A formal complaint filed with the USDA alleges that Quality Assurance International (QAI) has created a certification mark that functions as a marketing claim strongly implying products labeled “Made with organic ingredients” are certified organic, in violation of federal regulations for labeling organic food.
Read ArticleCiting serious antitrust concerns that would increase market concentration, reduce competition and harm family-scale organic dairy farmers, OrganicEye has formally requested that the FTC investigate the proposed acquisition.
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Farm Action, United We Eat and Moms Across America sent a letter to USDA Secretary Brooke Rollins urging her agency to protect farmer livelihoods, rebuild local food systems, and reduce chronic disease through real food.
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Among other things, the Organic Farming Research Foundation believes the USDA’s reorganization will erode institutional capacity agency-wide, hinder grant administration and delay on-the-ground assistance for farmers.
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On May 12th, the USDA reversed course and committed to restoring climate-focused webpages purged from its websites after a lawsuit was filed on behalf of organic farmers.
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“For the last 50 years, American children have increasingly been living in a toxic soup of synthetic chemicals,” FDA Commissioner Marty Makary said at a press conference yesterday in Washington, D.C.
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“Taxpayers are subsidizing poor health,” Arkansas Gov. Sarah Huckabee Sanders said at a Little Rock news conference with USDA Secretary Brooke Rollins. “We’re paying for it on the front end and the back end.”
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This is a sham of a policy, which fails to adequately protect consumers, and it must be abolished.
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Dr. Nancy Beck is credited with leading a wide-ranging pushback against chemical regulations during the first Trump administration, and she rewrote rules that made it harder to track the health consequences of a “forever chemical” linked to cancer.
Read Article The pause on the $85 million Organic Market Development Grant program and the $100 million Transition to the Organic Partnership Program has jolted farmers, nonprofits and businesses struggling to make planting and hiring decisions. Even if the pause on funding is lifted, it could put farmers out of business.
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Industry sources predict required front-of-pack labeling could mean giving up key real estate in costly redesigns — or, more optimistically, an opportunity for some brands to modernize packaging.
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For a food product to qualify as “healthy,” it has to contain certain amounts of at least one of the food groups included in the Dietary Guidelines for Americans, and it also has to fall below certain limits on added sugars, sodium and saturated fat.
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A group of non-profits, including Center for Food Safety and Earthjustice, has sued the FDA because the agency has refused advocates’ calls to update the safety assessments — which are at least forty years old.
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With GOTS having been just included in the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency’s Recommendations of Specifications, Standards and Ecolabels for Federal Purchasing, GOTS-certified products will now receive clear preference in public tenders.
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Called the Organic Dairy Product Promotion Program, its goal is to increase consumption of organic dairy among children and young adults while building partnerships with local organic producers.
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Among other things voted on and discussed, there was significant conversation about residue testing of imported organic livestock feedstuffs, which is leading to a proposal at the spring meeting.
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Alongside agricultural leaders and stakeholders, OFRF hosted Reps. Zoe Lofgren and Jimmy Panetta for a field day visit to the USDA’s Agricultural Research Service Salinas station.
Read Article USDA’s Agricultural Marketing Service Market News recently expanded its collection and distribution of price and production cost information by adding organic milk, cattle, grains and feedstuffs, and fertilizer to its list of published reports.
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Gov. Josh Shapiro announced a $3M Redevelopment Assistance Capital Program investment in Folkland Foods, which allow it to transition more acreage to organic farming and create up to 50 new local jobs.
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The complaint alleges that the EPA is unlawfully withholding public records on pesticide decision-making.
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The investment includes $70.4 million to support specialty crop production research and $50.5 million to support farmers and ranchers who grow and market organic products.
Read Article The $9.7 million for 13 grant projects through the Organic Market Development Grant program brings the total amount awarded through the program to $85 million.
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Center for Food Safety submitted a groundbreaking petition to the EPA, urging immediate action to address the presence of per- and polyfluoroalkyl (PFAS) substances in pesticides and pesticide containers.
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Apparently, regenerative organic agriculture — a proven and cost-effective solution — is viewed as not thinking big enough.
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