Introducing The National Organic Action Plan

By Susan Stewart, Organic Certification and Sustainability Coordinator

"By eating local and organic food we create local and organic food systems and become co-producers, going beyond the passive role of consumer." Atina Diffley, Organic FarmingWorks

There is now a National Organic Action Plan (NOAP). It is the product of five years of conversations and planning throughout the organic sector, shepherded by the Rural Advancement Foundation International-USA. The plan is designed to advance knowledge of and enhance the presence of organic agriculture in our nation. It lays a foundation for greater understanding of the ways organic food and fiber production can address environmental, social, health and development issues.

I was in LaCrosse, WI in February to help develop the next stage of the plan. We created activities and strategies corresponding to our target categories of research, education, culture, health, environment, markets, regulation, and the transition of land from conventional to organic use.

The organic community's greatest challenge is the preservation of organic integrity and farmer and consumer confidence in the face of industry growth. The NOAP addresses this challenge and represents the passions, concerns, hopes, and visions of the organic community with five goals:

• to ensure organic integrity and continued quality improvements
• to ensure a fair marketplace for US family farms and workers
• to ensure access to healthy food for all US income levels
• to maximize US organic production potential
• to move the US organic food and agriculture policy from its focus on the marketplace to encompass goals associated with the public good, including social change, public health, and environmental protection.

The environmental and health benefits of organic production are being increasingly researched. As a result, some conventional farmers are getting interested in organic methods as the benefits of increased organic matter, carbon sequestration, moisture retention, and drought tolerance in soil are being documented. Recent research indicates that organically grown foods may provide greater nutritional value than conventionally grown foods, and that family-scale farming can revitalize rural economies. Organic agriculture offers concrete solutions to earth's carrying capacity issues and can offer an improved quality of life by mitigating some persistent agriculture related problems.

The market has seen a surge in the availability of organic foods and fibers, as well as in organic products and services such as personal care, pet food, and landscaping. As organic agriculture reaches the mainstream in this way, it is important to maintain organic integrity in the face of industrialization and the pressures from the marketplace and government.

The US government has been slow to recognize organic agriculture as anything other than a marketing scheme, while the European Union (EU) is seeking to increase organic acreage, production, and commerce while facilitating organic imports from developing countries and creating incentives for documented water quality and species habitat protections. NOAP seeks to establish a balanced role for government within the organic sector. On a positive note, the 2008 Farm Bill broadened the national scope of organic agriculture and acknowledged its environmental benefits.

The growth and sustainability of organic agriculture is dependent upon access to markets for small organic farmers. The great need for technical support and education for new farmers has been identified as part of the missing infrastructure. This includes extension-type services staffed by organic farmers. Additional challenges and opportunities for the organic sector arise from the need to reinvent regional food systems.

The NOAP is important and we want Wedge members to understand what is at stake and how they play a part in modeling the commitment to organic agriculture. By supporting the Wedge, we support local and organic farmers. By supporting our Co-op Partners Warehouse, we support a regional food system and access to markets for organic farmers in the region. By supporting our farm, Gardens of Eagan, we support the cultivation new farmers. In the end, by supporting the Wedge, we support the viability of organic agriculture.