Nonorganic Food Products Misidentified as “Organic” Contact: Mark Kastel, 608-625-2000 CORNUCOPIA, WI: When the staff at The Cornucopia Institute surveyed Wal-Mart stores around the country last September, analyzing the giant retailer’s pronouncement that they would begin selling a wide variety of organic food at just a 10% mark-up over similar conventional products, they were surprised… Read more »
Search Results for: regenerative agriculture
Reflecting on 50+ Years of Thinking Organically
In honor of the 30th anniversary of the Organic Foods Production Act, we asked some of the early champions of the modern-day organic movement to reflect on what the label means to them. See the complete essay series here. The following is essay by Joan Gussow, author, professor emeritus of nutrition and education at Columbia… Read more »
USDA Enforcement Failures Lead to Fake Organic Imports
Cornucopia’s Take: Cornucopia petitioned the National Organic Program for more rigorous certification, oversight, and testing of imports in July due to the lax enforcement we were then aware of at the U.S. border. Cornucopia has been digging into the import fraud issue for 10 years. USDA’s Office of Inspector General released their critical audit of… Read more »
Building Bridges to Uncover the Risk of Pesticides
The Cornucopia Institute recently sat down with Dr. Charles Benbrook to discuss pesticides. He has spent 50 years researching their impacts on our health and the environment and advocating for change. He worked on the House Committee on Agriculture and for the National Academy of Sciences and played an important role in the Food Quality… Read more »
How Little Vermont Got Big Food Companies To Label GMOs
The Salt – NPR by Dan Charles and Allison Aubrey Listen to the story here. Legislature of VermontSource: Michel G. You’ll soon know whether many of the packaged foods you buy contain ingredients derived from genetically modified plants, such as soybeans and corn. Over the past week or so, big companies including General Mills, Mars… Read more »
Colorado Rancher Jail-bound for Spraying Pesticides to Protect Wife from Mosquitoes
The Denver Post by Bruce Finley 81-year-old James Hopper’s neighbors complained that his mosquito spraying threatened their organic farm An 81-year-old Colorado rancher who waged war on mosquitoes after his wife nearly died from West Nile virus has launched a last-minute fight against going to jail this week for spraying pesticides that wafted over his… Read more »
Trade Group Lobbying for Plant-Based Foods Takes a Seat in Washington
The New York Times by Stephanie Strom Source: Ntcrwler The trade associations representing the beef, pork and poultry industries are among the most powerful lobbies in Washington. And they are about to get some company. A new trade group, the Plant Based Foods Association, has been established to represent makers of proteins derived from peas,… Read more »
No Organic Checkoff Coalition Applauds USDA Finalizing Organic Farmers’ Exemption from Commodity Check-offs
No Organic Checkoff Coalition Contact: Kate Mendenhall (585-944-2503) Source: 401kcalculator.org Organic farmers no longer required to pay into programs competing with the organic market WASHINGTON, D.C. (Jan. 6, 2016) – The U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) recently announced they will extend the organic farmer exemption from conventional commodity checkoffs to ALL organic farmers, effective February 29, 2016. A… Read more »
Ontario Restricts Use of Pesticides Blamed for Decline of Bee Populations
The Globe and Mail by Eric Atkins Source: Martin LaBar The Ontario government has unveiled North America’s first agricultural restrictions on a widely used class of pesticides blamed for the decline in bees and other pollinators. The controversial regulations aimed at reducing the use of neonicotinoid insecticides made by Bayer AG and Syngenta AG by… Read more »
Monsanto Once Again Developing Herbicide Resistant Wheat
Beyond Pesticides Source: Andrew Gustar Over a decade after consumer opposition halted multinational agrichemical business Monsanto’s plans to develop genetically engineered (GE) herbicide-resistant wheat, the company is trying again. This time, Monsanto’s goal is to create wheat that is resistant to three different herbicides; glyphosate, glufosinate, and dicamba. Although over 90% of corn, soybean, and… Read more »
