By Jesse Laflamme: My family’s egg business was saved by going organic. We were rescued again when we joined forces with the Organic Trade Association to fight a regulation that threatened the continuation of our operation. Now the organic sector has a chance to band together for a common cause that could benefit the entire organic industry and better all of our futures.
The U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) today announced the availability of $3.8 million to support research, education, and extension projects that will assist current organic producers and those transitioning into organic farming. The funding is available through the Organic Transitions Program, administered by USDA’s National Institute of Food and Agriculture (NIFA).
The Organic Trade Association intends to ask USDA’s Agricultural Marketing Service to establish a transitional organic designation for farmers converting their land to organic production. This would allow these farmers to utilize the services of the NRCS.
Additional organic farmers and handlers will be exempt from paying into commodity checkoff programs under a rule being finalized by USDA's Agricultural Marketing Service.
The Organic Trade Association in 2016 will push forward several initiatives to help industry “turn the corner” on the supply shortages currently holding it back from meeting surging demand for organic products, the group’s CEO Laura Batcha says.
“Parsley could be the new kale. You laugh, but I might make this happen,” says the owner of Wild Garden Seed, who’s spent much of the past 30-odd years living off the grid in Philomath, Oregon, where he breeds new lettuces, quinoas, and other edible plants.
When it comes to natural clothing, despite whatever excitement there is about bamboo, soy and hemp fibers, cotton is still the leading material. But, within the world of cotton, there are a couple of rather important distinctions to be made. The first of these issues is how the cotton — a widespread, inedible cash crop — is grown.
The U.S. Food and Drug Administration today published its final guidance for companies who want to voluntarily label whether foods have or have not been produced or processed with genetically modified organisms (GMOs).