Demystifying the policy that impacts organics farmers and consumers In the wake of massive destruction to the organic dairy marketplace, a languishing rule intended to prevent the continuous cycling of conventional livestock into organic operation will finally reappear as a second proposed rule for public comment. Reporting from the fall National Organic Standards Board (NOSB)… Read more »
How a noni farmer in Hawaii found abundance in a cup of worm castings By Michele Marchetti Eighteen years ago, Steve Frailey boarded a Hawaiian Airlines flight with a suitcase brimming with 12 pounds of Indian blue worms. Those worms play a vital role in Frailey’s 70-acre certified organic farm in Kauai, Hawaii that provides rich soil, fertile ground… Read more »
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 the meeting on October 28, 29, and 30 below and with our Twitter followers at #NOSB or by simply following our stream…. Read more »
Welcoming back a nutrition and food policy expert who helped build Cornucopia A central member of the brain trust that built The Cornucopia Institute is returning as a consultant. Charlotte Vallaeys served as Cornucopia’s director of farm and food policy from 2007 to 2013, helping build Cornucopia’s culture and shape the educational initiatives that turn… Read more »
The Cornucopia Institute’s yogurt scorecard now focuses exclusively on organic brands, the safest way to avoid toxic pesticides like chlorpyrifos. Cornucopia’s Organic Yogurt Scorecard ranks 225 varieties of organic yogurt from 29 brands. Organic yogurts that received the highest score were sourced from milk that received the highest rating on our Organic Dairy Scorecard. After… Read more »
Tales from an Upstate New York Produce Department By Michele Marchetti In early December, as snow fell steadily on the Finger Lakes, Andrew Hernandez II (right) huddled with eight New York farmers to map out plans for the abundance that, come summer, turned GreenStar’s stores into a backdrop for a photo shoot. That meeting marked… Read more »
The Fall 2020 Cultivator, Cornucopia’s quarterly newsletter, is now available online. Download the PDF. In it you’ll find: Industrial-scale Organic Exploitation South Africa’s Organic Authority Back-to-School Snacks Food Justice and GreenStar Co-op Beef Finishing Hawaiian Organic Noni
The Wisdom of Wood Prairie Family Farm [This article was previously published in the spring issue of the Cultivator, Cornucopia’s quarterly newsletter.] by Rachel Zegerius, Co-Director of Development and Communications at The Cornucopia Institute Hardcover books, almanacs, seed catalogs, and three-ring binders spilling loose leaf papers reach skyward behind Cornucopia advisor Jim Gerritsen as he Zooms in from a dimly… Read more »
Organic farming sustains ecological systems—of which humans play an inextricable role. But the USDA organic standards fail to address how farmers are paid or how anyone who plays a role in getting your organic food to the table is treated. In 1999, the Agricultural Justice Project (AJP) was founded to fill this gap. Its Food… Read more »
As consumers call for improved animal welfare, stewardship of the soil, and conservation of dwindling water supplies, Aurora Organic Dairy is preparing to open a heifer factory on 1,900 acres in the dry High Plains of Colorado. The feedlot will house 7,000 “organic” heifers (a young cow that hasn’t born offspring yet) when fully operational. If Phillips… Read more »
