Organic inspectors are essential to ensuring organic integrity, and CCOF has a history of providing apprenticeships to new, prospective organic inspectors. Thanks to a grant from the National Organic Program (NOP) Human Capital Capacity Building Initiative, we were able to formalize our inspector apprenticeship in the CCOF Organic Inspector Mentorship Pilot Program.
A member of CCOF Certification Services, LLC’s inspection operations department collaborated with an education specialist from the CCOF Foundation to develop training materials and facilitate the apprenticeship program.
Seven apprentice inspectors from Texas, Washington, and California were paired with experienced mentor inspectors. The program consisted of an initial training phase on the NOP rules and CCOF inspection protocols, followed by three organic farm inspections.
Mentors completed the first two of these three inspections, with apprentices observing. Apprentices completed the third inspection, with the mentors in a supporting role. Throughout the program, mentors and apprentices met as often as needed and CCOF staff were available for support.
CCOF was pleased to offer this experience to future members of the organic inspector workforce. Here are some of the comments we received from apprentice inspectors at the conclusion of the program:
“The apprenticeship has been fantastic. I’ve so appreciated the experience.”
“Thank you so much for this awesome experience. I’m really excited to reach forward to the next step in my career.”
“Thank you again for this amazing opportunity! I look forward to continuing my partnership with the CCOF organization and our local organic growers.”
“Please know again how grateful I am to have been included in the apprentice program! It was an absolute joy to work with all of you [. . .] and especially to be paired with my mentor in the field. While I imagine all apprentices were grateful for the opportunity [. . .] I still feel like I was the lucky one!”