my backyard is a registered Wildlife Backyard Habitat by the National Wildlife Federation. Important aspects of wildlife gardening are letting "wild" areas remain, letting dead trees stand (for bird nests), putting up "perches" for birds, growing native plants - keeping a check on invasive species, growing plants/crops for wildlife and a host of other questions related to the native wildlife. As long as I keep saving the birdies, I'll keep passing this section. They also had a huge section on Integrated Pest Management which also is an important of an organic garden. It all works together -- if you look at what's going on and let it happen, or help it along. For example, I grow many plants in the umbrel family (dill, fennel, carrots, parsley), which attract the braconid wasp which kills the horned tomato worm. And in some areas, I let the weeds grow for the flea beatles to munch on so they don't munch (as much) on my vegetable plants. And of course there's the composting/soil management section. I can't say enough good things about composting. Food Alliance rocks... they are my new heroes. I may get the certification for my CSA (maybe) in two years. The certification costs $400 for 3 years -- much cheaper than the organic certification which I think is based on the sales of your food and for me, would be about $500 for a year. 
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