general organic

LLC Management Committee Member Gina Colfer Honored With a Lifetime Achievement Award From the California Department of Pesticide Regulation

Photo by Friedrich Haag via  Wikicommons

The Department of Pesticide Regulation shared this about the award: Gina Bella Colfer, a pest control advisor (PCA) with more than 30 years of experience in organic agriculture, primarily on California's Central Coast, will be honored with a Lifetime Achievement Award for her work developing and implementing safer, more sustainable integrated pest management (IPM) practices in agriculture.

Celebrating CCOF’s 50th Birthday with 50 Reasons to Choose Organic

In the past 50 years since CCOF’s founding in 1973, research about organic has come a long way. We now know that the benefits of organic our founding members believed in so fiercely are backed by scientific data to have a measurable effect on the wellbeing of our planet, communities, and economy. 

CCOF’s First Employee, Mark Lipson, Honored by Rodale

California congressman Sam Farr and Mark Lipson in the early days of creating the organic standards.

The Rodale Institute, a progenitor of the organic movement in the United States that built the scientific underpinnings of organic production, awarded Mark Lipson (CCOF’s first paid employee) the Organic Stewardship Award in a ceremony held at the Rodale research farm in Kutztown, Pennsylvania. 

Organic Professor Hired for the Organic Minor Program at Fresno State

Written by Aaron McAfee, CCOF Fresno/Tulare Chapter President

I have excellent news to deliver, straight from the local organic legend himself, the great Tom Willey. 

Tom shared with us that Fresno State has officially announced the hire of Dr. Sangeeta Bansal for the position of Professor of Soil Health at California State University, Fresno. 

USDA’s Ag Outlook Forum To Feature Marketing and Organic Sessions

USDA’s 99th Annual Agricultural Outlook Forum will take place over the course of two days, both online and in person in Arlington, Virginia. On Thursday, February 23, between 11:25 and 11:55 a.m. Eastern, Jenny Lester Moffitt, USDA Under Secretary of Agriculture for Marketing and Regulatory Programs, will moderate a session on Strategies for More and Better Markets.

UC Extension Releases Guidance on Assessing Food Safety After Flooding

Erin DiCaprio, associate professor of cooperative extension at the Department of Food Science and Technology at University of California, Davis has summarized information and resources for assessing crop food safety after a flooding event.

The publication includes links to the Leafy Green Marketing Agreement flood fact sheet and also a presentation made by Trevor Suslow, emeritus UC Cooperative Extension specialist. 

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USDA National Organic Program’s Strengthening Organic Enforcement Coming Soon!

Although the final regulations have yet to be released, the USDA National Organic Program (NOP) will soon implement a new rule called Strengthening Organic Enforcement (SOE). NOP has stated that they will publish the rule in a matter of weeks. Once the rule is published, there will be a one-year implementation timeline before full compliance is required. This rule will increase oversight of organic products throughout the supply chain.