“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...
by Marie 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...
By Melody Morrell, Operations Director 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...
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...
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...
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...
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...
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...
How Industrial Poultry Made the Cornish Cross a Consumer Staple 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...
Cornucopia staff is packing our bags, mapping our routes, and combing through the conference schedule in anticipation of this year’s MOSES Organic Farming Conference. The country’s largest gathering of organic and sustainable farmers draws more than 3,000 people to La Crosse, Wisconsin for educational workshops, inspiring speakers, a two-floor...
Cornucopia’s director of international policy Anne Ross continues to gain recognition for her investigation into fraudulent organic imports on behalf of organic farmers and consumers. Before and during her presentation at the 40th anniversary EcoFarm Conference, Ross participated in two podcasts that amplified her cogent, accessible voice to listeners...
What Consumers Need To Know Regenerative is the new sustainable. It’s a word that’s simultaneously powerful and completely meaningless—a signifier of innovation employed by truly organic farmers and a ploy to deceive consumers concerned about agriculture’s ecological footprint. The Cornucopia Institute is particularly concerned with messaging on regenerative practices...
The Cornucopia Institute, through research and investigations on agriculture and food issues, provides needed information to family farmers, consumers and other stakeholders in the good food movement and to the media.
