Search Results for: national organic program

National Organic Program Listening Session

Talking Points for Comments Due March 30, 2022 Personalization will make your comments most effective. Tell the regulators why you care! Comment in the Federal Register The National Organic Program’s failure to implement National Organic Standards Board (NOSB) recommendations is actively eroding organic integrity. The NOP process for taking action on NOSB recommendations must be… Read more »

What the National Organic Program Doesn’t Say Is Telling

Village Farms Hydroponic Operation

At the October National Organic Standards Board Meeting, National Organic Standards Board (NOSB) Chair Harriet Behar identified several troubling issues that have plagued the organic program in recent years. These issues included the languishing origin of livestock, pasture, and native ecosystems rules, and the certification of hydroponic production in 2017.

National Organic Program Releases Clarification Regarding Glyphosate in “Organic” Hydroponic Production

Recent discussions surrounding “organic” hydroponic operations have had the organic community in an uproar. Serious questions first raised by the Real Organic Project were raised again at the National Organic Standards Board (NOSB) meeting this past April regarding rumors of hydroponic operations spraying glyphosate or other pesticides on the land just prior to erecting a… Read more »

Government Shutdown Closes National Organic Program

Cornucopia’s Take: The latest round of politics in Washington, DC has led to a government shutdown. The entire organic program is currently suspended. Natural Resources Conservation Service and Farm Service Agency offices are either closed or offering only partial services to farmers who are planning for next season. Farm loans and other governmental financial assistance… Read more »

Congress to Consider Doubling National Organic Program Funding

Cornucopia’s Take: The reputation of “USDA Organic” has suffered enormously this year. The Washington Post has run a series of investigative stories, detailing the fraud, lack of enforcement, and conflicts of interest at the National Organic Program (NOP). Cornucopia has shared insight into these issues with organic stakeholders for almost 15 years, conducting investigations and publishing reports… Read more »

Will Someone New at the Helm of the USDA’s National Organic Program Steer the Ship Towards Congress’s Intent — Protecting Farmers and Consumers?

by Linley Dixon, PhD, Senior Scientist and Mark A. Kastel, Codirector, The Cornucopia Institute Miles McEvoy Source: USDA On September 10, Miles McEvoy resigned from the position of Deputy Administrator at the USDA, running the National Organic Program.  He has held the post since early in the Obama administration.  Included in his resignation letter was… Read more »

Industry Watchdog Calls for Independent Investigation of USDA’s National Organic Program

Asserts the Will of Congress/Organic Law is Being Violated In a letter to the USDA’s Office of Inspector General, The Cornucopia Institute has requested an independent audit of the National Organic Program (NOP), charging a multiplicity of illegal actions and inactions.  The Wisconsin-based farm policy research group alleges that the National Organic Program has failed… Read more »

Amid Controversy, Secrecy, and Lawsuits, 5,000 Organic Stakeholders Call for New Management at USDA National Organic Program

Secret Documents Released: Reading Room Established for Material Obtained from USDA through Federal Lawsuits The Cornucopia Institute has delivered to the USDA more than 5,000 individually signed letters from farmers and consumers calling for new management of the National Organic Program (NOP).  The Wisconsin-based organic food and farm policy research group collected the letters from concerned… Read more »

National Organic Program: Proposed Rule for Animal Welfare Standards

Herbruck’s massive “organic” operation in Michigan managing nearly two million birds (Click on image for larger version) Almost a decade after The Cornucopia Institute brought public scrutiny to the issue of giant “factory farms” producing organic eggs and poultry, the USDA has finally released its long-awaited draft rule to constrain abuses in the industry. Cornucopia… Read more »

USDA Agricultural Marketing Service Performs Self-Evaluation of National Organic Program — Releases Self-Congratulatory Communiqué

Commentary on the Section 610 Review of the NOP by Jerome Rigot, Ph.D. The conclusion of a review of organic regulations by the USDA’s Agricultural Marketing Services (AMS), which administers the organic program, states that “overall, the National Organic Program (NOP), which oversees regulations for the production, handling, and labeling of organically produced agricultural products,… Read more »