Organic News

New report unveils blueprint to advance organic in climate change policy

The threat that climate change poses to our world, our ecosystem, and our health demands bold policy solutions, and, as the devastating impacts of a warming Earth mount, the push for the development of robust and comprehensive federal climate policy is gaining traction. Organic agriculture can be a part of the solution and help tackle […]

Organic fresh produce sales register double digit growth in the second quarter of 2020

Total organic fresh produce sales and volume registered double digit growth in the second quarter of 2020, with April-June 2020 sales increasing 17 percent and volume up 18 percent from the same period in 2019, according to the Q2 2020 Organic Produce Performance Report released exclusively by the Organic Produce Network and Category Partners.  Organic fresh produce in Q2 […]

Clif Bar sets high bar for funding organic research at universities

For nearly 40 years, conventional agribusiness has steered research activities at ag universities, incentivizing development of new crop varieties through offers of royalties for resulting patents. That has left organic agricultural research dependent on meager USDA handouts—in 2019, $20 million out of the $2.9 billion research budget went to organic. As pesticides and synthetic fertilizers […]

USDA announces new rules to crack down on fraud

The U.S. Department of Agriculture recently announced its “Strengthening Organic Enforcement (SOE) Proposed Rule” to stop fraud in organic imports and domestic U.S. production. According to USDA, the SOE aims “to strengthen oversight and enforcement of the production, handling, and sale of organic agricultural products. The proposed amendments are intended to protect integrity in the […]

“Dirt therapy” led soldier to organic farming

Harvey farm goal: Feed every customer like they’re family By Alex Modesitt, Tribune-Star In the time between patrols and post, Matthew Harvey needed something to slow his mind, something to whisk him away from mountains of eastern Afghanistan and back to some sense of normalcy. If it wasn’t struggling to reconcile with the realities of […]