Uniting the World Organic Movement

The world movement called organic farming is decades older than USDA certification. Organic principles are based on the best agricultural practices of the last 4000 years. Yet the USDA is redefining “organic” by allowing the certification of practices quite different from these principles. What are the implications for organic farms following the founding principles of organic agriculture? In contrast, the rest of the world has continued to improve and protect organic practices with the use of many “add-on” labels. Two such labels are now working together. Steffen Reese, director of Naturland, a German, farmer-led, “add-on” certification, and the Co-Directors of the Real Organic Project, will help us understand how US organic policies have split from the rest of the world and what the world organic movement is doing about it.