We serve as the unifying voice of the U.S. organic industry on Capitol Hill, and we advance our mission to promote and protect organic agriculture and trade through legislative and regulatory advocacy.
As the only trade association working on behalf of the organic sector, we build and retain meaningful relationships with Members of Congress and their staff, USDA’s National Organic Program, NOSB, and the FDA on food and farming policy.
We bring farmers, processors, distributors, retailers and others together to promote and protect the growing organic sector.
We represent our members to government on sector needs, market development and promotion, and strong organic standards and regulations. Members also receive the latest information and quick answers on organic regulations and standards in the U.S. and around the world.
Our insightful and comprehensive data reports on the U.S. organic industry illustrate the positive economic impact of organic agriculture and products, and the importance of consumer choice in the marketplace.
Whether you're looking for the size of the organic market, organic industry trends or insights into the organic consumer, we are here to help.
We bring the U.S. organic industry to developing markets around the world through our U.S. Organic Worldwide programs.
As a cooperator with USDA’s Foreign Agricultural Service Market Access Programs, we create new opportunities for organic products through international promotions, organic exporter education, business to business connections, and trade negotiations.
From our signature policymaking event, Organic Week in Washington, D.C., to a full roster of education and networking events at the Natural Products Expos, join us for association business, member meetings, and social and networking events.
If you’re looking for high-level networking opportunities, exciting venues to showcase your brand, and a guaranteed good time with an always-organic menu, then join us for any of our many activities throughout the year.
We educate influencers and consumers about the benefits organic practices and products. This includes having an expansive social media presence, as well as actively engaging with the press to share facts about organic methods, benefits, and milestones.
Check out our expansive collection of informative resources that explain what organic is, and why it is definitely worth it.
We are your connected community of organic innovators and pioneers. Our path forward is organic.
As the membership-based business association for organic agriculture and products in North America, we are the leading voice for the organic trade in the United States, representing over 9,500 organic businesses across 50 states. Our Board of Directors is democratically elected by our members.
Meg Plucinski and her husband, Derek, have been dairy farming for the majority of their lives. Together, they operate D&M Family Farm, a 341-acre dairy farm in Wisconsin where their animals graze intensively on well-maintained, award-winning pastures. In addition, they raise certified organic beef, pork, and poultry sold from their online farm store.
Meg first reached out to the Organic Trade Association in October 2018 to gain a greater understanding of what the trade association and its newly formed Organic Dairy Council do to assist farmers. She had heard other small farmers question whether the trade association was, in fact, a good fit for the small-scale certified producers. Rather than accepting their doubts about the trade association at face value, she reached out to the Organic Trade Association to judge for herself. Through phone conversations and other outreach, she excitedly chose to join, with the goal to play a role in spreading her positive messages within its Dairy Council, and bring some of those small-scale concerns to the forefront of the organic dairy industry.
She soon found she was also a perfect fit for the trade association’s Farmers Advisory Council (FAC). FAC provides the Organic Trade Association’s Board of Directors and staff with input from small- and medium-sized organic farmers, ranchers, and growers on matters pertinent to the advancement of organic agriculture, with a specific focus on the trade association’s policy agenda.
Just a few months after joining the trade association, she was headed in a minivan with a babysitter and her 9-month old son to D.C. for her first trip to the East Coast to join other FAC Members on Capitol Hill to advocate for organic. She met with lawmakers, including Wisconsin Senator Tammy Baldwin, to outline the trade association’s policy agenda while sharing her struggles and joys of being a small-scale organic dairy farmer.
Her story was spot-on for showing the challenges faced by young couples who want to farm organically, and obtain the land to do so. She and her husband currently are purchasing their farm in a transition agreement with the present owner--a fine example and inspiration for other organic farmers who are trying to set up their own farm but are struggling with conventional loans and purchase agreements.