Have you ever dreamed of visiting the exotic kingdom of Morocco? Have you yearned to savor couscous tagines in Marrakesh or to awake to strong tea and morning prayers in Fez? The country conjures up dreams of old movies and foreign intrigue as it straddles Africa and the Mediterranean Sea. It offers mysterious foods and flavors and also boasts a wide range of organic producers yearning to enter the international market. If you have the right skill set, there may be an opportunity for you to savor Moroccan flavors and help organic growers all in one elegant mission.
Tag Archives: Organic farming
Can Organic Soil Trump Climate Change?
The names bluster through in a destructive alphabetical roll call, Harvey, Irma, Jose and Maria. Like apocalyptic horsemen, the storms sweeping through the Atlantic all reached category four and higher. Fueled by super-warm ocean currents, this unusually active hurricane season provides devastating evidence that our planet is warming. Our climate is changing.
Agriculture is one of the greatest contributors to greenhouse emissions, but we all gotta eat – right? Now a trailblazing study, partially funded by the UNFI Foundation proves that organic agriculture is a way to feed the planet while reducing our contribution to climate change. Continue reading
Why the OTA Had to Sue USDA
It’s not something that you’d expect to hear—the Organic Trade Association (OTA) is suing the USDA. In fact, it’s an extraordinary occasion that hasn’t been witnessed before in the organic theater. But again these are extraordinary times. Most often the OTA works closely with and is an important resource for the National Organic Program, a division of USDA. They work hand in hand with the USDA’s Market Access Program (MAP) to increase organic exports worldwide. Why then would OTA embark upon this seemingly adversarial act? Continue reading
Pancakes and Bacon: The NOSB Meeting is just Around the Corner
In just over a month, the National Organic Standards Board (NOSB) will convene in Jacksonville, Florida, October 31st– November 2nd. These meetings are held in different far-flung agricultural areas for a reason – so organic stakeholders can participate. The meetings are sometimes witnessed with emotion, passion and even poetry. There are also hours of laborious grindings filled with technical terms and regulatory jargon, interspersed with Roberts Rules of Order. Why put yourself through hours of dogmatic drudgery and sometimes controversy? Because the organic regulations are a mutable set of protocols that can change with a vote of this board.
If you don’t show up, the products you eat or sell or the way you farm could be in jeopardy. Continue reading
Are You an Organic Produce Veteran? Sonny Perdue Wants You!
The U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) recently announced that it is accepting nominations from fruit and vegetable industry members to fill 10 seats on the Fruit and Vegetable Industry Advisory Committee (FVIAC). Originally chartered in 2001, FVIAC meets two times per year to advise the Secretary of Agriculture on the many issues affecting the fresh fruit and vegetable sector. Continue reading
