Clif Bar Invests in University of California’s First Organic Research Institute

Photo: Pexels

Originally Appeared in Presence Marketing News, February 2020
By Steven Hoffman

With a $1 million endowment from Clif Bar & Company and University of California (UC) President Janet Napolitano, the university will establish the system’s first-ever institute for organic research and education. The California Organic Institute will accelerate the development and adoption of tools and practices for organic farmers and those transitioning to organic by building on the capabilities of the UC Department of Agriculture & Natural Resources’ (UC ANR) Cooperative Extension and Sustainable Agriculture Research and Education Program, the university said in a release. “California's organic farmers already benefit from UC ANR's pest management, irrigation and crop production research, and this partnership with Clif Bar will give UC more capacity to focus on challenges specific to organic farming,” said Glenda Humiston, UC vice president of agriculture and natural resources in the release. “The California Organic Institute will serve many of the organic producers we depend on for ingredients like almonds and figs, as well as farmers outside our supply chain,” added Lynn Ineson, VP of Sustainable Sourcing for Clif Bar. “We recognize that the future of our food company depends on the ecological and economic success of organic and transitioning farmers.” According to UC ANR, California has the most organic farms in the U.S., with 3,000 certified organic farms in the state representing 21% of all certified organic acreage in the U.S.

The Heroes: Companies Supporting GMO Labeling

Source: Pexels

In Colorado, while multi-billion-dollar, multinational corporate opponents have pumped nearly $17 million into the state to try to defeat Prop. 105, the 2014 ballot initiative to label GMO foods, the grassroots Yes on 105 side has raised just under $1 million in campaign funding. The Yes on 105 campaign is using these funds - contributed by hundreds of Colorado residents, and a small group of leading natural and organic products companies and consumer advocacy groups - tohelp educate voters and get out the yes vote via newspaper and digital advertising, an extensive volunteer network, phone banking, and social media - and to endure a withering onslaught of negative, deceptive television advertising and direct mail from the No on 105 side.

Put these brands contributing to consumer transparency and truth in labeling on your shopping list. Support the brands that have stepped up to contribute to Colorado's grassroots Prop. 105 Ballot Initiative to Label GMO Foods against a $17 million onslaught by Monsanto, Pepsi, Coke, Kraft, Dow, Dupont, Hershey, J.M. Smucker, Mead Johnson, Abbot Nutrition, Conagra and others.

Compass Natural Marketing and its principal Steven Hoffman have served as the lead fundraiser and industry communications specialists on behalf of Yes on 105, Right to Know Colorado - GMO. For more information, visit www.righttoknowcolorado.org.

The Heroes:  Support these Companies that Contributed to Yes on 105 to Label GMO Foods in Colorado*

More than $200,000 Food Democracy Now! Presence Marketing/Dynamic Presence

$50,000 - $100,000 Annie's Inc. Organic Consumers Fund

$10,000 - $50,000 Boulder Brands Lundberg Family Farms Dr. Bronner's Applegate Farms Clif Bar Nature's Path UNFI Hain Celestial Group Alliance for Sustainable Colorado

$5,000 - $10,000 Amy's Kichen Frontier Natural Products Co-op KeHE Distributors Nutiva Stonyfield Farm

$500 - $5,000 Daiya Foods Food & Water Watch Justin's .Organic Lucky's Market Door to Door Organics Suja Food Babe Living Maxwell New Belgium Brewery Snack Out Loud Red Idea Group Front & Center Marketing Vital Farms Good Earth Natural Grocery Lucky's Market

Special Thanks Natural Grocers by Vitamin Cottage Whole Foods Market Chipotle Mexican Grill

Acknowledgments Alex and Ana Bogusky Steve and Grace Hughes Organic & Non-GMO Report The Crunchy Grocer Alfalfa's Market Compass Natural Marketing Journeys for Conscious Living Durango Natural Foods Co-op Jared Polis John Foraker Joshua Kunau and Jeremy Siefert, GMO OMG Robyn O'Brien Quinn Popcorn Silver Hills Bakery The Organic Dish Meetings and Events Sandy Gooch and Harry Lederman

Visit our Donors Here:  http://www.righttoknowcolorado.org/donors Visit our Endorsers Here:  http://www.righttoknowcolorado.org/endorsements

Join a growing number of supporters of GMO labeling. To contribute to Right to Know Colorado to Label GMOs, visit www.righttoknowcolorado.org to make an online donation. For corporate or individual contributions, contact Steven Hoffman at steve (at) compassnatural.com.

Please help us win in Colorado, for all Americans.

* Sources: Right to Know Colorado, www.righttoknowcolorado.org Colorado Secretary of State Elections Division, reporting as of Oct. 27, 2014, http://tracer.sos.colorado.gov/PublicSite/SearchPages/CommitteeDetail.aspx?OrgID=25377

Research Documents Risks Associated with GMOs

Source: Pexels

The biotech industry works hard to discredit any science demonstrating the health and environmental safety risks associated with the widespread adoption of genetically engineered crops and foods. However, a growing body of published scientific research shows clear and present risks to humans, animals and the environment as a result of GMOs and the pesticides used in GMO agriculture that are now pervasive in our ecosystem, diet and food production system. There are nine genetically modified (GM or GMO) food crops currently on the market: soy, corn, cotton (oil), canola (oil), sugar from sugar beets, zucchini, yellow squash, Hawaiian papaya, and alfalfa. However, in November 2013, USDA recommended that GMO apples be approved for commercial production, and FDA may approve GMO salmon - the first genetically engineered animal ever allowed for human consumption - in late 2013 or early 2014.

Please see the executive summary of key research findings below. Also, for a more comprehensive reference, you can download for free GMO Myths and Truths, published by Earth Open Source.

• GMO DNA could cross-transfer into genes of plants, animals and humans; there is scientific evidence that it could jump species: GM DNA can persist in plant debris and soil residues long after the GMO crop has been cultivated, plus the GM transgene for glyphosate tolerance was found in human digestive systems after eating GMO soy; scientists also found that the GM genes transferred to bacteria in the human gut, according to a June 2010 report by the Institute of Science in Society. In fact, said the report, due to its inherent design to be able to “jump” into genomes, genetically engineered DNA may actually be more successfully transferred into other organisms. Institute of Science in Society, June 2010.

• Research carried out by a team at Sherbrooke University Hospital in Quebec and accepted for publication in February 2011 in the journal Reproductive Toxicology found that the toxic Bt insecticide protein Cry1Ab, engineered into GMO crops, was present in blood serum of 93% of pregnant women tested. The Bt toxin was also present in 80% of umbilical blood samples taken from fetuses, and in 67% of non-pregnant women. The researchers suggest that the most probable source of the toxin is GM food consumed as part of a normal diet in Canada, where GM presence in food is unlabeled. “To our knowledge, this is the first study to highlight the presence of pesticides-associated genetically modified foods in maternal, fetal and nonpregnant women’s blood. 3-MPPA and Cry1Ab toxin are clearly detectable and appear to cross the placenta to the fetus. Given the potential toxicity of these environmental pollutants and the fragility of the fetus, more studies are needed,” say the researchers. Aris A, Leblanc S. Maternal and fetal exposure to pesticides associated to genetically modified foods in Eastern Townships of Quebec. Reprod Toxicol (2011), doi:10.1016/j.reprotox.2011.02.004.

• Bt toxins derived from the Bacillus thuringiensis bacteria, traditionally used in topical applications on plants in organic gardening, were thought to be toxic only to insects. However, now that genetically engineered crops are designed to produce Bt toxins at the cellular level of the plant itself, recent studies are showing that such prolonged exposure to increased levels of Bt toxins in the diet could lead to red blood cell damage and possibly leukemia in mammals. In the 2013 Journal of Hematology & Thromboembolic Diseases, study author Belin Mezzomo of the Department of Genetics and Morphology and the Institute of Biological Sciences at the University of Brasilia reported that Bt toxins found in Monsanto’s GMO corn and soy crops are more toxic to mammals than previously thought. Tests demonstrated that “Cry” proteins resulting from Bt toxin were toxic to red blood cells and bone marrow cells. Scientists tested levels ranging from 27 mg to 270 mg over a seven-day period and found that the Cry toxins were hemotoxic, even at the lowest doses administered. Hemotoxins are known to destroy red blood cells, disrupt blood clotting and cause organ degeneration and tissue damage. Journal of Hematology and Thromboembolic Diseases, 2013.

• Citing USDA research data, Environmental Protection Act records, medical journal reviews, and international research, a team of specialists including Stephanie Seneff, Senior Research Scientist at MIT, and Dr. Tom O'Bryan, internationally recognized expert on gluten sensitivity and Celiac Disease, in September 2013 proposed that genetically engineered foods may be an important trigger for gluten sensitivity, estimated to affect 18 million Americans. In the report, “Can Genetically Engineered Foods Explain the Exploding Gluten Sensitivity,” published by the Institute for Responsible Technology, the authors relate genetically modified foods to five conditions that may either trigger or exacerbate gluten-related disorders, including the autoimmune disorder Celiac Disease: intestinal permeability; imbalanced gut bacteria; immune activation and allergic response; impaired digestion; and damage to the intestinal wall. Jeffrey Smith, Executive Director of the Institute for Responsible Technology, explained that genetically engineered Bt-toxin in corn “is designed to puncture holes in insect cells, but studies show it does the same in human cells. Bt-toxin may be linked to leaky gut, which physicians consistently see in gluten-sensitive patients." Although wheat has been hybridized through natural breeding techniques over the years, to date no GMO wheat has been approved for commercial planting and human or animal consumption.

• French scientists revealed in November 2012 in a study published in the Journal of Food and Chemical Toxicology that rats fed on GMO corn sold by US firm Monsanto suffered tumors and other complications including kidney and liver damage, in the first two-year study conducted on GMOs and health. Researchers from the University of Caen, led by Gilles-Eric Seralini, found that rats fed on a diet containing NK603 – a GMO seed variety made tolerant to amounts of Monsanto’s Roundup herbicide – or given water mixed with Roundup, at levels permitted in the US, died earlier than those on a standard diet. Fifty percent of male and 70% of female rats developed numerous tumors and died prematurely, compared with only 30% and 20%, respectively, in the control group. Under intense criticism by the biotech industry for publishing Seralini's findings, In November 2103, editor Wallace Hayes was compelled to ask Seralini to withdraw his research or it would be "retracted." Seralini responded that his peer-reviewed study followed international research guidelines. "We maintain our conclusions," Seralini refuted, claiming that "a factual comparative analysis" of the rat feeding trial by his group and safety trials conducted by multinational biotech corporation Monsanto "clearly reveals that if the Seralini experiments are considered to be insufficient to demonstrate harm, logically, it must be the same for those carried out by Monsanto to prove safety."

• In a study published in October 2012 in Environmental Sciences Europe by Washington State University researcher Chuck Benbrook, Ph.D., “Impacts of Genetically Engineered Foods on Pesticide Use in the U.S. – the First 16 Years,” GMO crops have increased overall pesticide use in the U.S. by 404 million pounds from 1996 through 2011. According to the USDA National Agricultural Statistics Service, glyphosate use alone increased by more than 6,500% from 1991 to 2010. Contrary to biotech’s claims that GMOs reduce the need for chemicals, overall pesticide use in 2011 was 20% higher on each acre planted to a GMO crop, compared to pesticide use on acres not planted to GMO crops, reported Benbrook. Herbicide-tolerant and Bt-transgenic crops now dominate U.S. agriculture, accounting for about one in every two acres of harvested cropland, and approximately 95% of soybean and cotton acres and more than 85% of corn acreage. Driving the increased herbicide usage are a growing number of “super weeds” – now estimated at more than two dozen – that have developed resistance to glyphosate, the major herbicide used on herbicide-tolerant GMO crops. Benbrook notes that many of these weeds are spreading rapidly in primary agricultural areas in the U.S., and that millions of acres are infested with more than one glyphosate-resistant weed. The presence of resistant weeds drives up herbicide use by 25% to 50%, and increases weed control costs for farmers by at least as much, Benbrook reported.

• Nancy Swanson, Ph.D., former staff scientist for the U.S. Navy and former professor of physics at Western Washington University, analyzed data in April 2013 related to the increased use of the synthetic herbicide glyphosate (Roundup®), an endocrine disruptor widely used in GMO agriculture, to the incidence of autism in children. Her findings indicated a strong direct correlation between the increased use of glyphosate in agriculture and the increased incidence of autism in children. Swanson also noted direct correlations between the use of glyphosate, which appears in the air, rain and water throughout the Midwest, with increases in other neurological diseases including ADHD, Bipolar Disorder, Alzeimer’s Disease, and senile dementia. See Swanson’s charts here: http://www.examiner.com/slideshow/gmos-glyphosate-and-neurological-disorders#slide=1.

• Dozens of cases of pesticide poisonings have been documented throughout Argentina that have been linked to industrial-scale, GMO agriculture and largely un-policed pesticide application in major agricultural areas of the country, according to an investigation conducted by the Associated Press and published in October 2013. Additionally, the nation’s agricultural areas are seeing dramatic spikes in the incidence of cancer, birth defects, miscarriages and other illnesses that may be related to “chemical cocktails” in the environment. Argentina is the world’s third-largest soybean producer, virtually all of which is genetically engineered to withstand applications of Roundup® (glyphosate) and other toxic, synthetic herbicides, including 2,4-D, or Agent Orange, which farmers are increasingly relying on as weeds and pests are becoming resistant to the GMO crops. Pesticide use in Argentina has increased nine-fold from 9 million gallons in 1990 to more than 84 million gallons today. Overall, Argentine farmers apply an estimated 4.3 pounds of agrichemical concentrate per acre, more than twice the amount U.S. farmers use, according to an AP analysis of government and pesticide industry data. Additionally, the AP investigation found that pesticide spray drifts often into schools and homes and settles over water sources; farmworkers mix poisons with no protective gear; villagers store water in pesticide containers that should have been destroyed. Now doctors are warning that uncontrolled pesticide applications could be the cause of growing health problems among the 12 million people who live in the South American nation's vast farm belt. In Santa Fe, researchers found cancer rates are two- to four-times higher than the national average, including breast, prostate and lung cancers. Researchers also found high rates of thyroid disorders and chronic respiratory illness. In Chaco in northwest Argentina near Paraguay, birth defects quadrupled in the decade after biotechnology dramatically expanded farming in Argentina, claim clinicians and researchers. One researcher, molecular biologist Andres Carrasco, Ph.D., of the University of Buenos Aires, published in the journal Chemical Research in Toxicology in 2010 findings that linked glyphosate to spinal defects, findings that were later rebutted by Monsanto.

• Monsanto’s corn that’s genetically engineered to kill insects may be losing its effectiveness against rootworms in four states, the EPA said. Rootworms in IA, IL, MN and NE are suspected of developing tolerance to the plants’ Bt insecticide, based on documented cases of severe crop damage and reports from entomologists, the EPA reported in a memo dated Nov. 22, 2011, and posted on a government website. Monsanto’s program for monitoring suspected cases of resistance is “inadequate,” the EPA said. Monsanto now recommends farmers use Smartstax corn, which the company claims kills rootworms with two types of Bt.  Bloomberg News, Dec. 2, 2011.

• Weeds that are no longer killed by Monsanto’s Roundup herbicide, used heavily in genetically engineered crops, have invaded 14 million acres of U.S. cotton, soybean and corn, the vast majority of which is GMO, according to data presented by Swiss chemical maker and biotech giant Syngenta. A 2011 Dow Chemical Co. study found as many as 20 million acres of GMO corn and soybeans may be infested with Roundup-resistant “superweeds.”Bloomberg News, Dec. 2, 2011.

• In a study published April 10, 2013, in the scientific publication Entropy, researchers at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology linked the use of glyphosate, the active ingredient in Roundup®, the most widely used herbicide in the world and the one most closely associated with genetically engineered agriculture, to increases in the incidence of diabetes, autism, infertility and cancer in humans. Through the inhibition of a crucial enzyme, Cytochrome P450, glyphosate enhances the damaging effects of other food borne chemical residues and environmental toxins. Negative impact on the body is insidious and manifests slowly over time as inflammation damages cellular systems throughout the body, report the researchers, leading to gastrointestinal disorders, obesity, diabetes, heart disease, depression, autism, infertility, cancer and Alzheimer’s disease. Glyphosate’s Suppression of Cytochrome P450 Enzymes and Amino Acid Biosynthesis by the Gut Microbiome: Pathways to Modern Diseases, Anthony Samsel and Stephanie Seneff, Entropy 2013, Vol. 15, April 10, 2013.

• Glyphosate (Roundup®) is consistently found in rain, rivers, surface water and air throughout the entire growing season in agricultural areas in the Mississippi River watershed, according to USGS studies released in August 2011. Glyphosate is used in almost all agricultural and urban areas of the US. The greatest glyphosate use is in the Mississippi River basin, primarily for weed control on GMO corn, soybeans and cotton. Overall, agricultural use of glyphosate has increased from less than 11,000 tons in 1992 to more than 88,000 tons in 2007. "Though glyphosate is the mostly widely used herbicide in the world, we know very little about its long term effects to the environment," says Paul Capel, USGS chemist. The degradation product of glyphosate, aminomethylphosphonic acid (AMPA), which has a longer environmental lifetime, was also detected in streams and rain. USGS found glyphosate in more than 60% of air and rain sampled at locations in MI, IA and IN, with AMPA found in more than 50% of samples. U.S. Dept. of the Interior, U.S. Geological Survey Technical Announcement, Aug. 29, 2011.

• Don M. Huber, Ph.D., an emeritus professor at Purdue University who has done research for Monsanto on chemical herbicides, alleges that he has found a link between genetically modified crops and crop diseases and infertility in livestock: an "unknown organism" he and other researchers claim to have discovered in 2010 on Midwestern farms. Huber reported that the organism that raised his concern was found in much higher concentrations in corn and soybeans grown from genetically engineered Roundup Ready seeds than in grains grown from conventional seed. He believes the pathogen has made GMO soybeans more susceptible to “sudden death syndrome” and corn to Goss’ wilt; and reaffirmed his suspicion that it is linked to spontaneous abortions and infertility in livestock fed on GMO crops. "This organism appears new to science," Huber wrote in a letter in January 2011 to Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack. "I believe the threat we are facing from this pathogen is unique and of a high-risk status. In layman's terms, it should be treated as an emergency," Huber wrote. Los Angeles Times, April 2, 2011.

• European researchers at the University of Caen studied data on 90-day feeding trials on rats. They concluded that three varieties of GMO corn—Mon 810, Mon 863 and NK 603—which were approved for consumption by U.S., European and other food safety authorities—are linked to organ damage in mammals, including “adverse impacts on kidneys and liver, dietary detoxifying organs, as well as different levels of damages to heart, adrenal glands, spleen and haematopoietic system.” de Vendômois J.S., et. al., A Comparison of the Effects of Three GM Corn Varieties on Mammalian Health, International Journal of Biological Sciences, Vol. 5, December 2009.

• Genetically engineered Bt corn may constitute a risk for pollinators, such as honeybees, because of the presence of Cry1Ab endotoxin in corn pollen. Honeybee feeding behavior was affected when exposed to the highest concentration of Cry1Ab protein, with honeybees taking longer to imbibe contaminated corn syrup. Moreover, honeybees exposed to 5,000 ppb of Cry1Ab had disturbed learning performances in that they continued to respond to a conditioned odor even in the absence of a food reward. Results showed that GMO crops expressing Cry1Ab protein at 5,000 ppb may affect food consumption or learning processes and thereby may impact honeybee foraging efficiency. R. Ramirez-Romero, et. al., Does Cry 1 Ab protein affect learning performance of the honeybee Apis mellifera L., Ecotoxicology and Environmental Safety, Feb. 2008.

• The American Academy of Environmental Medicine, in May 2009 called for a moratorium on genetically modified (GM) foods, stating: “Avoid GM foods when possible... Several animal studies indicate serious health risks associated with GM food... There is more than a casual association between GM foods and adverse health effects. There is causation... The strength of association and consistency between GM foods and disease is confirmed in several animal studies." Genetically Modified Foods, American Academy of Environmental Medicine Position Paper, May 2009.

• Research by scientists in Mexico found transgenes from Bt corn had contaminated local native varieties of maize in Mexico, the birthplace of corn. This is the second time GMO contamination was found in the genes of native species of corn. The first paper reporting the presence of transgenes in traditional varieties of Mexican corn was published in Nature in 2001. Modified Genes Spread to Local Maize, NatureNews, November 12, 2008.

• According to results from a long-term feeding study with mice, researchers in Austria concluded that consumption of a genetically modified corn developed by Monsanto (NK603 x MON810) may lead to lower fertility and body weight and impaired gene expression. The study has not yet been peer-reviewed but was released on Nov. 11, 2008, by the Austrian Ministry of Health, Family and Youth. Austrian Ministry of Health, Family and Youth.

• Italian researchers found significant disturbances in the immune system of young and old mice fed GM maize (MON810), and elevated levels of a cell type known to be associated with asthma and food allergies in children. Finamore A., et. al., "Intestinal and peripheral immune response to MON810 maize ingestion in weaning and old mice," Journal of Food and Agricultural Chemistry, November 16, 2008.

Research compiled by Compass Natural Marketing, updated November 29, 2013. For more information contact info@compassnaturalmarketing.com, tel 303.807.1042.

On the Sustainable Food Horizon for 2012: Organic Market Trends

Source: Wikimedia Commons

As we embark on 2012, we wanted to highlight a few issues and trends that we feel impact the natural, organic and sustainable foods industry. We hope this presents some resources and food for thought as we face new challenges in growing the market for healthy, sustainable food.

• Consumer Health Concerns Drive 10% Natural and Organic Products Growth

• GMOs: Biotech Gains Ground; Consumers and Organic Industry Fight Back

• Another Price of GMOs? Organic Dairy Feed Shortages and Higher Organic Milk Prices

• Climate Change Is Affecting Agriculture; Rodale Shows Organic Farming More Resilient

• Feeding The World’s 7 Billion; Surprise Fact: More People Are Overweight than Hungry

• Equal Access: Improving the Availability of Healthy Food

• Fukushima Update: Cesium in Organic Milk, Contaminated Seafood on Horizon

Consumer Health Concerns Drive 10% Natural and Organic Products Growth

With the overall economy showing signs of recovery, Boston-based investment banking firm Canaccord Genuity is bullish on the natural and organic products industry, which, says analyst Scott Van Winkle, is currently growing in the 10% range due to strong consumer demand for quality, health and nutrition, compared to 1% growth in overall food sales. More than three-quarters of US families purchase some organic foods, according to a November 2011 Organic Trade Association (OTA) survey. Those surveyed revealed that their strongest motivator is the belief that organic products are “healthier for me and my children,” followed by concerns over the effects of pesticides, hormones, antibiotics and GMOs, and the desire to avoid highly processed or artificial ingredients. “In a time when the severity of the economy means making tough choices, it is extremely encouraging to see consumers vote with their values by including quality organic products in their shopping carts,” said OTA Executive Director Christine Bushway. While baby boomers have been early adopters of organic, younger Gen X and Gen Y consumers are emerging as supporters of organic and sustainable products, with Gen Y showing the highest usage of organic products and natural personal care; they just don’t have the same buying power yet as boomers, says research firm Natural Marketing Institute. However, it’s still tough out there for independent natural products retailers and manufacturers, as competition is intense for the healthy consumer’s dollar.

Canaccord Genuity’s Healthy Living Index of more than 40 publicly traded natural, organic and healthy lifestyles companies continues to outperform the S&P 500, with companies including UNFI, Whole Foods Market and Hain Celestial Group seen as darlings of Wall Street. “Strong growth is apparent across all channels of distribution,” says Van Winkle. According to OTA, sales of organic products totaled $29 billion in 2010, up 8% from 2009. Organic companies are creating jobs at three times the rate of businesses overall and supporting 14,540 organic farms and ranches in all 50 states, totaling 4.1 million acres of land currently in organic management, says OTA. Categories of organic products charting significant growth include fruits and vegetables (12% of all fruits and vegetables now sold in the US are organic), dairy, beverages, packaged foods, supplements, clothing and fiber, personal care products and pet foods. Meanwhile, total sales of natural and organic products by all retailers, including natural and mass merchandisers, grew 7.3% in 2010 to more than $65 billion, says industry communications leader New Hope Natural Media, with similar growth projected for the foreseeable future, as long as the economy continues to recover. Add to that the fact that sales of Non-GMO Verified products grew to $1 billion in 2011, and the health-conscious consumer is driving the market with the motto, “It’s the organic apple a day that keeps the doctor away!”

Back to Top

GMOs: Biotech Gains Ground; Consumers and Organic Industry Fight Back

GMO agriculture continues to present the greatest threat to organic and sustainable food production. Here in Boulder, CO, a center of organic products business, despite three years of contentious public hearings, a survey showing that 71% percent of Boulder County residents are against GMOs, and a growing body of research demonstrating the health and environmental risks associated with the widespread adoption of GMO agriculture, the Boulder County Commissioners voted unanimously in December to allow the cultivation of GMO sugar beets on taxpayer-owned Open Space land. The publicly owned land is leased to a handful of conventional farmers who claim they cannot compete unless they use GMO seed and Roundup herbicide. GMO farming continues to dominate more than 90% of major commodity crops, including corn, soy, cotton, canola and sugar beets. This past year GMO alfalfa was approved for market and Monsanto introduced GMO sweet corn to supermarkets’ produce sections. Both are prolific pollinators that will increase the risk of genetic drift and contamination of organic and native crops. Genetically engineered salmon designed to grow faster than native species narrowly missed FDA approval in 2011—but is still on the docket to be the first genetically engineered animal product to be approved for market. Should such a fish escape into the wild, a likely occurrence, native species could be seriously threatened. Meanwhile, scientists at the China Agricultural University are developing genetically engineered cows to produce milk that contains the characteristics of human breast milk that they hope to bring to market in two years.

The organic industry has been labeled Luddites in its opposition to GMOs by conservative Boulder columnist Bob Greenlee, and was discredited profusely in the Boulder County hearings as being against farmers’ right to coexist. Yet proponents of GMO agriculture ignore science that shows GMO insecticide toxins ingested in the diet were present in the blood of 93% of pregnant women and 80% of fetuses tested; that glyphosate, the active ingredient in Roundup herbicide, is so prevalent in the environment that it is being detected in the air, rain and rivers during the entire growing season in the Midwest; that engineered genes may jump into the DNA of other species in the environment with unknown consequences; that Roundup-resistant superweeds are emerging as a result of GMO farming; that pesticide use has actually increased by nearly 400 million pounds since the introduction of GMOs in 1996; that GMO corn is losing its effectiveness against insect pests in four major crop-producing states; that Purdue University Professor Emeritus Don Huber is being discredited for identifying an unknown new disease infecting plants and animals that has a strong association with GMO agriculture.

Now consumers and organic leaders are fighting back. In September, a number of organizations, including OTA, Rodale Institute, Environmental Working Group and others, together with the Center for Food Safety, filed a legal petition calling on the FDA to label genetically engineered foods; more than 450 partner organizations have signed on to help spread the word, and individuals are encouraged to sign the petition. In October, thousands of people participated in the 300-mile Right2Know March from New York to Washington to demand mandatory labeling of foods containing GMO ingredients. In California, petitioners are actively gathering signatures for an April 2012 deadline to place the California Genetically Engineered Food Act calling for labeling of GMO foods on the 2012 California ballot. The Organic Consumers Association’s Millions Against Monsanto has been supporting the initiative. Non-GMO activists in Boulder County are regrouping to pursue a referendum, beginning with a “GMO Free Boulder” benefit concert featuring Ziggy Marley on January 21. "If you put a label on genetically engineered food you might as well put a skull and crossbones on it," Norman Braksick, president of Asgrow Seed Co., a subsidiary of Monsanto, told the Kansas City Star in 1994, shortly before GMOs were first introduced to the marketplace. With 96% of consumers saying GMOs should be labeled, according to a 2011 MSNBC Health Poll, it’s a statement that stands true today.

Also, attention natural food manufacturers: a class action lawsuit filed in December against Frito Lay by a California law firm alleges that the company misleads consumers by making all-natural claims on its Tostitos and SunChips, which also contain GMO corn and vegetable oils, ingredients the claimant says are not natural. As many natural products contain GMO ingredients, the outcome of this case should be of interest to natural products businesses.

Back to Top

Another Price of GMOs? Organic Dairy Feed Shortages and Higher Organic Milk Prices

The increased production of GMO corn for conventional animal feed and biofuels, including corn ethanol, is costing organic consumers indirectly by creating a shortage of organic grain needed for feed for organic dairy operations. The cost of organic feed and hay has risen sharply in the past year as farmers find it more difficult to source non-GMO and organic grains, while the price farmers receive for their organic milk has not, says the December 29, 2011, New York Times. Yet, consumer sales of organic milk increased 15-17% from January through October 2011, according to USDA, while total conventional milk sales dropped 2%. Organic dairy farmers, many of whom have cut back on production because they can’t afford the feed, are demanding a 20% increase in the price they receive for their milk, creating out-of-stock situations in Publix stores throughout the Southeast, and retailers Wegmans and Target say they, too, have been affected by organic dairy shortages. The Times reported that organic dairy leader Organic Valley raised the price paid to farmers in August 2011, and was considering raising the price further this past December, alarmed that some organic dairy farmers were actually abandoning organic for conventional farming, where the cost of feed is significantly less and the price paid for conventional milk has risen. Meanwhile, the direct cost to organic consumers is going up: a half-gallon of organic milk that typically sells for $3.99 may now sell for $4.39, with some supermarket chains already raising their prices. Farmers are asking retailers to do their part by lowering their markup on organic milk so that higher prices do not drive consumers away. A couple of messages are garnered from this story: 1) Organic dairy farmers need to be paid more for their milk so they can make a sustainable living; 2) More and more acreage is being dedicated to GMO corn production for human and animal consumption and for the growing demand for ethanol, which is reducing organic land conversion, increasing GMO contamination risks, and raising the cost for organic feed and organic milk. Now with the deregulation of GMO alfalfa, which threatens organic alfalfa crops, organic dairy farmers are even more at risk.

Back to Top

Climate Change Is Affecting Agriculture; Rodale Shows Organic Farming More Resilient

First it was chocolate, and now peanut butter. In September, the International Center for Tropical Agriculture reported that rising temperatures and changing rainfall patterns associated with climate change will dramatically reduce land area suitable for cocoa production between 2030 and 2050, particularly in Ghana and the Ivory Coast in West Africa, where half the world’s cocoa is sourced, impacting the $9 billion cocoa industry. In October, the Wall Street Journal reported that record heat and drought in the southeastern US and Texas had decimated the peanut crop, raising prices 30-40% on supermarket shelves and leaving small organic peanut butter producers pinched for supplies. A 2011 crop-yield analysis by Stanford University revealed that warming temperatures have reduced wheat and maize harvests by 5.5% and 3.8%, respectively, from what they could have been during the past three decades.

While GMO agriculture continues to promote that it is the solution to climate change and world hunger, the fact is that conventional and GMO farming, with its intensive use of water, fossil fuels and chemicals, is responsible for 20% of all greenhouse gas emissions – more than any other sector of the economy. Meanwhile, in 2011, the venerable Rodale Institute released the results of its 30-year field trials, America’s longest-running comparison of organic and conventional farming practices. Its primary conclusions: 1) organic yields match conventional yields; 2) organic outperforms conventional in years of drought; 3) organic farming builds rather than depletes soil organic matter, making it a more sustainable system; 4) organic farming uses 45% less energy and is more efficient; 5) conventional systems produce 40% more greenhouse gases compared to organic farming practices. “As we face uncertain and extreme weather patterns, growing scarcity and expense of oil, lack of water, and a growing population, we will require farming systems that can adapt, withstand or even mitigate these problems while producing healthy, nourishing food. After 30 years of side-by-side research…Rodale Institute has demonstrated that organic farming is better equipped to feed us now and well into the ever changing future,” said the authors of the report.

Back to Top

Feeding The World’s 7 Billion; Surprise Fact: More People Are Overweight than Hungry

The world’s population reached 7 billion this year. Of that total, nearly 1 billion people suffer from chronic hunger. As has been true for a long time, much of the problem is rooted in political unrest, armed conflict and civil war vs. the ability to produce food or engage in trade. Rising prices and climate change exacerbate the issue. Proponents of industrial and GMO agriculture persist in dismissing organic as an option to feed the world, spreading misinformation that there isn’t enough land, even as scientific studies conclude that not only can organic feed the world, but that it may the most viable option of doing so. Research from the University of Michigan and the United Nations shows that in developing countries, where risk of famine is greatest, organic methods could double or triple crop yields. “Organic agriculture can be more conducive to food security in Africa than most conventional production systems, and it is more likely to be sustainable in the long term. Furthermore, evidence shows that organic agriculture can build up natural resources, strengthen communities and improve human capacity, thus improving food security by addressing many different causal factors simultaneously,” said the UN.

Meanwhile, here’s an astonishing fact: there are more overweight and obese people on the planet than hungry people. An estimated 1.46 billion adults worldwide are overweight, with 502 million of them considered obese, according to a 2011 World Health Organization report. Ironically, according to the Red Cross, excess nutrition leading to obesity is killing more people today than hunger. “If the free interplay of market forces has produced an outcome where 15% of humanity are hungry while 20% are overweight, something has gone wrong somewhere,” said Red Cross Secretary General Bekele Geleta. The obesity epidemic is not just affecting wealthy nations; it is sweeping into low and middle-income countries, says WHO, creating a dual problem of unhealthy weight gain in some segments of a country's population, and malnutrition in others. While nearly all countries are seeing rates rise, the severity of the problem varies greatly from country to country. In Japan, about one in every 20 adult women is obese, compared to one in four in Jordan, one in three in the United States and Mexico, and up to seven in 10 in Tonga. The across-the-board rise in obesity appears to be driven by changes in the global food system and the increased availability of processed foods, along with more sedentary lifestyles, say the authors. Adding more weight to the subject, researchers from Oxford and Columbia Universities forecast in The Lancet in August 2011 that nearly half of the US and UK populations will be obese by 2030, with a resulting increase in incidence of diabetes, heart disease, stroke and cancer. The combined medical costs associated with treatment of these preventable diseases are estimated to increase by approximately $50 - $60 billion per year in the US and by approximately £2 billion per year in the UK by 2030. Hence, effective policies to promote healthier weight also have economic benefits, the researchers conclude. Healthy food marketers that can help provide solutions to obesity will benefit as society realizes that an ounce of prevention is worth a pound of cure.

Back to Top

Equal Access: Improving the Availability of Healthy Food

Three primary obstacles remain to making healthy, natural and organic food more accessible. One is that the price of highly processed, cheaply produced food is just that—cheap, and organic products seem expensive in comparison. Market research firm the Hartman Group found that when consumers were asked why they didn’t buy more organic products, the reason most often cited (71% of the time) was that organic was too expensive. However, if you account for all the government subsidies enjoyed by industrial agriculture—more than $25 billion annually—and the hundreds of billions of dollars in external costs born by the public in terms of preventable, lifestyle-related diseases, including cancer, obesity and diabetes, plus damage to the environment often caused by chemical-intensive agriculture, then organically produced food, with its higher nutritional density and environmental benefits, is certainly the better value all around.

A second obstacle is that many people don’t have access to organic—especially those in inner city or rural areas. The USDA estimates that currently 30 million people in the United States live in “food deserts,” areas where healthy food is difficult to obtain, or “food swamps,” urban areas with no access to fresh foods but flooded with unhealthy fast food instead, according to the May/June 2011 Organic Processing. Progress is being made, with the advent of farmers markets, CSAs and urban agriculture programs. In an event produced by Compass Natural in September 2011 with Best Organics Inc. and held in partnership with the University of Colorado Deming Center for Entrepreneurship at the Leeds School of Business, Whole Foods Market Chair John Elstrott announced the retailer’s plans to reach new customers in historically low-income areas with new stores slated in neighborhoods of inner-city Detroit and New Orleans. "We believe all people want to eat healthy," Elstrott said. "We want to experiment with the inner-city demographic."

The third obstacle is that most children who eat school lunches are given no access to organic during a time when toxins in food can affect their development the most. First lady Michelle Obama’s Let’s Move! Campaign, which led to the president signing the Healthy Hunger-Free Kids Act of 2010—includes a $10-million Organic Pilot Program to help provide organic food choices in school nutrition programs. Also, many organic companies, including Nature’s Path, Veritable Vegetable, Organic Valley and others have been working to get organic food choices into schools. In higher education, a growing number of colleges are increasing healthy organic offerings and incorporating sustainability in their dining halls, including Cornell University, University of Colorado, and University of California at Berkeley.

Back to Top

Fukushima Update: Cesium in Organic Milk, Contaminated Seafood on Horizon

If you think that Fukushima hasn’t affected our food, think again. From rice and tea to beef and baby formula, radiation released from the March 2011 nuclear power plant disaster in Fukushima has contaminated a significant amount of Japan’s food, presenting an alarming health risk to its population. The nuclear explosions and subsequent meltdowns in three heavily damaged reactors, caused by an earthquake and tsunami, have released 70 tons of highly toxic nuclear material into the environment, according to nuclear power expert Arnie Gundersen of Fairewinds Associates, one of the world’s foremost authorities on the Fukushima event.

By May 2011, the enormous cloud of radioactive fallout created by the accident ended up not only in Japan, but also throughout North America, from Seattle to Boston, all the way to Europe, transported swiftly around the globe in the Jetstream. Most but not all of the fallout was deposited on the ground in the Cascades and the Rocky Mountains. Soon after, milk, drinking water and topsoil from Hawaii to Vermont began testing positive for radiation, including radioactive iodine and cesium, caused by the Fukushima disaster. By summer, a number of fruits, vegetables, mushrooms and other products grown or harvested in California—a major food producing region in the US—tested positive for radiation caused by Fukushima’s fallout.

At the end of September, more than six months after the Fukushima event, store-bought milk samples from an organic dairy producer in the San Francisco Bay Area with a Best Buy date of Oct. 10, 2011, tested positive for radioactive cesium 134 and cesium 137, according to the UC Berkeley Department of Nuclear Engineering, which has detected radiation in organic milk since testing began in mid-April. Also, tests found radioactive cesium 137 in topsoil in downtown Oakland and in the foothills of the Sierra Nevadas, suggesting widespread contamination. In November, UC Berkeley announced it was no longer testing soil or locally produced milk or vegetables, as its facilities were undergoing remodeling; however, the department stated that milk sampling would resume when the work is finished. In a report presented in late October by the Worcester Polytechnic Institute's Department of Civil & Environmental Engineering in Worcester, MA, researchers claim that US topsoil may actually contain levels of radioactive cesium more than 100 times higher than previously reported by UC Berkeley, suggesting a far greater impact on public health, farm production and fishing, particularly in the Pacific Northwest. Currently there is no monitoring being done by government agencies.

The good news is that airborne fallout has mostly abated since the initial explosions last March, yet in the Pacific Ocean, a vast floating debris field from the earthquake and tsunami containing potentially radioactive material is soon expected to wash up on shores of the Pacific Northwest, threatening the environment and coastal residents. Pacific seafood is also at risk, as more than 460 trillion bequerels of radioactive strontium, plutonium and other isotopes have leaked into the ocean from the stricken Japanese reactors. The incident is being called one of the world’s most severe marine pollution disasters in history. “There’s a witches brew of chemicals leaking into the ocean…that eventually works its way up to the salmon and tuna and mackerel at the top of the food chain,” said Arnie Gundersen in a Dec. 26, 2011, radio interview with environmental health expert Helen Caldicott, MD. “It will be next year before we start to see the highly contaminated [seafood]. I’m eating as much salmon as I can this year because I’m a little bit concerned about what will happen next year,” he said. According to Greenpeace, governments and retailers are not adequately protecting the public from radioactive contaminated Pacific seafood, still sold unlabeled in Japan and international markets, including to the US, due to an alleged pact between the US and Japan.

Critical of the lack of testing of seafood by EPA, Gundersen said, “In our ports in the US, we have monitors that look for nuclear weapons; it’s likely that in a year from now, a truckload of tuna may fire off a radiation alarm because it’s loaded with cesium. At that point, hopefully, there will be a whistleblower at the dock to alert the authorities,” because, he says, the objective of the US, Japanese and other governments throughout the world has been to minimize the consequences of the disaster. “There’s way too much money on the line,” Gundersen concludes.

A lot of lives are at stake, too, starting with the young—infant mortality in the US has risen more than 10% since the Fukushima accident, say the authors of a new study published Dec. 19, 2011, in the International Journal of Health Sciences. The study links an estimated 14,000 excess deaths in the US alone, and potentially thousands more, to radioactive fallout from the Fukushima accident. The rise in reported deaths was highest among US infants under age one. “Deaths are seen across all ages, but we continue to find that infants are hardest hit because their tissues are rapidly multiplying, they have undeveloped immune systems, and the doses of radioisotopes are proportionally greater than for adults," the authors said.

In disturbing news reported by Reuters on December 28, scientists in Alaska are now investigating whether local seals are being sickened by radiation from Fukushima, as scores of ring seals have washed up on Alaska’s Arctic coastline since July, suffering or killed by a mysterious disease that is causing extensive lesions and patchy hair loss in the animals’ fur.

So, what can one do to protect oneself and family, as the costs of the Fukushima accident, estimated at $257 billion, continue to escalate? Eat Icelandic butter, North Atlantic salmon and vegetables grown in the Southern Hemisphere? How about advocating for greater safety regulations and monitoring of aging nuclear reactors in the US, particularly those situated in major earthquake and tsunami zones, and also trying to slow the ambitions of the likes of Sen. Lamar Alexander, R-Tenn., who wants to build 100 new nuclear plants in the US in the next 20-30 years? Because it can happen here, and our food system, economy and population centers are not prepared for the consequences. Nuclear energy is clean, until it isn’t, and we need to invest in alternatives. Get informed; stay active; make a difference: www.enenews.com; Greenpeace.

Steven Hoffman writes on issues in sustainable food and agriculture. He is Managing Partner of Compass Natural LLC, a full service marketing, communications and public relations agency serving natural, organic and sustainable businesses. He also is Co-owner of Best Organics Inc., a leading online retail provider of premium artisan organic gift basket collections. He is Cofounder of the annual LOHAS Forum green business conference, former Director of The Organic Center, dedicated to scientific research and education about organic food and farming, and former Editorial Director of the Natural Foods Merchandiser, a leading industry publication. Hoffman also served as Program Director for Natural Products Expo, the world’s largest natural and organic products trade expositions, and as Marketing Director for pioneering organic foods manufacturer Arrowhead Mills. As a Peace Corps Volunteer, Hoffman specialized in food, agriculture and education in Central America. He is a former director of the Philadelphia Urban Gardening Program, and holds a M.S. in Agriculture from Penn State University. Visit www.compassnatural.com.

Copyright 2012, Compass Natural LLC, Boulder, CO. www.compassnatural.com. All rights reserved.

Back to Top

Baker's Dozen: Top 13 Trends in Sustainable Food and Agriculture

Boulder, CO (December 13, 2010) - Joining other prognosticators, we at Compass Natural wanted to highlight some of the trends we see on the horizon in sustainable food and agriculture as 2010 comes to a close. You may have a trend or observation you wish to share – please do. Contact me at steve@compassnatural.com or tel 303.807.1042. Happy Holidays and all the best for a healthful and prosperous new year. Steven Hoffman, Compass Natural

1.  The Economy
Wall Street may be recording record profits, but the job market is lagging. As such, hard-pressed consumers will continue to look for value. Core healthy lifestyles shoppers will be more discerning in their budgets for organic, and low-income families are particularly strained in finding healthful food alternatives. With people looking to save money, coupon redemption is up 25% this past year, and coupon use in the natural sector reflects a similar growth trend. Also, redemption rates for Internet coupons, while still small, account for the fastest growing segment in the business. Private label product sales also increased from 15 percent of total food sales before the recession to 18% this past year, according to research firm Booz & Company, which also reports that the new frugality may be here to stay, as consumers continue to feel they are on shaky ground. The natural and organic companies that can communicate value as well as benefits will continue to grow in a tough market.

2.  Social Networking
Word of mouth travels fast in the social network, good or bad. Take an active role in making it good. Stay engaged on Facebook and Twitter and build your brand among friends and followers. Sustainable consumers tend to be early adopters on the web and build strong online communities. “Friend” and “follow” other like-minded Facebookers and Twitterers – they’ll help you spread the word – and stay connected professionally on networks such as Linked In. See what other companies are doing on their Facebook pages. Learn WordPress, a relatively easy, open source blog publishing program, or get someone on your team who knows how, and contribute regularly to your blog. Tie it all in with your website and traditional public relations and marketing campaigns. All these efforts can go far in getting your brand to show up higher in the Google searches. Try to keep up!

3.  Chemicals in the Environment
The cumulative effects of chemicals in our environment, food and packaging are impacting our public health. The average school age child is walking around with an estimated 10-13 pesticide residues in their bodies every day. However, when they switch to an all-organic diet, the residues literally disappear from their bodies, according to studies by Emory University and Harvard School of Public Health. Additionally, the President’s Cancer Panel in 2010 reported on “pre-polluted babies” born with as many as 300 man-made chemicals in their umbilical cords. Families are reacting: 41 % of parents report they are buying more organic foods today than a year ago, up significantly from 31% reporting organic purchases in 2009, according to a joint survey released this month by the Organic Trade Association and Kiwi Magazine. A growing body of research also points to links between pesticides and alarming rises in the rates of childhood autism, ADHD, diabetes and obesity. Additionally, synthetic nitrogen fertilizer runoff is primarily responsible for the Dead Zone in the Gulf of Mexico and elsewhere. GMO contamination threatens native plant species and promotes the emergence of superweeds. As a result, demand for sustainable food production that protects health and the environment will continue to grow, and consumers are willing to pay a premium for organic products, but only up to a point (see #1).

4.  Sustainable Packaging
Did you hear the latest research about fast food and deli paper wrap and microwave popcorn bags that leach cancer-causing chemicals into our food? These stories will continue to emerge, and packaging is facing challenges on two fronts: reducing package waste in landfills; and keeping chemicals from leaching into food. Many natural and organic products companies are leading the way toward more sustainable packaging, including BPA-free cans, and also innovating on reduced package content and recyclable and compostable packaging alternatives. Concerned over squeeze pack packaging, Justin’s Nut Butter, a small Boulder-based business, recently convened a sustainable squeeze pack summit, bringing competitors, industry leaders and packaging specialists together to explore ways to develop more sustainable packaging in consumer products. This is a great opportunity for the industry to work together and serve as a pacesetter for the food and consumer products industry at large.

5.  Organic Gardening and Urban Agriculture
As Michelle Obama leads the way with the White House organic garden, Victory Gardens are back, except they’re organic. And it’s helping people get in touch with their food, as well as giving them access to fresh, local produce. The organic sector of the lawn and garden (L&G) market has experienced significant growth over the last few years, and major garden centers are expanding the shelf for natural and organic L&G products. Market research firm Packaged Facts in January 2009 estimated that the organic L&G sector reached $460 million in retail sales in 2008, a gain of 12% over 2007. Farmers Markets and CSAs (Community Supported Agriculture) are growing fast, and small-scale urban farms are also on the rise, thanks to the efforts of organizations like Growing Power, linking inner city teens and communities with working urban food gardens utilizing vacant city lots. Many natural and organic products companies are already helping support similar causes.

6.  Organic and Climate Change
The global food system is estimated to account for one-third of the world’s total greenhouse gas emissions, says Anna Lappe, author of Diet for a Hot Planet. Yet, organic farming has the potential to help reduce agriculture’s impact on global warming. According to Dr. David Pimentel, author of Food, Energy and Society, organic agriculture has been shown to reduce energy inputs by 30%. Organic farming also conserves more water in the soil and reduces erosion. Healthy organic soils tie up more carbon in the soil, helping to reduce CO2 levels in the atmosphere. An October 2010 study in California’s Central Valley concluded that organic farming significantly reduced GHGs, while conventional agriculture increased GHGs in the atmosphere. Additionally, the National Sustainable Agriculture Coalition reported, “Sustainable and organic agricultural systems offer the most resilience for agricultural production in the face of the extreme precipitation, prolonged droughts and increasingly uncertain regional climate regimes expected with rapid global warming.”

7.  Slow Money
According to Woody Tasch, founder of Slow Money, a nonprofit formed to catalyze the flow of investment capital to small sustainable food companies and agriculture, the innate value of investing in sustainable food comes not only in the form of monetary return, but also in benefits to individuals and communities—“more organic farms, more organic food available locally, and a more robust local economy,” he writes in the Winter 2010 GreenMoneyJournal. In the fast-pitch world of Buy Low and Sell High, Slow Money is developing vehicles that enable small investors to invest in local sustainable food businesses. In two years, Slow Money has grown to 1,200 members and six regional chapters, and has facilitated the investment of more than $3 million into a number of local sustainable food businesses. In 2010, Slow Money established the Soil Trust to pool small donations into a philanthropic investment fund dedicated to small food companies and soil fertility, and is working with socially responsible investing companies to further open the playing field for everyday citizens who want to make sustainable food investments. See www.slowmoney.org.

8.  Animal Rights
The beauty without cruelty movement has been around for a while, helping to usher in a generation of body care products that have not been tested on animals. Now, we enter a new era of animal rights and consumer advocacy that is critical of the inhumane, intensive confinement conditions in which most animals bred for food find themselves. However, beginning on January 1, Whole Foods Market will require that all meat sold to it will be rated under new animal welfare standards. The world’s largest retailer of natural and organic products created Global Animal Partnership as a nonprofit third party certifier to establish ratings, conduct inspections and administer the standards. Kudos to Whole Foods: This is a huge step in increasing consumer awareness of animal rights, and also in presenting more humane options to the public.

9.  GMO Debate
This is an issue that isn’t going away. In fact, I would venture that the organic industry is pretty much at war with the biotech and pesticide companies that seek to dominate the market with GMO agriculture, the genetic drift from which is a threat to organic seed stock and organic crops. While proponents insist that GMOs are the only way to feed the world, opponents claim that GMO farming has passed the point of diminishing returns. While pesticide use was reduced in the first three years after GMO crops were introduced in the mid ‘90s, herbicide use has actually increased over the past 13 years by nearly 400 million pounds as a result of GMO agriculture, according to The Organic Center. GMO yields are not matching what was promised, and superweeds are emerging due to the overuse of glyphosate, the herbicide mainly used in GMO agriculture, hence the need for more herbicide. With numerous food allergy and health concerns also emerging, many manufacturers are turning to the Non-GMO Project to verify that their products are GMO free. Consumers are highly confused over this issue, due to the rhetoric from biotech companies that have co-opted the term “sustainability.” And the onslaught continues: the FDA currently is evaluating genetically engineered salmon—the first potential GMO animal for commercial consumption—and also a GMO apple that doesn’t turn brown when cut open. If you are not choosing organic or if it doesn’t say non-GMO on the label, chances are your food contains GMOs, as it is estimated that 80% of conventional grocery products now contain GMO ingredients.

10.  Sustainability
“Sustainability is not an exact science, but it is a strategic decision,” says Jeanne von Zastrow, senior director of industry relations and sustainability at the Food Marketing Institute (FMI). And it’s more than how the food was grown; it’s also about a company’s energy and water use, transportation, equipment, supply chain management, packaging and waste – garnering efficiencies in these areas and elsewhere promotes sustainability and cuts costs. Many natural and organic products companies are leading the way but could do more, and FMI also is developing sustainability resources for the food industry. While what consumers say and do regarding sustainability may be a dichotomy, health conscious and environmentally aware consumers will continue to develop brand loyalty by identifying with your green efforts.

11.  Organic Acreage Grows
Compared to overall acreage dedicated to conventional agriculture production, the amount of land under organic production is still very small. But it is growing. In the first wide-scale survey of organic farming, published this past year, USDA counted 14,540 U.S. farms and ranches that were under organic production, comprising 4.8 million acres of land in 2008. Certified U.S. organic cropland acreage between 2002 and 2008 averaged 15% annual growth. Globally, organic acreage grew by 9% in 2008, with more than 35 million hectares in organic production. The highest increases came in Latin America and Europe, according to the Research Institute of Organic Agriculture (FiBL) in Switzerland.

12.  Local and Fair Trade
As my friend and colleague Joel Dee likes to say, “We are all local.” At Edward & Sons, Joel and his team work with small-scale organic producers all over the world. One example is the organic hearts of palm project in Peru’s Amazon basin. Working with local and indigenous people, Edward & Sons helped create a sustainable harvesting and processing program in Iquitos, a small city 125 miles from the source of the Amazon, helping to protect the rainforest and bring sustainable jobs to an impoverished region. This type of partnership supports local economies and environments around the world. As consumers respond to the ‘local” trend, they are understanding that local means not only supporting farmers and producers in their own area, but also choosing organic and fair trade products that support lo cal economies all over the world. This is a story the sustainable food industry was born to tell, so if you are going to import organic products from China or elsewhere, make sure you’ve got a sustainable, fair trade and maybe even a cultural story behind it and not just because it’s cheaper (see #2).

13.  The Real Cost of Cheap Food
One of the best articles I’ve read on this subject was the cover story of Time’s Aug. 31, 2009, edition, appropriately entitled The Real Cost of Cheap Food. In it, author Bryan Walsh reports: “The U.S. agricultural industry can now produce unlimited quantities of meat and grains at remarkably cheap prices. But it does so at a high cost to the environment, animals and humans. Those hidden prices are the creeping erosion of our fertile farmland, cages for egg-laying chickens so packed that the birds can't even raise their wings and the scary rise of antibiotic-resistant bacteria among farm animals. Add to the price tag the acceleration of global warming — our energy-intensive food system uses 19% of U.S. fossil fuels, more than any other sector of the economy. And perhaps worst of all, our food is increasingly bad for us, even dangerous,” says Walsh, referring to rising obesity rates and food safety issues in America. Plus, if you haven’t seen it, check out the 5-minute video of Birke Baehr’s talk, What’s Wrong With Our Food System, at the TEDx Next Generation conference in Asheville, NC. This 11-year-old young man, who wants to be an organic farmer, speaks clearly about what is wrong with conventional agriculture, factory farming and the industrialized food system, and what people can do to change it. “Some people say organic or local food is more expensive, but is it really? With all these things I’ve been learning about the food system, it seems to me that we can either pay the farmer, or we can pay the hospital,” says an astute Birke.

Bonus Trend: Young Organic Farmers
For years, young people have been leaving the farm. Today, the USDA estimates the average age of the American farmer is 57, with more than 25% over age 65. However, while the trend is too new to quantify, USA Today reports that there is an emerging movement in which young people, “most of whom come from cities and suburbs,” are taking up organic farming on small-acre farms throughout the country as an “honorable, important career choice.” Three factors have made these small organic farms possible: a rising consumer demand for organic and local produce, a huge increase in farmers markets nationwide, and the growing popularity of community-supported agriculture (CSA) programs, says USA Today. The National Young Farmers' Coalition is a new organization created by and for young and beginning farmers in the United States, and a soon to be released documentary, The Greenhorns, explores the lives of America’s young sustainable farming community. Also, an international volunteer organization, Worldwide Opportunities on Organic Farms, since 1971 has been connecting young workers with organic farms all over the world, where they gain hands on experience in sustainable farming. The invested energy of youth is a promising bonus trend indeed for the future of sustainable food.

About Compass Natural - Your Guide to the Natural, Organic & LOHAS Market
Compass Natural LLC, established in 2002 and based in Boulder, CO, brings 30 years’ experience in natural and organic products sales, marketing, public relations, communications, research, event planning, and strategic industry guidance to businesses with interests in the $290 billion market for natural, organic, sustainable, and socially responsible products and services. Visit www.compassnatural.com or call 303.807.1042.

© 2010 Compass Natural LLC.

Article also appears in:

http://www.rodale.com/organic-trends

http://www.elephantjournal.com/2010/12/bakers-dozen-top-13-trends-in-sustainable-food-and-agriculture/

http://www.organicconsumers.org/articles/article_22193.cfm

http://www.sustainablefoodnews.com/story.php?news_id=11241

http://foodceo.com/news/2010/12/compass-natural-announces-top-13-trends-in-sustainable-food-and-agriculture/

http://blog.slowmoneyalliance.org/?p=524

http://www.perfumerflavorist.com/flavor/trends/111810244.html

http://www.goodfoodworld.com/2010/12/top-organic-food-and-farming-trends-in-2011/

http://www.progressivegrocer.com/top-story-counting_down_the_top_trends_in_sustainable_food__ag-31782.html

http://www.naturalhomemagazine.com/blogs/blog.aspx?blogid=78&tag=2011%20trends

http://www.organicitsworthit.org/news/learn/2010/12/20/10-organic-farming-trends-can-make-your-life-better

http://topics.treehugger.com/article/0a9T4na72d1Uk