Grain Buyer’s Guides
Full Report
Press Release
The Cornucopia Institute’s report, Against the Grain: Protecting Organic Shoppers against Import Fraud and Farmers from Unfair Competition, provides organic consumers, farmers and ranchers, and ethical business interests with background information to understand how cheaper, fraudulently labeled imports of “organic” soybeans and “organic” corn have crossed U.S. borders. It has been estimated that domestic organic corn and soybean producers have lost over $500 million to dubious organic grain imports since 2015.
The accompanying Buyer’s Guide empowers consumers to support certified organic brands of poultry, eggs, and dairy products that have gone out of their way, sometimes paying premiums, to secure higher-integrity, North American-grown grain.
In addition, a separate organic grain buyer’s guide enables farmers and wholesale buyers to support organic grain producers and feed operations that grow or use high-integrity feed sourced exclusively from North America.
Many large organic manufacturers rely on “organic” concentrated animal feeding operations (CAFOs), commonly known as “factory farms,” and imported feed to maximize profits. Shifting consumer demand will help incentivize family-scale farmers to enter organic grain production, a boon to national food security, local food systems, and the authenticity of organic livestock products.
You can read more about imported “organic” grain, and the existing pathways for fraud, on our website: Impostor Imports: Abuses in the Organic Marketplace.
