How Regulation and Certification Are Helping to Protect Organic Integrity

Local Food: More Than a Passing Trend

The 2015 A.T. Kearney local food consumer shopping survey finds that local food has made the leap from a “hot” consumer trend to a central growth driver for grocery retailers and restaurants.

A.T. Kearney surveyed more than 1,500 U.S. shoppers who indicated they are the primary shopper or share shopping responsibility in their households. The survey found almost all consumers (93%) associate local with “fresh,” which is the primary purchasing factor for grocery consumers. Demand for local food is also expanding beyond produce, meat, and seafood. More consumers say local is an important attribute for prepared foods and dry groceries. For canned and jarred products, local increased in importance from 5% in 2014 to 13% in 2015; for prepared foods, the jump was from 10% to 23%; for bread, the increase was from 9% to 18%.

Final Guidance on Natural Resources and Biodiversity Conservation

In January 2016, USDA’s Agricultural Marketing Service published a Federal Register notice announcing final guidance on Natural Resources and Biodiversity Conservation for Certified Organic Operations.

Conserving natural resources and biodiversity is a core principle of organic production. This final guidance provides organic certifiers and farms with examples of production practices that support conservation principles and comply with the USDA organic regulations, which require operations to maintain or improve natural resources. The final guidance also clarifies the role of certified operations, certifiers, and inspectors in the implementation and verification of these production practices.

In addition, the final guidance simplifies ways to reduce paperwork burdens for those domestic organic operations that participate in a USDA Natural Resources Conservation Service program. The guidance is now part of the National Organic Program Handbook.—FQ&S