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US-Grown Organic Cotton
We feel very passionately about supporting US-grown organic cotton for environmental, ethical, and economic reasons. First, we live and work here in the USA so it makes good economic and environmental sense to support US-grown organic cotton. All the same arguments used in support of the local food movement apply also to other consumer goods, including organic cotton products. The carbon footprint is lower because less fuel is used for transport of locally-produced goods.
Second, the United States has much stricter environmental laws than many other countries, including some countries where organic cotton is currently grown. It is important to check which agency certified the organic cotton as certification requirements vary.
The Global Organic Textile Standard, or GOTS, was created to provide a universal definition for organic textiles. This comprehensive set of guidelines covers all aspects of the production of organic cotton textiles, from field to product labelling. However, it does NOT deal much with labor issues.
For foreign-grown organic cotton especially, we recommend checking the producer's labor standards. Again, independent, third-party documentation is a much better indicator of these standards than just some company representative's word.
Why are so few companies using US-grown organic cotton?
Even though consumer demand for US-grown organic cotton has skyrocketed over the last few years, the supply has decreased significantly during that same period. The main reason for this is simply overseas competition. It is much cheaper to produce organic cotton in India or Turkey, for example, than it is to produce it in the United States. Without commitments from buyers to pay them for their organic cotton crops, farmers have been forced to turn to other more profitable crops.
Another difficulty the industry faces is the dismantled state of the US textile industry. Many sewing operations and textile mills relocated offshore years ago, so apparel and bedding companies buying US-grown organic cotton have few options for textile mills and sewing facilities. Because there is less competition, the prices for these services are higher.
Many industry analysts believe the way to improve the situation is to focus on creating more work for the mills and sewing shops. With this revised infrastructure in place, using US-grown organic cotton would be much more feasible for many companies. This very approach has been taken by many of our suppliers, including Heart of Vermont, Pixel Organics, and Lapsaky. All of these companies currently use foreign-grown organic cotton, but ensure the cotton is milled here and their final products are produced here in the USA.
As consumer demand for US-grown organic cotton increases, and work for US mills and sewing operations increases, we hope and expect to see an increase in the amount of US-grown organic cotton on the market.
For your easy reference, we maintain a list of Baby Products Made in the USA from US-grown Organic Cotton.
