Organic Insider Newsletter Archive

There is a very painful truth that we must accept, and it has to do with how the current USDA views the National Organic Standards Board. Unfortunately, this has very serious and negative consequences for the future of our industry.

Rose Marcario, the CEO of Patagonia, is slowly and quietly becoming one of the most important leaders in the organic food movement. What is so admirable about Rose is that she is not afraid to speak her mind and to do the right thing, on behalf of protecting organic and the environment. Here is my candid conversation with Patagonia's fearless CEO.

Last week, the USDA made the controversial decision to withdraw the proposed Organic Animal Welfare Standards, also known as the Organic Livestock and Poultry Practices rule (OLPP). The reason? A literal interpretation of the Organic Foods Production Act of 1990. We discuss what this means and how it could spell disaster for organic.

As the Regenerative Organic Certification (ROC) is set to formally enter the marketplace in 2018, a draft message released by the Organic Trade Association raises the question whether the two organizations are headed for a collision.

With the National Organic Standards Board refusing to ban hydroponics in organic, the logical question is what comes now. Seeking answers amidst a sea of different rumors, I reached out to a handful of leaders and organizations in the industry who have been fighting to remove hydroponics from organic certification. Here is what they had to say.

With the major seed and chemical companies having controlled agricultural policy in the U.S. for decades, mostly to the detriment of the health of American citizens, U.S. Representative Earl Blumenauer (D-OR) aims to change that with his recently introduced piece of legislation called the Food and Farm Act.

After the National Organic Standards Board meeting in Jacksonville, it became painfully clear that the USDA is failing our industry. We can recap what happened in Florida and speculate where we go from here.

What Patagonia is doing to galvanize the industry around the very important hydroponics issue and which companies are supporting this initiative.

With the first six months of the Trump administration behind us, I wanted to take a look at how organic food has been impacted under this new president. While there has been an abundance of negatives, there have been a few positives as well -- surprisingly.

The current regulatory framework for next-generation gene-editing technologies is woefully inadequate, which means that President Trump's view of fewer regulations bodes very poorly for organic.

A recap of what took place at the National Organic Standards Board meeting in Denver and why hydroponics, which is currently being allowed in organic, is so problematic to the integrity of our industry.

With next month’s National Organic Standards Board (NOSB) meeting in Denver just a few weeks away, the issue of hydroponics in organic is at the forefront of many people’s minds. And with some recent events, a question many people are asking is whether the tide is turning on this issue.

With rumors circulating that The Freedom Caucus, a congressional caucus consisting of conservative Republican members of the U.S. House of Representatives, wanting to kill the National Organic Program, we received more clarity into exactly what is going on.

Kathleen Merrigan, former Deputy Secretary of the USDA and a champion of organic, said at the Food Tank conference that “There are some forces of darkness … coming together, thinking, ‘let’s sharpen the knives on organic.’” I discuss what this all means and how recent developments could give us an indication of how challenging the...

President Trump has just named Sonny Perdue as the new USDA Secretary of Agriculture. We take a look at what we know about him and whether there is reason to be optimistic or incredibly concerned, as it pertains to how organic will be treated under this new administration.

As President Obama is set to leave office, there is a flurry of last minute news that has impact organic tremendously. In today's Organic Insider, I cover it all and analyze what it means.