Foreign Ag Service Awards Organic Trade Association $1,666,000
The U.S. Department of Agriculture’s Foreign Agricultural Service (FAS) has approved $1,666,000 in Technical Assistance for Specialty Crops funding over five years to the Organic Trade Association (OTA), in partnership with Sustainable Strategies, for projects that analyze and address trade issues for U.S. organic products.

“This funding will be used to help further understand hurdles that impede the trade of U.S. organic products and help work toward finding solutions to opening trade options for U.S. organic producers,” said Christine Bushway, OTA’s executive director.

With the funding, OTA will oversee the development of various comparative GAP analyses and overviews of international markets for U.S. organic products. Comparative GAP analyses are detailed, side-by-side comparisons of the U.S. national organic standards and those of designated countries. Each analysis identifies the barriers to exporting U.S. organic products to specific international specialty markets.

In the first year, FAS will provide $220,000 to the two partners. Activities will include developing and delivering an online International Organic Trade Technical Resource Guide, with resources to help U.S. producers, processors, certifiers and traders of organic products to be successful in export endeavors.

In addition, OTA will develop international trade issue assessments and strategic advice, establish an International Organic Equivalency/Technical Trade Barrier Task Force, and provide international organic trade seminars and workshops to support FAS, the U.S. National Organic Program, and U.S. Trade Representative’s Office on behalf of the U.S. organic industry.



2010 Agriculture Appropriations Bill for Organic
This fall, the Senate and House of Representatives passed the 2010 Agriculture Appropriations Bill. The bill funds three organic programs at levels matching or exceeding requests to Congress. The Organic Transition Research Program received $5 million for 2010, an increase of $3.2 million from 2009. This competitive grants program funds multi-year research projects that examine the effect of organic production systems on water quality. The Organic Market and Production Data Initiatives received $750,000 for 2010, an increase of $250,000 from 2009, and on top of the $5 million in mandatory funds from the 2008 Farm Bill. These funds will help continue and expand the much-needed organic data collection and analysis efforts at USDA. The USDA National Organic Program (NOP) received $7 million for 2010, an increase of $3.1 million from 2009.

Five New Board Members Appointed to NOSB
Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack recently announced the appointment of five new members to National Organic Standards Board (NOSB), with terms beginning Jan. 24, 2010, and ending Jan. 24, 2015. The NOSB makes recommendations to USDA’s National Organic Program regarding important issues such as changes to the standards or the National List of Allowed and Prohibited Substances. The NOSB consists of 15 volunteer positions including farmers (producers), processors (handlers), retailers, consumers and environmentalists. The five members whose five-year terms begin Jan. 24 include two organic producers, one retailer, one organic handler, and an environmentalist. They are:

• Retailer: Joe Dickson, organic and environmental quality standards coordinator for Whole Foods Market.

• Environmentalist: Jay Feldman, executive director of the nonprofit Beyond Pesticides, with nearly 30 years experience in environmental issues.

• Handler: John Foster, senior manager of organic integrity for Earthbound Farm, with more than 17 years’ experience in organic production, processing and
inspection.

• Producer: Wendy Fulwider, an organic farmer from Viroqua, WI, and the animal husbandry specialist at CROPP/Organic Valley.

• Producer: Annette Riherd, an organic fruit and vegetable farmer from Oklahoma, who is also an advocate for the Buy Fresh/Buy Local program.

Earthbound Farm Wins Award for PCR Clamshells
In October, Earthbound Farm won the Produce Marketing Association (PMA) Impact Award for Environment and Sustainability for its post-consumer recycled polyethylene terephthalate (PET) clamshells. The award recognizes companies who are leading the way with exceptional produce and floral packaging that demonstrates imagination and makes an impact. Compared to using virgin plastic for its clamshell salad packages, at its annual usage Earthbound Farm’s switch to 100 percent PCR PET will: save 424,224 million BTUs of energy; avoid 16,191 tons of carbon dioxide (CO2) emissions; save 68,307 gallons of water; and keep 1,308,623 pounds of solid waste out of the landfills.