Organic Insider Newsletter Archive

My recap of last week's National Organic Standards Board meeting in Minnesota. While progress is definitely being made in fighting against fraudulent organic imports, inconsistencies remain.

An exclusive interview with USDA Secretary Sonny Perdue who talks about all-things organic, including hydroponics in organic and the status of the GMO-labeling bill.

Audrey Denney is a rarity among candidates for the U.S. House of Representatives. She is not only pushing an organic food agenda but a regenerative agriculture one as well.

In a New York court yesterday, a judge ruled in favor of consumer advocacy group Avaaz in a fight to kill a subpoena from Monsanto.

As part of an impending glyphosate lawsuit in St. Louis, Monsanto has served a subpoena to consumer advocacy group Avaaz. The implications of this subpoena are enormous and will test the freedoms we have as individuals in society today.

The Real Organic Project could end up being an incredibly important valuable program for both organic farmers and consumers. More specifically, it will address two main areas of organic that the USDA is falling short -- two areas that are having a real negative impact on the integrity of the organic seal.

At Organic Insider, we have been covering the issue of fraud in organic extensively over the past year and have been extremely concerned about it. Yet, what took place at the National Organic Standards Board meeting in Arizona made me feel very optimistic about things. Here is why.

Despite a few positives, the 2018 farm bill will create real harm to the organic industry. I explore the good, the bad and the long-term implications for organic if this piece of legislation does go through.

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.