Organic News

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 […]

Buying an organic farm through a co-op structure could regenerate rural ag

For over 20 years, Don and Marie Ruzicka have created an agricultural and ecological gem in Alberta, Canada. The 640-acre certified organic Ruzicka Sunrise Farm features native prairie, replanted pasture, large water bodies, over 100,000 planted trees, and 200 birdhouses housing nearly 100 species. Students, professors, and urban dwellers visit the farm and witness what […]