Organic News

Real Organic Project add-on label hopes to enhance organic integrity

Is the USDA organic seal losing credibility? A group of organic farmers and advocates feel that the National Organic Program standard has strayed from the original values associated with organic farming and lost its integrity. They have created the Real Organic Project (ROP) in response. Requirements to meet the standard include basic organic certification, along […]

The organic food market continues to surge: where will it go next?

It has been projected to increase at a 14 percent rate between 2016 and 2021. It saw $43 billion in sales in 2016. And the global organic market has room to grow—retailers, exports, baby and children’s food, healthy snacks—noted Laura Batcha, executive director of the Organic Trade Association. Why is it so popular? Taste and […]

Pipeline Foods Breaks Ground on New Grain Terminal in North Dakota

Pipeline Foods LLC, the first U.S.-based supply chain solutions company focused exclusively on non-GMO and organic food and feed, recently announced it is building a new state-of-the-art grain terminal in Bowbells, North Dakota. Construction is underway in preparation for a late summer opening in 2018.

Thanks to Big Ag, that “organic” label might not mean what you think

Francis Thicke, an organic farmer and former member of the National Organic Standards Board, warns that the integrity of the organic standards is in jeopardy with organic Concentrated Animal Feeding Operations, certified organic hydroponically produced vegetables, and pressure from big business.

Should ‘USDA Organic’ animals be treated more humanely? The Trump administration just said no.

The U.S. Department of Agriculture recently ruled that livestock, including chickens, cows, and pigs, raised using organic agricultural practices do not have to be treated more humanely than animals raised in conventional farming. For years, the USDA had been developing organic requirements guaranteeing animals minimums of space, light and access to the outside. The requirements had wide support in the organic community and among consumers. The Organic Trade Association has vowed to fight the USDA’s decision.