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To certify or not to certify? Separating the organic production and certification decisions

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  • Veldstra, Michael D.
  • Alexander, Corinne E.
  • Marshall, Maria I.

Abstract

This article separates the decision to be certified organic into the decision to use organic practices and the subsequent decision to certify those practices, using data from a survey of US fruit and vegetable producers. We document that many producers are using organic practices but choosing not to certify. Philosophical beliefs and perceived risk of losses due to disease, weeds, and insects have the largest impact on the decision to use organic practices. Producers who use organic practices and direct market are less likely to certify. Moreover, we find that the certification process discourages certification.

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  • Veldstra, Michael D. & Alexander, Corinne E. & Marshall, Maria I., 2014. "To certify or not to certify? Separating the organic production and certification decisions," Food Policy, Elsevier, vol. 49(P2), pages 429-436.
  • Handle: RePEc:eee:jfpoli:v:49:y:2014:i:p2:p:429-436
    DOI: 10.1016/j.foodpol.2014.05.010
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    13. Dabbert, Stephan & Lippert, Christian & Zorn, Alexander, 2014. "Introduction to the special section on organic certification systems: Policy issues and research topics," Food Policy, Elsevier, vol. 49(P2), pages 425-428.
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    16. Zhou, Y., 2018. "Assessing the Market Premium for Organic Certification among Canadian Community Supported Agriculture Programs," 2018 Conference, July 28-August 2, 2018, Vancouver, British Columbia 275901, International Association of Agricultural Economists.
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    18. Khanal, Aditya R. & Mishra, Sachin K & Honey, Ummey, 2018. "Certified organic food production, financial performance, and farm size: An unconditional quantile regression approach," Land Use Policy, Elsevier, vol. 78(C), pages 367-376.
    19. González-Azcárate, Mario & Cruz-Maceín, José Luis & Bardají, Isabel, 2022. "Certifications in short food supply chains in the region of Madrid. Part of the alternative?," Ecological Economics, Elsevier, vol. 195(C).
    20. Arthur P. J. Mol & Peter Oosterveer, 2015. "Certification of Markets, Markets of Certificates: Tracing Sustainability in Global Agro-Food Value Chains," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 7(9), pages 1-21, September.
    21. Felix Zoll & Caitlin K. Kirby & Kathrin Specht & Rosemarie Siebert, 2023. "Exploring member trust in German community-supported agriculture: a multiple regression analysis," Agriculture and Human Values, Springer;The Agriculture, Food, & Human Values Society (AFHVS), vol. 40(2), pages 709-724, June.
    22. Froehlich, Anderson G. & Melo, Andrea S.S.A. & Sampaio, Breno, 2018. "Comparing the Profitability of Organic and Conventional Production in Family Farming: Empirical Evidence From Brazil," Ecological Economics, Elsevier, vol. 150(C), pages 307-314.

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