COMMENTARY

My brief Mexican vacation has come to an end, and watching from a distance the disaster of what has become of US national politics I felt more than a little anxious about going back. But really, there is no place to escape it--certainly not the beaches of Puerto Escondido. There was plenty of activity worthy of comment from the organic front in my absence. One issue that seems to generate the most outrage in the grassroots world is the Generic Research and Promotion Order for

A couple of weeks ago I headed to Baltimore for Natural Products Expo East — the annual trade show that features speakers, seminars, and parties to inform and celebrate the hugely successful natural and organic products industry. In years past I have attended these events as a contractor for OTA, but this year I was wearing my journalist/blogger’s hat, and was invited to participate in the New Hope Network Blogger Coop. The trade show itself occupied several floors of the Bal

The new edition of the Organic Trade Association (OTA) membership newsletter, The Organic Report recently arrived in the mail. Inside are some interesting updates on the current state of the organic industry—especially what OTA and others are doing to help more farmers, and more acreage, transition to organic production. Quite a bit, it seems, and the figures look impressive. A 12% increase in organic acreage from 2011 to 2014 has brought the total up to…still well under 1% o