Organic Education in California + CCOF Producers Offer Feed During Drought “Farming the Urban Edge” Summary Future Organic Farmer Grant Fund
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INSIDE LOOK Organic Education in California + CCOF Producers Offer Feed During Drought “Farming the Urban Edge” Summary Future Organic Farmer Grant Fund www.ccof.org Spring 2014 CCOF Inc. Board of Directors CERTIFIED Phil LaRocca, Chair, LaRocca Vineyards; Malcolm Ricci, Vice Chair, Bolthouse Farms; Vernon Peterson, Treasurer, Abundant Harvest Organics; Jenny Lester Moffitt, Secretary, Dixon Ridge Farms; Stephanie Alexandre, Alexandre Ecodairy Farms; Grant Brians, Heirloom Organic Organic Gardens; Allen Harthorn, Harpos Organics; Neal MacDougall, California Polytechnic State University; Randy Hansen, Stoney Point-Pine Ridge Orchards; Karen Archipley, Archi’s Acres; Brad Samuelson, Fagundes Bros. Dairy; Renee Thresher, Lundberg Family Farms CCOF Certification Services, LLC Management Committee Neal MacDougall, Chair, California Polytechnic State University; Tom Chapman, Clif Bar & Co; Jenneke de Jong, Bonanza View Dairy; Karen Klonsky, Ph.D., UC Davis Department of Agriculture & Resource Economics; Scott McGilvray, retired CCOF Foundation Trustees Allen Harthorn, Harpo’s Organics; Karen Archipley, Archi’s Acres; Lee Altier, Ph.D., CSU Chico College of Agriculture; Phil LaRocca, LaRocca Vineyards; Malcom Ricci, Bolthouse Farms Magazine Production EDITOR-IN-CHIEF Laura McKissack SENIOR EDITOR/WRITER Elizabeth Barba ART DIRECTION/DESIGN Sarah Watters Certified Organic magazine is published quarterly by CCOF and serves CCOF’s diverse membership base and others in the organic community including consumers and affiliated businesses. Letters to the publisher 24 should be sent to [email protected]. CCOF reserves the right to edit Getting the Degree or omit submissions and letters received. For more information contact CCOF, Inc. at [email protected]. “Ten years ago, there weren’t many choices for a student who wanted to go to college and study organic farming. Advertising Now, it is possible to major in organic agriculture.” For over 40 years, CCOF has been a trusted source of information on organic farming and food production. Our information resources include full-color publications and online media targeted to all segments of the organic sector throughout the United States and beyond. For more information, visit www.ccof.org/advertise or contact [email protected]. Departments MAGAZINE AD DISCLAIMER CCOF appreciates the gracious support of advertisers who make this 05 First Words 21 Chapter Update publication possible. However, paid advertisements featured in this From CCOF’s Executive Director/CEO Staying active with your chapter magazine have been provided by the advertising company and do not necessarily reflect a certification status of the company or products 07 In the News 33 Organic Advocacy advertised. CCOF does not endorse or guarantee the quality or approved Organic making headlines Supporting organic interests status of any materials, products, or services. Please direct questions regarding authenticity of advertised products and services to the 11 Member News 39 OTA Update advertiser. CCOF reserves the right to refuse advertisements deemed Members doing great things OTA’s report from the capitol inappropriate. 15 Foundation Programs 41 Certification News CCOF Foundation at work Keeping you compliant For every pound of paper used to print this edition of Certified Organic, an equivalent number of 18 2014 Annual Event 46 Member Listings trees are planted through Trees for the Future, an “Farming the Urban Edge” New certified members organization dedicated to planting trees with rural communities in the developing world, enabling them to restore their environment, grow more food, and build a sustainable future. COVER PHOTO © CSU Chico Organic Dairy PHOTO © CSU Chico Organic Dairy www.ccof.org 3 ISSN 1940-8870 © CCOF 2014 4 www.ccof.org first WORDS Growing Future Organic Farmers Future organic farmers will soon receive grants from CCOF In the face of an aging farmer population (the average age of to further their organic studies. Grants between $500 and the U.S. farmer is about sixty), it is good news that there is $2,500 will be distributed this summer through a first-ever increased interest in going into farming and other agricultural partnership of CCOF and private sector organic leaders UNFI careers among young people and that educational institutions Foundation, Driscoll’s, Organic Valley, and Bradmer Foods. are creating opportunities for learning about organic Grants will target students in K-12 classrooms and individuals production. It is also good news that organic leaders are joining entering agricultural education programs that focus on organic forces to offer Future Organic Farmer Grants beginning in 2014 production methods. (see page 15 for more details). CCOF has documented that few, if any, existing educational grant programs target studies in This month’s feature story, “Getting the Degree,” by CCOF organic production methods. Outreach and Policy Specialist Jane Sooby, tells us that enrollment in agricultural programs at U.S. colleges and The fund for Future Organic Farmer Grants is still growing. universities has increased by 14 percent at non-land-grant We are now at $50,000, which will allow us to make between colleges and almost 9 percent at land-grants during the past 40 and 60 grants. This year, CCOF will administer the fund so decade. (Land-grant universities were established by the that every dollar contributed can go directly to students. If you federal government to provide agricultural and technical would like to support this fund by making a contribution, training at public institutions of higher learning). According please contact CCOF Development Manager Emily Shoemaker to Sooby, there are now 65 California colleges that offer ([email protected]) or make a donation online at hands-on training in organic production through a student www.ccof.org/foundation. garden or farm. In the future, she plans to further document these programs beyond the Golden State (see table on Thank you for supporting our work to make organic the future page 30). A report released in 2012 by the Organic Farming of American farming. Research Foundation (OFRF) rated only six of 72 U.S. land- grant universities as meeting all of their eight rating points for criteria, which include maintaining organic research land; cultivating a student organic farm; offering an organic minor, major, or certificate; and employing a dedicated organic faculty or staff member. Cathy Calfo CCOF Executive Director/CEO Issue Contributors Getting the Degree, page 24 Jane Sooby has worked in sustainable and organic agricultural research and education since 1992. Sooby believes that organic farming offers practical solutions to many contemporary environmental problems. She is now Policy and Outreach Specialist for CCOF. www.ccof.org 5 6 www.ccof.org in the NEWS Her unbalanced intake of both fatty acids could be improved by increasing dairy consumption, switching to organic dairy (preferably whole milk because nonfat strips away the fatty acids), and seeking out low omega-6 alternatives. What’s the lesson here? Drink more organic whole milk and work on balancing out those omegas for a heart-healthy lifestyle! Organic Benefits Biodiversity Oxford University researchers say that organic farms support 34 percent more plant, insect, and animal species than conventional farms. Their study, a meta-analysis published in early February in the Journal of Applied Ecology, evaluated information dating back to 1989 from 94 studies across 184 farm locations. Using information mostly from North America and Europe, the researchers applied satellite imagery to estimate land use in the area around each farm to see if it had an impact on species richness. Balance your Fatty “Our study has shown that organic farming, as an alternative to conventional farming, can yield significant long-term benefits for biodiversity,” said Sean Tuck of Oxford University’s Acids with Organic Department of Plant Sciences, lead author of the study, in a statement. “Organic methods could go some way towards Whole Milk halting the continued loss of diversity in industrialised nations.” Important new research published in the journal PLOS One The study observed “species richness,” finding that the number proves a nutritional advantage of choosing organic. From of different species on organic farms was 50 percent higher January 2011 through June 2012, a team of researchers than conventional farms. “Species richness tells us how many from Washington State University’s Center for Sustaining different species there are but does not say anything about the Agriculture and Natural Resources (CSANR) analyzed 384 total number of organisms,” said Tuck. “There are many ways monthly samples of organic and conventional whole milk from to study biodiversity and species richness is easy to measure, seven regions across the United States. Their findings show that providing a useful starting point. Broadly speaking, high species organic whole milk carries more polyunsaturated fatty acids richness usually indicates a variety of species with different than conventional whole milk. Unlike many conventionally functions. Taking the example of bees, species richness would raised animals, which are fed a diet consisting mainly of corn tell us how many different species of bee were on each farm but silage and grains, organic standards require that lactating dairy not the total number of bees.” cows receive a portion of daily dry matter intake from pasture and forage-based feeds. Organic farms had an even more