The Organic & Non-GMO Report Newsletter

Sri Lanka’s ban on agrochemicals lowers suicide rates, earning “Policy Oscar”

The country of Sri Lanka has received the Future Policy Special Award 2021 from Pesticide Action Network Asia Pacific. The award recognized two policies that were instrumental in banning Highly Hazardous Pesticides (HPPs), chemicals responsible for thousands of suicides in the country. Five winners of the award—the “Oscar on Best Policies”—were chosen from 55 policies […]

Organic grain sales soar during pandemic

In the burgeoning organic food market, organic bread and grains account for 11.4% of sales. The Organic Trade Association recorded $5.7 billion in 2019 sales for the category. Nielsen reports an 8% increase in organic bread sales from 2018 to 2019, and a whopping 19% from 2019 to 2020. Organic flour sales rose 51% that […]

U.S. beekeepers report second highest colony losses ever—with pesticides as major culprit

The Bee Informed Partnership reported in June the second-highest annual losses of honeybee colonies for the second year running. A preliminary report reveals that beekeepers lost nearly half (45.5%) of their colonies over the past year. Agricultural pesticides are a key driver of population decline for honeybees and other pollinators, like native bees and butterflies. […]

Continued drought conditions threaten organic wheat supply

Widespread weather challenges are set to impact harvest, quality The record-breaking heat wave in the Northwest, paired with the continued drought across a broad range of crop-producing states, may challenge the organic wheat supply heading into harvest. According to the recently released Mercaris Monthly Update, the prolonged drought will likely move harvest earlier this year […]

Organic Trade Association fraud fighting program draws robust interest

A ground-breaking fraud prevention program is drawing strong response from organic businesses as the organic sector readies for the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s upcoming new rules to strengthen oversight of organic imports and the organic supply chain. Forty organic businesses are currently enrolled in the trade association’s Organic Fraud Prevention Solutions program, with another 125 […]