Entries by nofa-admin

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Into the Fray — NOFA Mobilizes as a Plaintiff in Federal Lawsuits

NOFA and other non-profit grassroots farming support organizations across the country are also deeply impacted by these funding freezes and program terminations. USDA’s refusal to release contractually obligated funds along with gutting personnel in key agricultural-support programs is causing legal harm. With contract cuts in the thousands of dollars, the NOFA Chapters have been forced to lay off valued staff, suspend projects and significantly downsize their operating budgets — putting their state organizations in jeopardy.

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National Family Farm Coalition Fly-In Report and Food System Analysis

In May 2023 a detailed Position Paper titled “Organic Agriculture is Soil-based: A Fundamental Principle Underlying Organic Crop Certification” was filed with USDA’s National Organic Program (NOP) by 5 dissenting USDA Accredited Organic Certifiers (out of 80 total) who have banded together refusing to certify soilless operations in the face of NOP’s continuing unilateral blanket allowance of hydroponic production to qualify for the organic label.

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The Rebel Certifiers’ Stand Against Hydroponics

In May 2023 a detailed Position Paper titled “Organic Agriculture is Soil-based: A Fundamental Principle Underlying Organic Crop Certification” was filed with USDA’s National Organic Program (NOP) by 5 dissenting USDA Accredited Organic Certifiers (out of 80 total) who have banded together refusing to certify soilless operations in the face of NOP’s continuing unilateral blanket allowance of hydroponic production to qualify for the organic label.

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Immigration Reform, H2A, and Justice for Farmworkers

During the month of February, the members of the Farmworker Association of Florida, low-income Latinx workers, many of them undocumented, held 5 asamblea (member assemblies) around the state to share about their lives and set priorities for action by their organization. Then delegates met in a statewide assembly. Top of their list of policy priorities is immigration reform.

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Forever Yours, PFAS

On March 29, 2022 the final Origin of Livestock (OOL) Rule was at long last instituted by the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA), finally resolving statutory language ambiguities from the 1990 Organic Food Production Act (OFPA) that have been keeping family dairies at a major disadvantage in the organic milk marketplace for years now. The rule goes into full effect one year from that date. While we celebrate a Big Win for organic integrity and the surviving grassroots organic dairy farmers who have long suffered under the loopholes – we need to become even more vigilant going into the future.

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After Eking Out a Win for Organic Integrity – What’s Next?

On March 29, 2022 the final Origin of Livestock (OOL) Rule was at long last instituted by the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA), finally resolving statutory language ambiguities from the 1990 Organic Food Production Act (OFPA) that have been keeping family dairies at a major disadvantage in the organic milk marketplace for years now. The rule goes into full effect one year from that date. While we celebrate a Big Win for organic integrity and the surviving grassroots organic dairy farmers who have long suffered under the loopholes – we need to become even more vigilant going into the future.

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Remembering Samuel Kaymen

I feel so grateful that our Founder was with us for last year’s 50th Anniversary Celebration of NOFA’s beginnings in 1971. He was featured in Al Johnson’s wonderful NOFA history compilation, “Organic Roots” as well as a panel participant in the ‘Thrilling Tales of Yesteryear” presentation. These Anniversary videos, along with Elizabeth Henderson’s “The Next 50 years of NOFA” are available for viewing at https://nofa.org/nofa-50th/.

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On the Organic Dairy Horizon: the Danone Debacle

Acting through its North America subsidiary at the end of August, Groupe Danone, the multinational corporation and owner of Horizon Organic abruptly cancelled the contracts of 89 of their longtime northeast milk suppliers in Vermont, New York, New Hampshire and Maine – effective by August 2022. Danone’s exit means that over 10 percent of the northeast region’s organic dairy farms will be left without a market since other organic processors have limited capacity to accept new producers. The terminations will further have an acute impact on local economies, community resilience and area environments.

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