To Subscribe to the Non-GMO Report call 1-800-854-0586 or
visit http://www.non-gmoreport.com/

April marked the first US Congressional hearing devoted to organic agriculture, and organic industry members are asking for more spending on crop research and market development to keep up with the booming American preference for organic foods.

Representative Dennis Cardoza of California, chairman of the House Agriculture Subcommittee on Horticulture and Organic Agriculture, said, “This broad acceptance and perception of quality is a far cry from where organic food was 20 years ago.”

With organic food sales up 20% a year and nearing 3% of all US food spending, lawmakers are seeing that the $15 billion-a-year industry is a key player. Mark Lipson of the Organic Farming Research Foundation feels that the 8,500 organic farmers deserve $120 million annually of federal government monies, while now they see less than $20 million spent on organic farming research. “The lack of research and education in organic agriculture is inhibiting growth,” Lipson said.

Lynn Clarkson, an organic farmer and member of the Organic Trade Association Board, told a Senate Ag Committee hearing that organic imports are rising because the industry can’t meet the demand. “Today, US demand for organic grains and oilseeds could easily support a doubling of organic production acres,” he said. “Despite buyer preference for domestic organic production, it is the foreign farmer who seems to be responding to the US demand.” (SOURCE: McClatchy-Tribune Information Services, Reuters)