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Organic Food Is All That, and More. Just Eat It.

Huffington Post Timothy LaSalle, CEO of the Rodale Institute Good news! You can rest assured that the organic food you bought today is every bit as beneficial for you and the planet as it was three days ago. Advantages for health and ecological soundness are still there, despite a review released this week claiming that […]

Make Selection of Key National Organic Advisors Transparent

CORNUCOPIA, WI — The US Department of Agriculture should publicly release the names of applicants for its expert advisory panel on organic food and agriculture practices, according to a farm policy group.  Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack is expected to announce the appointment for five open slots on the 15-member National Organic Standards Board sometime during […]

With A Gust of Wind, an Iowa Crop Duster Can Squash an Organic Farm

Grist Kurt Michael Friese Grinnell Heritage Farm is 152 years old. Andrew Dunham is the fifth generation of his family to work this land about 50 miles east of Des Moines. He is a direct descendant of Josiah Grinnell, founder of the town and the man Horace Greeley once famously quoted as having said, “Go […]

July 2009 E-Newsletter

Inside This Issue: Organic Dairy Farmers’ Rally, USDA Secretary Asked to Vigorously Enforce Organic Laws * Dean Foods Criticizes Cornucopia’s Soy Report * Raw Almond Lawsuit and Fundraising Incentive * Cornucopia Tracking Food Safety Reforms * Short Takes and Appetizers * More Tools Download the full e-newsletter here: July 2009 E-newsletter

When More Grain Equals Fewer Nutrients

The Land By Matt Cawood Since the Green Revolution of the 1960s, the world has produced a lot more grain–but there may be a lot less in it, a unique experiment in the United Kingdom has revealed. Recent analysis of 160 years of crop samples from Rothamsted Research Station near London discovered that levels of […]

WhiteWave Shifts From Organic to Natural Soybeans

Denver Business Journal by Kimberly Morrison Jacksonville Business Journal It was a decision that made good business sense. With the cost of producing organic soybeans on the rise and consumer demand flattening, Broomfield-based WhiteWave Foods Co. — a subsidiary of Dean Foods of Dallas — ditched organic in favor of conventional soybeans in all but […]

Organic Crops Succeeding in Ohio

by Kristy Foster Farm and Dairy WOOSTER, Ohio — While many farmers are struggling to make ends meet in this downward spiraling economy, one farming group is hanging on to its niche market. Dave Shively of Bowling Green, Ohio, is an organic farmer who attended a recent field day offered by the Organic Food Farming […]

Embattled Organic Sector Worries About Regulation

By Mari Saito Reuters WASHINGTON (Reuters) – California farmer Tom Willey was first attracted to organic farming 21 years ago after noticing how many chemicals he was using in conventional farming. As a certified organic farmer selling everything from artichokes to zucchinis from his 75-acre farm in the San Joaquin Valley in California, Willey has […]

Organic Dairy Farmers’ Rally — USDA Secretary Asked to Vigorously Enforce Organic Laws

Vilsack: Changes Being Made at National Organic Program West Salem, WI: An estimated 150-200 organic dairy farmers, and their supporters, from Wisconsin, Minnesota and Iowa held a “demonstration” at the La Crosse County Fair on Thursday. Their goal was to convince Secretary of Agriculture Tom Vilsack to take immediate and aggressive enforcement action against a […]

Administration Seeks to Restrict Antibiotics in Livestock

New York Times By GARDINER HARRIS WASHINGTON — The Obama administration announced Monday that it would seek to ban many routine uses of antibiotics in farm animals in hopes of reducing the spread of dangerous bacteria in humans. In written testimony to the House Rules Committee, Dr. Joshua Sharfstein, principal deputy commissioner of food and […]

Crops, Ponds Destroyed in Quest for Food Safety

SFGate – San Francisco Chronicle Carolyn Lochhead, Chronicle Washington Bureau Washington — Dick Peixoto planted hedges of fennel and flowering cilantro around his organic vegetable fields in the Pajaro Valley near Watsonville to harbor beneficial insects, an alternative to pesticides. He has since ripped out such plants in the name of food safety, because his […]