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Last week, the Real Organic Project held its annual symposium at Churchtown Dairy in Hudson, New York.
It was another spectacular day, and people came as far from the UK, Denmark, Germany and Canada. Even more encouraging was the next generation of organic farmers in attendance, such as Annie and Melanie Elzinga of Alderspring Ranch, Iriel Edwards of Jubilee Justice, Savannah Flynn of Flynn Farms, several sustainable agriculture students and other young people engaged in the movement.
Here are my five key takeaways from the event.
1) THE NEED FOR OTRI
Eliot Coleman has not only been farming organically since the 1960s and written books that have influenced several generations of organic farmers, but he may very well be the greatest thinker in our industry as well.
During his talk, he suggested that organic farming would be greatly benefitted by supplementing OMRI (the Organic Materials Review Institute — the organization that reviews and approves external inputs) with an entity called OTRI, the Organic Techniques Review Institute.
This organization would publish data re-emphasizing the importance of green manures, crop rotations, cover crops, growing legumes and incorporating organic matter with shallow non-inversion tillage.
(From l. to r., Eliot Coleman of Four Season Farm in Maine, Hugh Kent of King Grove Organic Farm in Florida)
2) DENMARK IS NAILING IT
Paul Holmbeck, a member of the world board of IFOAM Organics International and an advisor to governments, has played a critical role over the past few decades in Denmark developing such a strong organic sector. His talk provided tremendous hope and optimism as to what is possible when various factions come together and make organic a priority.
Currently, 11 of the 12 main political parties in the country support organic, a staggering figure. Additionally, organic comprises 12% of retail sales in Denmark, the highest of any European country.
3) DEEP DIVE INTO MEXICO
There may be no other individual who has covered the GMO corn dispute with Mexico better than Tim Wise, author and senior advisor at the Institute for Agriculture and Trade Policy.
In addition to giving us an extremely disturbing update on Bill Gates’ activities in Africa, Tim, along with Ben Dobson of Hudson Carbon, shared the details of exactly what is taking place with Mexico’s attempt to ban GMO corn and glyphosate for its tortillas. Even though farmers in the Midwest were willing to grow and sell Non-GMO corn to Mexico in order to accommodate this change in policy, our trade negotiators refused.
Quite simply, the U.S. government wants unfettered control over what Mexicans eat, demonstrating the immense power that the GMO and chemical industry wields in our country. A decision about this trade dispute is expected next month.
(Tim Wise)
4) MAKING AN IMPACT
Being able to listen to what is taking place on organic farms around the U.S. was incredibly valuable.
Anna Jones-Crabtree, of Vilicus Farms in Montana, talked about the serious hardship it is to farm organically, sharing her financial statements with the audience, and how she introduced a new model called Community Supported Stewardship Agriculture, which was developed to provide direct support for a system of life-giving land management practices that support all creatures.
(Anna Jones-Crabtree)
Paul Muller, of Full Belly Farm in California, which has been certified organic since 1985, talked about how farming is “practiced by a community” and how it is a point of emphasis on his farm to help all of his workers become homeowners.
Jessie Buie, of Ole Brook Organics in Mississippi, is involved with the USDA’s Transfer to Organic Partnership Program (TOPP) — Southeast, and he shared how in his region, there are 37 mentors and 57 mentees, including new and BIPOC farmers.
Linely Dixon, of Adobe House Farm in Colorado and co-director of the Real Organic Project, discussed how so many of the 1,100 Real Organic Project farmers have gotten certified, not because it helps them in the marketplace, but they believe so much in the mission. And she made an emotional plea for others to join, understanding that the collective power could result in immense positive change.
5) THE MANIPULATION OF ORGANIC RULES
Even though Hugh Kent is someone I have heard speak numerous times before and have previously profiled his soil-based organic blueberry farm in Organic Insider, his speech during the symposium hit especially hard.
Why?
Because the USDA is allowing hydroponics, despite the fact that Section 6513 of the Organic Foods Production Act of 1990 clearly states that farmers must have a management plan that “fosters soil fertility.” As a result, Hugh is forced to compete on an unlevel playing field, against other farms whose operations do not “foster soil fertility.”
Even more egregious is that hydroponic growers in Holland, for example, are unable to sell their products in their own county or the rest of the EU as organic. Instead, they can export their products to the U.S. because the USDA allows them to be marketed as organic. The same holds true for Mexico, a massive producer of organic hydroponic tomatoes, berries and other crops.
“Even if you don’t care about soil, you should care about democracy,” said Dave Chapman, co-director of the Real Organic Project. “This is a monopoly exercising its power and control over democracy and bending the rules for its own benefit. If it were not for Driscoll’s, this would not be an issue at all.”
Just let that sink in for a minute.
(Dave Chapman suggested that Michael Pollan’s famous quote “Eat Food. Not Too Much. Mostly Plants.” should be modified to “Eat Mostly Real Organic Food.” He did not wade into the plant vs. non-plant discussion.)
(Nora Taleb, who played an important role in establishing the partnership between the Real Organic Project and Germany’s Naturland.)
A huge thank you to Abby Rockefeller for hosting this event again at her farm, and a full recording of the symposium can be purchased here.
With gratitude, Max Goldberg, Founder |
* Next Tuesday, October 15th, I will be speaking at Vani Hari’s protest at Kellogg’s headquarters in Michigan. It will be livestreamed, and you can follow along on my Instagram Stories. Also, I was recently interviewed on Food Sleuth Radio, where I discussed, among other things, how consumers are being misled into thinking that gene-edited foods are Non-GMO.
* In a very candid piece, CEO Ryan Gellert discusses how Patagonia has changed since its founders transferred their stock to the Patagonia Purpose Trust and the Holdfast Collective two years ago.
* Thrive Market’s CEO and co-founder, Nick Green, was named to the TIME100 Next list.
* Ecofashion Corp teamed up with Universal Music Group and singer Billie Eilish to create a ground-breaking sustainable merchandise collection.
* Once Upon a Farm is partnering with Equitable Food Initiative with the goal of sourcing 7 million pounds of organic produce from EFI-certified suppliers.
* Urban Remedy has expanded to 14 new Midwest locations and introduced a vibrant new look for its kiosks.
* Personnel moves: Dr. Bronner’s promoted Christina Volgyesi to chief marketing officer and Les Szabo to chief strategy & impact officer….Jeff Popkin is the new CEO of Lemon Perfect, and founder Yanni Hufnagel is now executive chairman…..Rodale Institute has named Luke Howard as the organization’s first chief farming officer, and David Willey has been promoted to chief operating officer.
* Merge Impact on why kernza is a game-changer in agriculture.
* Bonterra Organic Estates released new data demonstrating the impact of climate-smart practices on vineyard soil health.
* Pachamama Coffee partners with UC-Davis to bring organic, farmer-owned coffee to campus.
* TAKE ACTION: Organic farmers are at real risk without a Farm Bill.
What were you hoping to accomplish with the rebrand?
With a new look across our packaging and digital channels, we wanted to bring awareness to our refreshed mission of providing “next-level nutrition to make every sip count.”
This is centered around four key values — transparency, simplicity, inclusivity and positivity — and the Suja Organic’s rebrand aims to help make health and wellness more approachable, with trustworthy products that are simple to navigate.
Our new packaging has been enhanced so consumers can efficiently identify each of our products’ functional benefits, high-quality organic ingredients and delicious flavors. We’ve also made significant changes to our website making it easier for consumers to shop and locate products across retailers with options to “buy online” or “shop in-store.”
Can you discuss the key visual and verbal elements?
Suja Organic bottles now feature a clear list of ingredients on the front of the bottle, communicating to the shopper that what’s in the bottle is on the bottle.
Each product in our new Boosted Juice line highlights specific functional benefits like “immunity,” “energy,” “gut health” and “hydration.”
Also, we’ve included a new “greens meter” on our green juice packaging to indicate the taste, ranging from earthy to sweet, and our wellness shots will now highlight function and flavor clearly. For example, our Immunity Defense shot was renamed to Immunity Turmeric Pineapple.
What were the key challenges that you faced along the way?
We heard from consumers that the “natural healthy beverage” set was confusing and hard to shop. They were unsure what each product was going to taste like and what it was doing for their body, and we saw that there was a real need for transparency in the category.
As part of the rebrand process, we remained committed to meeting consumers’ needs, which meant that we had to update our entire portfolio of packaging, as well as refresh the look and feel of SujaOrganic.com and every touchpoint with consumers.
This was no small feat, but it is important for us to show up as a unified brand that consumers can recognize, which makes it easier for them to navigate.
An incredible piece of journalism that details a covert effort to downplay pesticide dangers, discredit opponents and undermine international policymaking.
Rarely covered by the mainstream media, a CBS affiliate in Orlando did a story on the most controversial issue in the organic food industry.
A federal judge ruled against a legal challenge to organic "grower group" certification, saying that the plaintiff did not have standing to claim economic injury.
Atalanta Corporation has purchased the Regenerative Organic Certified® producer of olives, peppers and capers, expanding its specialty grocery portfolio.
GoodSAM Foods, an organic and regenerative producer of nuts, fruit chips and chocolate, which sources directly from farmers in Africa and Latin America, has just closed its Series A financing round, led by ALIVE Ventures.
Would these farmers be facing such hardships if the USDA's National Organic Program cracked down on organic dairy CAFOs?
Once Again, a producer of organic nut and seed butter products, has acquired Big Tree Organic Farms, a California-based organic almond manufacturer.
SOE is turning the wine industry upside down with red tape and confusion.
Attain, a commerce data platform, has acquired Merryfield, the app that rewards shoppers for buying better-for-you products.
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* Next Tuesday, October 15th, I will be speaking at Vani Hari’s protest at Kellogg’s headquarters in Michigan. It will be livestreamed, and you can follow along on my Instagram Stories. Also, I was recently interviewed on Food Sleuth Radio, where I discussed, among other things, how consumers are being misled into thinking that gene-edited foods are Non-GMO.
* In a very candid piece, CEO Ryan Gellert discusses how Patagonia has changed since its founders transferred their stock to the Patagonia Purpose Trust and the Holdfast Collective two years ago.
* Thrive Market’s CEO and co-founder, Nick Green, was named to the TIME100 Next list.
* Ecofashion Corp teamed up with Universal Music Group and singer Billie Eilish to create a ground-breaking sustainable merchandise collection.
* Once Upon a Farm is partnering with Equitable Food Initiative with the goal of sourcing 7 million pounds of organic produce from EFI-certified suppliers.
* Urban Remedy has expanded to 14 new Midwest locations and introduced a vibrant new look for its kiosks.
* Personnel moves: Dr. Bronner’s promoted Christina Volgyesi to chief marketing officer and Les Szabo to chief strategy & impact officer….Jeff Popkin is the new CEO of Lemon Perfect, and founder Yanni Hufnagel is now executive chairman…..Rodale Institute has named Luke Howard as the organization’s first chief farming officer, and David Willey has been promoted to chief operating officer.
* Merge Impact on why kernza is a game-changer in agriculture.
* Bonterra Organic Estates released new data demonstrating the impact of climate-smart practices on vineyard soil health.
* Pachamama Coffee partners with UC-Davis to bring organic, farmer-owned coffee to campus.
* TAKE ACTION: Organic farmers are at real risk without a Farm Bill.