
All About Organics
Organic Consumers Association Campaigns, Essays, Headlines, Action Alerts, Downloads and Videos on Organic Food.
Organic food is pure food. It's safer, more nutritious and free of chemical additives. Organic crops are grown without chemical pesticides or fertilizers and organic livestock are raised without antibiotics, growth hormones or other drugs. Organic food isn't genetically modified or irradiated.
One pioneering California school district now distributes 23,000 boxes of organic food weekly throughout the district. “Between November and January, millions of pounds of organic produce were able to be sourced,” Jellison says. “And not only the produce but proteins and whole grains.”
Read moreOrganic production comes with a number of important benefits: organic fields have around 30% more biodiversity, organically farmed animals enjoy a higher degree of animal welfare and take less antibiotics, organic farmers have higher incomes and are more resilient, and consumers know exactly what they are getting thanks to the EU organic logo. The Action Plan is in line with the European Green Deal and the Farm to Fork and Biodiversity Strategies.
Read moreFor many people, grocery shopping happens once, maybe twice, a week and the time between buying and consuming purchases can stretch for days and sometimes weeks. Before I went zero waste, I thought plastic was the only way to keep foods fresh at home.
Read moreAlthough Interstate NOFA’s policy agenda stretches from soil health and food system justice to GMOs and the implementation of food safety regulations with numerous issues in between, here in the dawn’s early light of a new decade the Policy Committee is dealing more than ever with multiple challenges to organic integrity.
Read moreU.S. District Court in San Francisco ruled this week that USDA was correct in certifying organic hydroponic operations as eligible for the National Organic Program (NOP). It was a victory for the Coalition for Sustainable Organics (CSO) and a defeat for the Center for Food Safety (CFS). It represented traditional organic producers who believe that without using soil, something cannot be organic.
Read moreBeyond Pesticides and its investigative arm, OrganicEye, filed suit in the Superior Court of the District of Columbia against two companies that market CBD (cannabidiol) products identified with false or misleading organic status claims. In August 2020, OrganicEye published an investigative report uncovering industrywide misrepresentation by brands representing their products as organic without the federally required independent third-party certification.
Read moreLast month, Jane Hawley Stevens of Four Elements Organic Herbals gave a wonderful presentation at the Growing Stronger Collaborative Conference about gardening according to the phases of the moon. Stevens did a beautiful job of explaining how this concept works, and why you might want to experiment with it in your own garden.
Read moreAnnastasia Mullen has been expanding her home garden in Des Moines, Iowa, since 2015. After starting with three raised beds in her backyard, she rented three more in a community garden nearby and started planting flowers in addition to produce like tomatoes, peppers, leafy greens, and root vegetables.
Read moreOn Thursday, January 21st, the United States District Court for the Northern District of California will hear arguments in Center for Food Safety’s (CFS) ongoing lawsuit challenging the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s (USDA) “soil-less” loophole that permits the labeling of hydroponically-grown foods as USDA Certified Organic, even though the Organic statute and regulations clearly mandate all organic crop producers foster soil fertility in order to obtain organic certification.
Read moreIn an interview with Freakonomics Radio, Whole Foods’ CEO, John Mackey said, “The best solution is not to need healthcare. The best solution is to change the way people eat, the way they live, the lifestyle, and diet. There’s no reason why people shouldn’t be healthy and have a longer health span. A bunch of drugs is not going to solve the problem.”
Read more