hydroponic lettuce
April 8, 2021

Court Defers to USDA: Soil Is Optional in Organic

On March 19 a California court delivered a gut punch to the USDA organic label, betraying the trust of consumers and demoralizing authentic organic farmers. The ruling announced by the Northern California federal district court allows soilless produce operations to remain certified organic under the law. The lawsuit filed...

spring 2021 nosb
April 7, 2021

Follow the Spring 2021 National Organic Standards Board Meeting Online

Join The Cornucopia Institute as we keep you informed via web updates and live tweets from the National Organic Standards Board (NOSB) meeting online. We will be sharing the play by play of the meeting on April 28, 29, and 30 below and with our Twitter followers at #NOSB...

Marshview
April 7, 2021

A Legacy of Stewardship 

Preserving Gullah farming traditions and food culture in South Carolina  Story and photo by LeeAnn Chisolm Morrissette    I met Sara’ Reynolds Green, lovingly referred to as “Mama Sara’,” and her husband Bill when I was commissioned to interview them...

Carrots
March 23, 2021

Soil Matters: Below the Surface of Authentic Organic

The Cornucopia Institute is adamant that the USDA National Organic Program (NOP) enforce the required management of the living soil. Authentic...

Spring-Cultivator-2021
March 22, 2021

The Cultivator – Spring 2021

The Spring 2021 Cultivator, Cornucopia’s quarterly newsletter, is now available online. Download the PDF. In it you’ll find: Cornucopia’s New Executive Director is Building Bridges Organic Policy Watch The True Cost of Industrial Beef Kalamazoo People’s Food Coop is Nourishing Community A Legacy of Stewardship in South Carolina Soil...

Comms-manager
February 3, 2021

The Cornucopia Institute is expanding its team!

The mid-level Communications Manager position will be crucial to enhancing Cornucopia’s visibility and sharing its mission and impact with the public. This remote position is ideal for someone looking to combine a heartfelt passion for organic food and farming with storytelling skills. The ideal candidate must be a willing...

calf
February 3, 2021

What Unfolding Policy Means for Happy Calves On Authentic Organic Farms

A new rule is coming. And it’s desperately needed to ensure that healthy calves from organic cows grow up eating grass alongside their relatives. That scenario is commonplace among Cornucopia’s five-cow-rated dairies. But in industrialized organic dairies, scofflaws have long flouted existing  “origin of livestock” rules, continuously transitioning conventional animals into production...

January 7, 2021

There Is No Normal Anymore

North Dakota seed breeders safeguard the future of food By Marianne Landzettel  Theresa Podoll breathed a cautious sigh of relief. The harvest on her North Dakota farm had gone well and, at the time of our conversation in early October, snow was absent from the forecast for the rest of the month.  “In 2018 and...

Melody_morrell
December 31, 2020

Melody Morrell Named Executive Director of The Cornucopia Institute

Ushering in a New Leadership Era With a Fierce Protector of Organic Viroqua, WI –  Following many months of teamwork to navigate a founder transition, the board of The Cornucopia Institute voted unanimously to promote longtime staff member Melody Morrell as the organization’s next executive director. “Melody Morrell has...

Vilsack
December 17, 2020

More of the Same? Vilsack to Return to USDA

Here’s a quixotic scenario: a secretary of agriculture who is cozy with farmers, not corporations. Instead, we are preparing for the return of Tom Vilsack, who served as secretary of agriculture in the Obama administration between 2008 and 2016. Most recently, Vilsack worked in the private sector, as president...

grainfarm
December 16, 2020

The Truth Matters: Cornucopia’s Quest to Expose Organic Grain Fraud

This article was previously published in the winter issue of  the Cultivator, Cornucopia’s quarterly newsletter. By Michele Marchetti, Co-Director of Development and Communications at The Cornucopia Institute Huddled inside a trade show booth, Anne Ross, JD watched dozens of icons, each representing an international shipping vessel, inch across a computer...

OFPA_30
December 11, 2020

Reflections on Organic

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. Read the essays from Dr. Joan Dye Gussow, Dr. Barry Flamm, and Elizabeth Henderson below. Dr....

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