The Spring 2020 Cultivator, Cornucopia’s quarterly newsletter, is now available online.
The Cultivator – Spring 2020
The Industrial Food System is Failing Us—What Now?
“Get big or get out” has been the rallying cry for US food policy since the 1950s, leading to the ever-increasing centralization of conventional food production and processing. The quest for unyielding growth, consolidation, and the cheapest ingredients has made our food supply brittle. Activists have noted for decades that we have a food distribution… Read more »
NOSB Sparks Vital Discussion of Fenbendazole Use on Massive ‘Organic’ Flocks
by Kestrel Burcham, JD, Domestic Policy Director and Melody Morrell, Operations Director As five new National Organic Standards Board (NOSB) members attended their first meeting, the petitioned emergency use of fenbendazole in poultry sparked vital discussion. (Fenbendazole is currently allowed for emergency use in other organic livestock.) The National Organic Program (NOP) has yet to… Read more »
Between the Clouds and Seas: Working to Cool the Planet
By Melody Morrell, Operations Director [THIS ARTICLE WAS PREVIOUSLY PUBLISHED IN THE WINTER ISSUE OF THE CULTIVATOR, CORNUCOPIA’S QUARTERLY NEWSLETTER.] As a grandmother, I pay careful attention to what my family eats. I grow nutrient-dense produce in my garden, and I seek out authentic, certified organic food from local farmers whenever possible. I do this, in part,… Read more »
Follow the Spring 2020 National Organic Standards Board Meeting Online
Join The Cornucopia Institute as we keep you informed via web updates and live tweets from the National Organic Standards Board (NOSB) meeting online. We will be sharing the play by play of public comments on April 21 and 23 and the meeting itself on April 29 and 30 below and with our Twitter followers… Read more »
Natural Prairie Dairy and Texas Department of Agriculture Continue to Act with Impunity
The National Organic Program (NOP) has closed The Cornucopia Institute’s formal complaint regarding alleged violations of the organic standards by Natural Prairie Dairy and their organic certifier, Texas Department of Agriculture (TDA). Cornucopia submitted the complaint in response to egregious animal welfare abuses and violations of the organic standards observed by the Animal Recovery Mission… Read more »
Reflections from Farmers and Good Food Advocates
I am a vegetable farmer who has been running my farm for 30 years. Every time I have planted a seed in the last 2 weeks, I’ve felt that it is an act of faith and hope. I’m also scared. Where will I sell my food? How will I get the work done? I can’t… Read more »
New Lawsuit Aims to Remove Soilless Crop Production Systems from Organic
A coalition of organic farmers, certifiers, and NGOs recently sued the USDA for denying a 2019 petition to prohibit hydroponic operations from organic certification. Plaintiffs include the Center for Food Safety (CFS), OneCert, the Maine Organic Farmers and Gardeners Association, and some of the longest-standing organic farms in the US: Swanton Berry Farm, Full Belly… Read more »
Land Stewardship Project: Build Soil to Capture Carbon and Encourage Climate Health
A recently released white paper written by George Boody of the Land Stewardship Project, Farming to Capture Carbon and Address Climate Change through Building Soil, unearths the ways agriculture can help address climate issues. Studying farmer experiences and reviewing literature, Boody concluded that well-managed grazing systems for ruminant livestock and continuous living cover (plant cover… Read more »
A Chicken in Every Pot
How Industrial Poultry Made the Cornish Cross a Consumer Staple [This article was previously published in the winter issue of the Cultivator, Cornucopia’s quarterly newsletter.] by Rachel Zegerius, Co-Director of Development and Communications at The Cornucopia Institute Ferreting through my family’s old photos, cards, and keepsakes this holiday, I exhumed the journal of my great grandmother,… Read more »
