Brands tend to toss the word ‘organic’ around without actually walking the talk. In the world of hemp products, in particular, vendors tend to ride the tide of the organic movement in order to gain traction and popularity. But do their products actually meet the standards that the organic label requires?
If you’re out here looking for the best USDA organic CBD hemp oil brands, then you’ve come to the right place. Here, we’re counting down the top names on the market that truly embody what organic really means.
One Farm
Based in Niwot, Colorado, One Farm calls itself one of the CBD movement’s early adopters. The company has been around since 2017 and has since made it its mission to uplift the importance of transparency. They believe that buyers have the right to know where products come from.
In 2018, the brand’s owners developed their own farm in order to closely oversee the whole process from soil to store. Since then, they’ve perfected their cultivation practices to meet strict USDA Organic guidelines.
Today, One Farm offers the whole range of hemp-derived and infused products you can imagine. Their USDA Organic CBD Oil comes in flavors of cinnamon, lemon, mint, and original, and touts strengths of up to 40mg/uL.
Indigo Ridge Hemp
Located on a 2,300-acre property in South Carolina, the Indigo Ridge Farm boasts picturesque landscapes that showcase the beauty of organic farming. Their pristine farms produce all sorts of crops for various brands, including fruit and vegetable supplies for chain stores like Whole Foods and Lowe’s.
On the same farm, the owners have grown their own brand of high-quality hemp which they carefully cultivate in small batches. Their products pass through rigorous testing and quality assurance protocol to guarantee that every last cutting contains premium cannabinoid content that’s free from harmful contaminants.
Indigo Ridge Farm offers various flavors for their USDA Organic CBD hemp oil including citrus and mint. But if you’re particularly wary of full-spectrum blends that include THC, they also offer a THC-free CBD oil blend that’s also certified USDA Organic.
Head & Heal
Just like many other brands on the market, Head & Heal’s story starts out with an untimely medical diagnosis. Out of options for treatment, the owner was handed a bottle of CBD oil and the rest was history. Since then, they’ve made it their objective to share the wonders of CBD with the rest of the world using sustainable practices.
By 2018, the owners had begun selling their products at farmers' markets. They were keen to learn more about their customers’ experiences and used this valuable input to improve their product. With what little profit they made, they developed their production process and ensured the safety of their products.
Head & Heal now offers a broad assortment of USDA Organic CBD oil blends that cater to every kind of user. Aside from offering various strengths, Head & Heal also serves up unique formulations that support sleep and productivity so you can get more targeted results out of your CBD oil doses.
What Does the USDA Organic Label Mean?
Farming isn’t quite as clean and easy as it might seem. Caring for large farms that produce copious amounts of crops for commercial use and production means having to sacrifice being able to oversee how each individual plant grows. This leaves room for pests and botanical diseases to thrive.
So to counter the possibility of losing crops to pests or infections, some farmers use pesticides, herbicides, and other harmful chemicals that limit the need for close, individual inspection. The problem? Studies have found that using such chemicals on crops translates to possible health risks for end users.
That’s why the USDA Organic program was developed. Products that observe strict farming techniques that reduce and eliminate the presence of harmful chemicals can label their products as certified USDA Organic. So when you buy USDA Organic CBD oil, you can be sure that it was:
- Manufactured from hemp plants that were grown in soil that has had no exposure to prohibited substances for the past three years.
- Cultivated using all-natural techniques like crop rotations and tillage.
- Supplemented using animal and crop waste material.
- Safeguarded from pests and disease using physical, mechanical, and biological control mechanisms (ie. No chemical pesticides!)
- Protected from more aggressive pests and diseases using treatments that are approved by the USDA.
How to Make Sure a Product is USDA Organic Certified
Anyone can slap the USDA Organic certified logo on their products, and sometimes, the irresponsible branding can go unchecked. So yes, it is possible to find products on the market that claim to be ‘certified organic, but actually aren’t.
So what can you do to make sure you’re buying the real deal? Here are a few tips.
- Check the logo - Marketing loopholes abound, and vendors hoping to jump on the organic bandwagon without meeting requirements will exploit these loopholes as much as they can.
In general, products that are 95-100% organic are the only ones that have the license to use the USDA-certified organic logo. Some products may showcase the word ‘organic’ if the ingredients are less than 95% organic, but these shouldn’t have the USDA logo anywhere on the packaging.
- Look into the USDA database - For the protection of buyers, the USDA makes its entire organic database available through the web. This massive log registers the names of operations, businesses, and companies that have USDA-certified organic products.
If you’re in doubt, you can look up the name of the brand you’re interested in buying from to see if they pop up on the list. Keep in mind though that some companies register using names that are different from the brand they use to transact with their customers.
- Ask for certificates - With any vendor, USDA organic certification is equal to major bragging rights. So if a brand claims to be USDA certified, you can bet your bottom dollar they’ll do whatever they can to prove it.
Ask to see any certificates they can provide to substantiate their claims of being USDA organic. If they refuse to show their documentation, you can best believe it probably doesn’t exist.
From Soil to Store
Organic products might come at slightly steeper prices, but you can’t beat the peace of mind that comes with taking a dose of a product you can trust. USDA organic certified CBD oils do away with a world’s worth of dangerous chemicals and contaminants that could endanger your health.
So if you were hoping to replenish your CBD oil stash and you want nothing but the real, honest, organic deal, these vetted brands might just have what you’re looking for.
