Hydroponically-grown organic lettuce and salad leaves are everywhere in America. Every farmers’ market worth its salt offeres a selection of gourmet mixed leaves grown in an organic solution of water and minerals under bright lights. They taste lovely and look the part.
However, hydroponics are completely banned under the organic legal standards throughout Europe.
The Soil Association’s policy manager, Gundula Azeez says:
“The reason why hydroponics are not allowed in EU organic production is that organic farming is a system based on the soil, in particular that plant nutrition is based on the activities of living organisms in the soi. This was discovered b