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
Happy Hens Truly Outdoors
Chloe Nevarez emerges from Happy Hens farm store with an 18-month-old strapped to her back and a toddler by her side. They are ready to show me their egg farm located in Ramona, California. About nine years ago, Chloe became interested in producing eggs on her family's land just over an hour away from Happy Hens.
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McGrath Family Farm
California’s Oxnard Plain used to be a farmer’s dream. This area of Ventura County was renowned for its extremely fertile soil, a favorable climate, and an adequate supply of water. Until it wasn’t. Water has been Phil McGrath’s biggest worry for several years now. “The last good rainfall I can remember was in 2007,” he says.
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Norwich Meadows Farm
On a November morning in New York City, the pink-tipped kale was turning heads. Grown by Norwich Meadows Farm and on display at the city’s famed Union Square Greenmarket, the Brassica was one of many items drawing shoppers accustomed to the farm's penchant for unusual produce.
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Hutchinson Organic Ranch
The Hutchinson Organic Ranch embodies the best in organic ranching today by adapting their practices to the needs of their land. Dave Hutchinson, with his wife Sue, daughter Sarah Drenth, her husband Jared, and their daughters live and work in an idyllic landscape of the Nebraska Sandhills, marked by abundant wildlife, rolling perennial grassland, and artisanal springs.
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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.
