I just spent the last 10 days with my sister, Annie White, camping and recreating in Montana. When she’s not on vacation, she’s designing gorgeous gardens, teaching at the University of Vermont, and giving talks on pollinators and native plants. While I can almost guarantee that you won’t have as much fun as we did last week in Montana, I do highly recommend checking out the Native Plants and Pollinators Conference on October 3 at UConn’s campus in Storrs, Connecticut. Annie will be on speaker lineup, along with several other excellent folks. And, you have until August 30 to get the early-bird registration fee of $50.

Here’s the full list of topics:

• Monarch Waystations from Adam Baker, Doctoral Candidate, Department of Entomology, University of Kentucky
• Asters & Goldenrods: Autumn’s Pollinator Banquet from Heather Holm, Author and Pollinator Educator, Minnetonka, Minnesota
• Evaluating Pollinator Attraction of Herbaceous Perennial Nativars from Annie White, ASLA, PhD, Owner at NECTAR Landscape Design Studio & Consulting, Burlington Vermont
• Aronia Up Close: Built-in Complexity and Potential from Dr. Mark Brand, Department of Plant Science and Landscape Architecture, University of Connecticut
• What We Know About Nativars, Pollinators, and the Nursery Industry: Making Informed Decisions from Dr. Jessica Lubell, Department of Plant Science and Landscape Architecture, University of Connecticut

Registration also gets you a chance for pesticide recertification credits, lunch and parking. More info and registration is HERE.
 

This fall, the Rodale Institute will open the Southeast Organic Center in Chattahoochee Hills, Georgia, to give farmers in the southeast a better resource for their region. The center will provide education and conduct scientific research, using the 300-acre Many Fold Farm as their base.

“It’s time for us to invest in our southern farmers,” said Jeff Moyer, executive director of Rodale Institute. “This region is ripe for opportunities and explosive growth in organic agriculture. But organic farming is based on biology. It’s farming with nature. So, it’s unique in every community. You have to work with the soil, weather patterns, and seeds and breeds well suited to the region. We’re excited to roll up our sleeves and work on solutions that will improve the lives of real farmers and consumers in this part of the country.”

As part of the venture, the Southeast Organic Center will partner with a nearby wellness community called Serenbe in order to connect consumers with educational programming and healthy eating events. They’re also working with Georgia Organics, Southern SARE and The Conservation Fund.

Earlier this year, Rodale opened the Midwest Organic Center in Marion, Iowa.  

I’ve been writing about the debates over USDA Organic and the new add-on label, Real Organic, for a while now. And I’ll tell you, without taking sides, that I do believe that this will have a lasting effect on organic—not just the outcomes of labeling but with how the public perceives organic.

So at the Northeast Organic Farming Association (NOFA) 2019 Summer Conference this August, they avoided the panel format and went for a straight-out debate format to discuss whether the USDA National Organic Program is doing its job. Dave Chapman, director of the Real Organic Project, and Johanna Mirenda, farm policy director of the Organic Trade Association, went head to head.

It's by no means a comprehensive look at all the issues, but it does give you a sense of the dynamics at play and a few of the players.

You can watch the hour-long debate by clicking HERE or on the image above. 

The Organic Trade Association (OTA)  is the new fiscal sponsor of the Organic Agronomy Training Service (OATS) Project, which helps agricultural professionals train organic or transitioning farmers. As the fiscal sponsor, OTA will receive and direct funds for the project.

OATS is a national consortium of independent regional non-profits, universities, businesses and farmer networks who each work to promote and support domestic certified organic crop production. Mallory Krieger, who was named national program director of OATS, said, “There is a serious need for technical support for organic farmers and for the professionals working with organic farmers, especially those working with organic grain farmers. Farmers need to know how to integrate organic into their complex operations, and they need the one-on-one guidance that OATS is working to develop.”

A steering committee has been formally established to serve as the national decision-making body of the consortium. The committee and National Program Director will work together to develop the OATS national strategic plan and set the objectives, goals and aims of the program.

If you’re selling veggies or fruits, that’s a good question. Remember, in December 2018, the USDA released its final GMO labeling rule (aka The National Bioengineered Food Disclosure Standard). The rule requires disclosure of bioengineered ingredients, but there’s a big loophole for anything that’s highly refined—so your corn syrups and soybean oils don’t have to be labeled. That new rule goes into effect January 1, 2020.

And yet, there’s still a lot of pressure for producers to label their food as non-GMO, to alleviate fears. Let’s face it, not all consumers are educated on GMOs, or how few crops actually are bioengineered.

Back in 2017, vegetable supplier Mann’s, which is owned by Del Monte Fresh Produce, took a stand on the issue—for which they got both praise and, if you read the comments, flack.

They made the decision to stop using the third-party certified Non-GMO Verified label on their products. Their produce didn’t contain genetically engineered products, but the point was that no lettuce, berries, broccolis, cauliflowers, celery, kale, kohlrabi, carrots, or sugar snap peas on the market were genetically engineered. All lettuce was non-GMO, not just the ones labeled as such. They felt they needed to better educate consumers about the facts behind GMOs, rather than label purely because consumers wanted to see the label.

Feeling pressure? Or not? Let me know HERE.