Here is part 2 of Melody Meyer’s interview with USDA Organic Policy Advisor Betsy Rakola via Organic Matters. (Part 1 is available here). Melody is the Vice President of Policy and Industry Relations for United Natural Foods, a leading independent national distributor of natural, organic and specialty foods and related products. Thanks, Melody for allowing us to repost!
What challenges do you hope to address for the organic community?
Products that are locally produced and not certified organic continue to be an issue. We are devising new strategies to provide outreach and information, especially at farmers markets, to producers to ensure they know the organic requirements. This is where the NOP sees the majority of complaints on non-compliance – producers making the organic claim without the certification. The end goal is to uphold the integrity of the organic seal, and make it easier for small producers to come certificated organic.
We need to increase the number of certified organic operations because, as you know, domestic supply issues are acute right now. The supplies aren’t there to meet the current demand and through growth we can provide more opportunities and better options for American consumers looking for a vast array of organic products year-round. We have an internal goal to increase the number of certified organic operations. We currently have 18,500 certified entities and the market is expected to grow 12-15% per year, so perhaps we mimic that growth. This of course doesn’t capture the growth of new organic acres. The producer survey can help us bridge that knowledge gap so USDA can help organic production grow.