Organic News, Events, Certification Updates, Member Profiles and More! MAGAZINE www.ccof.org Fall 2008 CertifiedCertified OrganicOrganic $4.95 IN THIS ISSUE: Organic Beer, Organic Community Talking Terroir: From Soil to Sip Advocacy Update ISSN 1940-8870 Member News Committed to providing the fi nest organic berries in the world www.driscolls.com Partnering with independent family farms for over a century. Full organic offering—strawberries, raspberries, blackberries and blueberries—year ’round Opportunities for a few good organic berry growers. Contact Brian McElroy at [email protected]. =CCOF Directory Ad.id4 1 07.10.29 12:21:08 PM MAGAZINE CCOF Inc. CCOF Certification Contents BoardCertified of Services, LLC Organic Directors Management Committee First Words 4 Will Daniels, Emily Brown Rosen Member News 5 Chair Ron Enomoto Organic Beer, Organic Community 6 Malcolm Ricci, Karen Klonsky, Ph.D. Vice Chair Talking Terroir: From Soil to Sip 10 Peggy Miars Stephanie Alexandre, New Organic Winegrape Marketing Study Available 14 Sean Swezey, Ph.D. Secretary Understanding Certification 15 Roy Reeves, CCOF Foundation In The News 18 Treasurer Trustees Biodiversity Tips 21 Allen Harthorn Cathy Holden, Chair Certification News 22 Cindy Lashbrook Shawn Harrison, Vice Chair Events Calendar 26 Carl Rosato Cindy Lashbrook, Secretary Claudia Smith Advocacy 28 Jim Zeek, Treasurer John Teixeira Education & Promotion 33 Monte Black Paul Underhill Member Listings 34 Nathan Morr In The Media 37 Magazine Production: Classified Ads 40 Editor-in-chief: Peggy Miars ([email protected]) Publisher: CCOF, Inc. Jane Baker ([email protected]) “Certified Organic” is published quarterly by CCOF and serves Production Manager: Jane Baker CCOF’s diverse membership base and others in the organic Writers: Jane Baker, Rusten Hogness, Joanna community including consumers and affiliated businesses. Letters to Johnson, Paige Miller, Nick St Charles the editor should be sent to [email protected]. CCOF reserves the right to edit or omit submissions and letters received. Eric Fraser (Group Leader), Sandra Knight, Rich Piombo and Kurt West (Art Direction, Illustration, Composition). About the Writer of our Main Feature Articles Advertising Sales: Eric Fraser, Teamworkx llc, (707)921-6125, [email protected]. Rusten Hogness, a volunteer at CCOF, is a science writer and radio producer who splits Front Cover Design: cgrafx his time between Santa Cruz and Healdsburg. His radio project California Bird Talk (www. New Leaf Paper has provided us with calbirdtalk.org) airs on several California pub- an ecologically sane and cost-effective lic radio stations. His new project, Gleaning magazine. This edition of Certified Organic Stories (www.gleaningstories.org), collects the is printed on New Leaf Sakura Silk 71# stories of workers who glean left-over crops text, which is made from 100% de-inked from harvested fields in the Salinas Valley to recycled fiber, processed chlorine free, and provide fresh produce to local food banks. designated Ancient Forest Friendly. Learn more at www.newleafpaper.com. Interested in writing for “Certified Organic”? Please contact [email protected] ISSN 1940-8870 © CCOF 2008 CCOF Certified Organic Magazine - Fall 2008 3 First Words hese have been organic producers and consumers. monitoring has been a series of regulations Tsome exciting CCOF hosted tw o conference calls that have taken, or may take effect, across times for CCOF as in August on the upcoming Canadian the country regarding labeling of organic we’ve taken the lead Organic Standards. Although the draft products. A state-by-state campaign has on some issues that are standards are in a constant state of flux, been launched to deny organic farmers critical to our mem- we felt that it was important to provide and producers the ability to use absentee bership as well as the current information to our members who claims such as “pesticide or antibiotic organic community. export products to Canada (or who pro- free” on product labeling. The campaign In August we submitted a detailed duce products in Canada and trade within represents an unprecedented threat to the complaint to the National Organic the country). One of the conference calls organic sector that proudly promotes its Program (NOP) outlining a number of was specific to CCOF certified members, products as being made without the use problems with the California State Organic and the other was for the general organic of toxic synthetic pesticides, petroleum- Program (SOP) and asked that they take community to show our leadership in this based fertilizers, sewage sludge, irradia- immediate action to fix the problems. area and to share the information we’ve tion, antibiotics, growth hormones, and As a result, the NOP recommended that worked hard to research. If Canada is im- genetic engineering. CCOF is supporting the SOP halt a recently-announced spot portant to your business, stay tuned for an the Organic Trade Association’s work inspection program, thereby stopping the announcement about another conference on this issue. Because other states are SOP’s attempt to overreach its authority call on the Canadian standards. Read following Ohio’s lead, this could have and inspect operations that had already more in Certification News on page 23 far-reaching impact on the ability of ANY been inspected by accredited certifiers. California Assembly Bill 541 brings organic products to be labeled as free of We suggested that the SOP should in- much-needed regulation to genetically ANYTHING. Read more at www.ccof. stead focus its resources on investigating engineered (GE) crops and is now headed org/actionalerts.php. its long list of complaints and appeals to the Governor’s desk for his signature. Thank you for supporting CCOF and ensuring that fraud is not allowed in CCOF and our partner organizations in and our work on behalf of the organic organic production or sales in California. the Genetic Engineering Policy Project community! We will continue to work on behalf of have been working hard on this bill for CCOF members to reform the SOP and the last two years. create an agency that provides value to Another critical issue we’ve been CCOF Executive Director Proven service strategies Insurance partners committed to your industry • 10,000 active clients and growing • Agricultural specialists since 1946 • Broad access to major carriers and niche agricultural markets • Delivering business and personal insurance solutions Pan American Insurance Agency, Inc. Contact: “A Healthy Way To Grow” Dan Wilkins, Account Executive 800/444-6122 [email protected] www.paula.com Salinas Holtville CA Insurance License “No. 0F89850A Healthy Way To Grow” 4 CCOF Certified Organic Magazine - Fall 2008 Salinas Holtville Member News Domaine Carneros Becomes own Italian sausages. The ranch’s phi- First Certified Organic losophy works well with Cosentino’s Sparkling Winery dedication to eating as much of an animal as possible, or “nose to tail COF member Domaine Carneros eating.” CWinery in Napa, California re- cently became the first certified organic dollar solar project is a monumental sparkling winery in the United States. decision for the 23-year-old farm, and CCOF’s Fresno-Tulare Chapter Company President and depicts its commitment to protecting Supports CSU, Fresno chief winemaker Eileen the environment and practicing sus- tainable farming. Organic Program Crane is pleased with the COF’s Fresno-Tulare chapter results of going organic, Cdonated $2,500 to the California and has already observed Surf City Growers Launches State University, Fresno organic agricul- positive changes includ- Organic Seed Starting Kits ture program to support a new organic ing intensification of the green thumb for everyone!” is internship. The donation will support flavor of the grapes and in the motto of organic orna- plant science students who intern in the the vibrancy of the vines. “A mental plant growers Linda and Trent She told Intelligent Travel, “The organic McNair, owners of CCOF certified farming is part of a whole array of the Surf City Growers in Aptos, California. things that we’re doing to make it a Pursuing the company motto, they re- good place to live and work.” cently introduced ‘My First Organics’, seed starting kits based on garden Wolfgang Puck Partners with favorites that kids love to eat, such Campbell Soup as tomatoes, peas, and beans. Their agriculture industry. Chapter President Mike Braga of Sherman Thomas Ranch orld-renowned chef and res- goal is to encourage families to grow & Braga Organic Farms presented the taurateur Wolfgang Puck has and experience freshly grown organic W donation to Dr. Charles Boyer, Dean partnered his soup products with CCOF produce. of the College of Agricultural Sciences certified Campbell Soup Company, a and Technology, and program coordi- leader in the soup industry. Introduced Incanto and Prather Ranch nators Dr. Sajeemas “Mint” Pasakdee in 1997, Wolfgang Puck offered one of Share Dedication to Humane and Dr. Ganesan Srinivasan. the first organic soups in the market. Significant growth in sales is expected Animal Husbandry from the new partnership that com- COF-certified Prather Ranch and Marrone Organic Innovations bines Wolfgang’s brand and reputation C the San Francisco restau- Strengthens Company rant Incanto share a dedication to with Campbell’s distribution and mar- Structure keting capabilities. his summer, CCOF supporting mem- Tber Marrone Organic Innovations, Far West Rice Mills Invests in Inc. (MOI) welcomed Keith Pitts to Solar Power the company as Vice President of COF-certified Far West Rice Mills Regulatory Affairs and Lawrence A. Chas installed a one-megawatt Hough, Managing Director of Stuart solar electric system that will deliver Mill, to the company’s Board of approximately 70 to 80 percent of sustainability and humane animal Directors. Pitts has over 20 years of the operation’s total energy needs. Far husbandry. Recently, Prather Ranch senior public policy and regulatory West Rice, Inc. is a family-owned-and- owners, Colleen and Walter Ralphs, affairs experience and Hough brings operated rice milling and marketing and ranch managers, Jim and Mary operational expertise.