Category Archives: organic food

coffee, hiking and high altitudes

Posted on January 14, 2013 by admin

This morning, our entire group headed to the local coffee cooperative, CEPCO,  in Oaxaca. Five leaders from the organization spoke to our group. The cooperative covers seven regions in the state and has about 4000 members who belong to 40 … Continue reading →

Posted in Food studies, Oaxaca, organic food | Leave a comment

more on certified organic farms

Posted on December 5, 2012 by admin

The organic regulation specifies that, once a year, the certifiers report the list of farms/handlers that are certified. The NOP publicizes this list of farms and handlers in a nifty searchable database, posted on the NOP’s website. As of January … Continue reading →

Posted in census of agriculture, organic food, USDA | Leave a comment

changes in the organic farm sector

Posted on December 1, 2012 by admin

While searching for some data, I found the latest release of USDA’s Organic Production Survey. The new data – for 2011 – is the second year of NASS’s targeting organic producers in the United States. I feel a bit sheepish … Continue reading →

Posted in census of agriculture, organic food | 6 Comments

relative merits of organic and conventional food

Posted on September 6, 2012 by admin

By now, we’ve all heard about the meta analysis study conducted by the Stanford researchers (mostly medical doctors and public health professionals).  In essence, the review of the literature points out that organic food is not necessarily healthier, but the … Continue reading →

Posted in organic food | 4 Comments

Office of Inspector General’s audit of the National List

Posted on July 26, 2012 by admin

The audit report released on July 20 gave a verdict of “no finding” to the review process for the National List and for selection of members for the NOSB. The response from those watching the organic industry has been one … Continue reading →

Posted in National List, NOSB, organic food, Uncategorized | 3 Comments

still more wonky thoughts on the NOSB board

Posted on July 19, 2012 by admin

Today’s number crunching examines the membership of the board by two categories: are the members employed (directly or indirectly) by a big food company (organic or conventional), and does the member have a history in the organic, conventional or “sustainable” … Continue reading →

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more on the NOSB (wonkish)

Posted on July 18, 2012 by admin

This morning, just for fun, I ran a few statistical tests on the composition of the NOSB. First, I linked the year the person was appointed to the president in office at the time. Note that some error might have … Continue reading →

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composition of the National Organic Standards Board

Posted on July 17, 2012 by admin

By law, the National Organic Standards Board consists of 15 members, with representation as follows (see blog post on this topic by NOP director, Miles McEvoy): 4 farmers/producers 3 environmentalists/resource conservationists 3 consumer/public interest advocates 2 handlers/processors 1 retailer 1 … Continue reading →

Posted in food politics, NOSB, organic food | 1 Comment

The National List and organic agriculture

Posted on July 16, 2012 by admin

The national list is a sensitive subject right now, and has been discussed or referred to in several media publications in the past week (all are variations of the NY Times article): San Francisco Chronicle , Boston Globe, NY Times, Baltimore … Continue reading →

Posted in NOSB, organic food | 2 Comments

big organic and the National Organic Standards Board??

Posted on July 8, 2012 by admin

Today’s NY Times has an article discussing big organic’s influence on the industry. A key factor the author hones in on is that as the industry has grown larger, the composition of the National Organic Standards Board, (NOSB) has changed … Continue reading →

Posted in food policy, NOSB, organic food | Leave a comment