This previous week I participated in Natural Week with the Natural Commerce Affiliation (OTA), the place the Confluences conferences organized by The Natural Heart merged with the OTA’s coverage displays and advocacy day. The contributors on this week-long occasion represented a various vary of people, together with long-standing licensed natural producers, farmers venturing into natural farming for varied causes, scientific researchers investigating the results of plastics on our meals system and atmosphere, in addition to plastic producers and meals distributors actively searching for options.
Heading residence from DC on the practice, I had the possibility to mirror on the week and on how a lot progress has been made in natural agriculture coverage. Throughout my conferences with members of Congress from each political events, it was abundantly clear that they and their workers have been effectively conscious of the advantages of natural farming and understood why the business deserves assist from the Farm Invoice. In actual fact, simply this week, OTA introduced that the annual natural market has exceeded $67 billion, with the meals market contributing over $60 billion. Natural gross sales now make up greater than 6% of the whole meals market. Nevertheless, regardless of these spectacular figures, analysis investments in natural agriculture stay inadequate. The Nationwide Institute of Meals and Agriculture allocates lower than 2% of its price range to natural agriculture, whereas the Agricultural Analysis Service dedicates lower than 1%.
These info are exactly why we’re so enthusiastic in regards to the natural leaders and champions we’ve got in Congress. Within the Home, OFRF has been collaborating with Representatives Newhouse (WA-04), Panetta (CA-19), and Pingree (ME-01) to introduce the Strengthening Natural Agriculture Analysis Act (SOAR Act). In the meantime, within the Senate, we’ve got been working with supportive allies to develop a companion invoice, and we’ll share extra particulars within the upcoming weeks! We’re providing varied avenues for involvement to assist these essential items of laws, together with toolkits with templates for outreach and social media, explanations of the payments’ provisions, alternatives to share private tales associated to analysis, and extra! In case you want to contribute to those efforts, please be at liberty to contact me at any time: gordon@ofrf.org.
