Not everyone is happy about the possibility of hydroponic crops being able to receive the label of 'organic'. Some farming experts say that the organic classification should not extend to hydroponics because those crops are grown without any soil.
The reason that they don't believe it should receive the classification, is because they don't see hydroponically-grown crops to be on-par with those that are grown in healthy soil.
And those who are against hydroponic crops being qualified as organic, assert the notion that the hydroponic crops are going to be missing nutrients that a healthy soil would have otherwise provided to them.
Some say that the 'organic' nature in farming rests in the action of feeding the soil, rather than feeding the plant itself like with a hydroponics system. But those who are in support of the hydroponics system say that growing via this method can be just as healthy; if not superior. Hydroponic farmers can still grow their crops using organic liquid fertilizers. If every step of the process is done using organic materials, then why shouldn't the organic label extend to those crops as well? Yet there are still some who fear that the organic label will be watered down if that happens.
The National Organic Standards Board is planning on voting on this matter later this week.
Organic food sales topped $40 billion last year and there is a growing demand for innovative growing methods like hydroponics, to be able to grow a large amount of produce in a short amount of time, using a smaller amount of space than was traditionally needed.
sources:
http://www.npr.org/sections/thesalt/2016/11/16/502330731/some-growers-say-organic-label-will-be-watered-down-if-it-extends-to-hydroponic
http://www.nytimes.com/2016/11/16/business/organic-certification-hydroponic-aquaponic-produce.html
http://web.mit.edu/12.000/www/m2015/2015/hydro_agriculture.html
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC5091364/