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Building a private, third-party certification from scratch is no easy feat.
But in six years, when you can build one that is available for certification in 97 countries, that spans more than 15 million acres and 450 different types of crops, in addition to the certification having been licensed to nearly 200 brands and found on 1,550+ products, that is a very serious accomplishment.
This is the remarkable legacy that Elizabeth Whitlow leaves behind, as she has just stepped aside as the inaugural executive director of the Regenerative Organic Alliance (ROA), which oversees the Regenerative Organic Certified® label (ROC). She will now move into a strategic advisory role, and taking her place on an interim basis will be industry veteran, ROA board member and Textile Exchange co-founder La Rhea Pepper.
I caught up with Elizabeth the other day, and below is a condensed version of our conversation.
Why did you decide to step aside now?
ROA has to get bigger very quickly, and we need to be a staff of 100, not fifteen. The growing pains became apparent this past spring, and we need someone who has deep experience in scaling an organization, from both a human and financial capital perspective.
The movement is really expanding, and opportunities are coming in from all over the world, but we need to have a larger infrastructure to take advantage of this interest.
I will be staying on as a board member of ROA and want to focus on updating the standards, something that has not been done since the ROC pilot five years ago. Additionally, I will be continuing to advocate as an ROA ambassador on the board of directors of IFOAM North America and as an advisory board member for Roots of Peace, a true passion project of mine.
What excites you the most about the current state of ROC and its prospects moving forward?
There are so many exciting things happening with ROC right now, whether it is the champagne producers in France or the luxury clothing brands who are introducing a new cashmere goat standard. Textiles are a massive area of opportunity, with so many global and iconic brands wanting to partner with us.
I am also very optimistic and hopeful about leveraging technology to advance regenerative organic agriculture. While some people may bristle at that thought, the reality is that we have to keep leaning on technology solutions because getting boots on the ground is becoming more expensive and time-consuming, and we need to find innovative ways to financially reward farmers for their responsible stewardship of the ecosystem.
For example, technology that uses satellite imagery to assess what is going on with improvements in soil and water. Or, bioacoustics that use AI to assess the health of birds or insects.
Lastly, there is a tremendous opportunity to build more alliances and work more closely with organizations such as Real Organic Project and IFOAM, with its Organic 3.0 initiative.
What are the biggest challenges you see moving forward that the industry really needs to address or pay attention to?
I am deeply concerned about the greenwashing of regenerative, and what is being permitted in some of the regenerative certifications, particularly the unrestricted use of toxic chemicals and allowance of GMOs.
Additionally, we have to follow the money when it comes to regenerative. I will never believe that Syngenta and the other chemical companies have any altruistic notions. So, why are they investing in it? We have to pay attention to this.
What is the message that you would like to leave everyone with?
There is so far to go and we have so much power if we come together, but we need to play the long game.
That means staying strong, staying engaged and not getting burned out. It is kind of a cliché, but this feels really important right now.
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With gratitude, 
Max Goldberg, Founder |
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A very troubling development.
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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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Saco Foods, a portfolio company of Fengate Private Equity and Weathervane Investment Corp., has purchased the organic quinoa brand.
A very hopeful story about an organization that is helping farmers find an alternative to factory farming.
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