Secretary Sonny Perdue’s plan to relocate two Agriculture Department agencies out of the District of Columbia has delayed the publication of dozens of research reports, squelched early-stage studies and halted the release of millions of dollars in funding, USDA employees say.
Read Article
Since 2009, the People’s Garden at the USDA in Washington, D.C. has highlighted organic agriculture. But no longer.
Read Article
In an investigation by Politico, it was found that the Trump administration has stopped promoting government-funded research into how higher temperatures can damage crops and pose health risks.
Read Article
This is ominous. President Donald Trump signed an executive order directing the USDA, FDA and EPA to ease rules for approving genetically modified crops and other agricultural biotechnology.
Read Article
In the fiscal year 2020 agriculture funding bill, the National Organic Coalition helped secure wins for organic dairy and to fight import fraud.
Read Article
A federal judge has decided that the Organic Trade Association’s lawsuit against the USDA – over its withdrawal of the new organic livestock and poultry rule – can proceed.
Read Article
The USDA placed the interests of ag-biotech companies well ahead of those of the American consumer. It is nothing short of a disgrace.
Read Article
Politico has reported that one USDA database shows 121 million acres of organic farmland across the country, but the same database lists global organic acreage of 13.5 million acres. For the agency charged with cracking down on fraudulent organic imports, this sends a very worrying message.
Read Article
Because the USDA’s National Organic Program has no guidelines when it comes to the use of the word ‘organic’ at restaurants, consumers are left holding the bag.
Read Article
A federal judge said he lacked jurisdiction in the case over a change to the USDA’s Sunset Rule, which now makes it harder to remove synthetic ingredients from organic.
Read Article With the USDA’s new plan to crack down on fraud, the question is whether it has the political will to enforce the rules on the industry’s largest and most influential companies.
Read Article
Suspected of shipping fraudulent imported organic grains from abroad, Sunrise Foods International has just sued the USDA.
Read Article
USDA Secretary Sonny Perdue says it is very likely that the GMO-labeling rules, which Congress mandated to be finished by July 29th, will be delayed. Much of the blame rests with the White House Office of Management & Budget, he said.
Read Article The USDA has published a list of international and domestic businesses it claims are using fraudulent organic program certificates. But as I wrote about in last week’s Organic Insider, the problem is nowhere close to being solved.
Read Article
The USDA just announced that that it will not be regulating GMOs 2.0 — gene-edited plants — and shockingly said that this technology presents no risk.
Read Article
An excellent analysis by Stephanie Strom of the emerging organic add-on labels, such as Regenerative Organic Certification and The Real Organic Project, and how they will impact both consumers and the industry.
Read Article
The USDA is proposing to change restrictions on 17 substances and is adding 16 new substances to the National List, which means that organic producers can use them in production and handling.
Read Article
Members of Congress, including Sen. Patrick Leahy and Rep. Peter DiFazio, have taken to task the USDA over threatening to cancel the Organic Animal Welfare Rules.
Read Article
Organic Valley, Whole Foods, the Organic Trade Association, and numerous other for-profit and non-profit organizations took out a full-page ad in The Washington Post, imploring USDA Secretary Sonny Perdue to restore the organic animal welfare standard.
Read Article
With 33 backers and bipartisan support, a bill introduced by Rep. John J. Faso (R-NY) aims to double the budget for the USDA’s oversight of the organic industry.
Read Article
The USDA’s lack of transparency into the complaints about Aurora operating as an “organic factory dairy farm” is very concerning.
Read Article
The incredibly respected organic farmer Francis Thicke, who just ended his 5-year term on the National Organic Standards Board, gives his take on the real issues that the industry faces.
Read Article
In a bid to decrease oversight of gene-edited foods and to placate major seed companies, the USDA has withdrawn a proposal to create badly needed and updated biotech regulations.
Read Article
For those of us who care about food, Vanity Fair’s profile of Trump’s USDA is incredibly unsettling.
Read Article
