What We Do
The Cornucopia Institute is a non-profit consumer education and watchdog organization. We research brands and investigate the industry to identify and elevate authentic organic foods and farmers, while we scrutinize the USDA National Organic Program’s enforcement and application of the organic law. Our donors provide us with the resources and the moral authority to strengthen the good food movement. Whether you're a consumer, a farmer, or a change maker, your actions propel our work.
Top-Rated Farmers
Chaseholm Farm
In 2013, Sarah Chase took over the day-to-day operations of Chaseholm Farm, the third-generation farm she’d worked on since childhood. The true costs of production were not reflected in grocery store prices, and tight margins threatened the operation’s long-term viability.
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Paradise Springs Farm
When Mike Reid started Paradise Springs Farm in 1999 in Teton Valley, Idaho, the land was suffering from years of neglect. Now the soil is healthy, the fields retain more water, and the vegetation is vibrant and diverse.
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Strafford Organic Creamery
A wild orchard hugs the driveway. The sleepy sugar shack awaits syrup season. And large round bales, set to sustain the herd of Guernsey cows until the growing season, stack high against the calf barn. Strafford Organic Creamery exudes a charm that is quintessentially Vermont.
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Weatherbury Farm
Located 35 miles southwest of Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, Weatherbury is a highly successful, vertically integrated, 225-acre farm with a unique proclivity to adapt. It took only one season at Weatherbury Farm for the Tudor family to opt for alternative farming practices over the high-input methods being advocated for by extension. In 1988, Weatherbury, stopped using chemical inputs altogether.
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September 7, 2021
Carrageenan Report and Buyer’s Guide
Carrageenan is a problematic ingredient propped up by a well-oiled public relations machine. The Cornucopia Institute has long compiled scientific studies that raise troubling concerns about the consumption of food-grade carrageenan. Although referred to as a “natural” ingredient, carrageenan is linked to gastrointestinal inflammation and disease, including higher rates of colon cancer, in research using… Read more »
Flyover Galleries
The Cornucopia Institute works diligently to expose widespread fraudulent activity from "factory farms." View our flyover galleries that led to one of the largest fraud investigations in the history of the organic industry.
