THE CORNUCOPIA INSTITUTE, a nonprofit agricultural policy research group in Cornucopia, Wis., will release a report today that ranks organic milk and dairy products based on federal organic standards as well as environmental and humane concerns.
"It is simply an analysis comparing the ethics and management practices of all organic name brand and private label dairy products," said Mark Kastel, a founder of the group, last week. "This is a tool to help consumers shop with firms that represent their values."
Shoppers have come to expect that a container of milk bearing the
Read moreCertifiers are being told in National Organic Program training sessions to get tougher on enforcing commercial availability regulations.
"We are putting everyone on notice that we are holding certifiers' feet to the fire," said Mark Bradley, associate policy director for the NOP. "We are seeing a deficiency here."
Organic producers are required under the law to make a good faith effort to source organic ingredients for the 5% non-organic portion of certified organic products.
Bradley said there have been instances reported to the NOP where processors did not do a good
Read moreIt's no secret that sales of organic foods are booming.
Although organics still account for less than two percent of total food sales worldwide, the market is growing much faster than the rest of the grocery industry. The world organic market has been growing 20 percent a year since the early 1990s, with future growth estimates ranging from 10 to 50 percent annually depending on the country.
In the U.S., organic products are now available in nearly 20,000 natural food stores and most conventional grocery stores. Nearly two-thirds of the organic milk and half of the organic
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