Organic Advocates Gather in Providence, RI

On Monday, October 23, 65 members of the organic community - including farmers, members of the National Organic Standards Board, staff from advocacy organizations, USDA officials, certification agencies, researchers and university professors - gathered in Providence in advance of the Fall 2023 National Organic Standards Board Meeting.

The day-long ‘Pre-NOSB’ Meeting included:

(From L to R): Cassius Spears, Emily Landeck, Jorge Mazurca, Corie Pierce, and Mohammed Hannan, the Pre-NOSB Meeting Farmer Panelists sharing their stories and experience with land access.

  • NOSB Update: a review of NOSB meeting topics from NOC’s perspective, including:

    • The need for the NOSB to adopt a rigorous review process to ensure that toxic ‘inert’ ingredients do not get used in organic agriculture.

    • Support for the NOSB proposal for residue testing for handling operations to prevent fraud.

    • NOC urged the NOSB to provide the opportunity for farmers and other community members to give comments in person during future NOSB meetings.

    • NOC is encouraging the NOSB to work on the use of genetic engineering (excluded methods) in fermentation processes and standards for organic swine (not part of the recently finalized Organic Livestock and Poultry Standards Rule).

  • An incredible panel of local farmers, sharing their stories and their land access journey. This panel also provides us with the chance to reflect, as an organic community, on some of the ways in which we can work to tackle the thorny challenge of land access, that is foundational to the future of our movement. A huge thank you to the farmer panelists for taking time out of their incredibly busy schedules to share their experience and thoughts:

  • A panel on recordkeeping challenges and innovations: the panelists, Nicole Dehne (Vermont Organic Farmers) and Frankie Grundler (Founder and CEO of Quick Organics) focused on identifying the problem we are facing and what we can achieve by addressing this challenge.

  • A run down of NOC’s legislative priorities, including the outlook for the 2023 Farm Bill, NOC’s 2023 Farm Bill priorities, information about the steps Congress needs to take to keep the government funded in advance of the November 17 deadline and NOC’s priorities for the annual agriculture appropriations bill that funds the USDA National Organic Program, organic research and more!

  • A Q&A with Dr. Jennifer Tucker, Deputy Administrator for the National Organic Program (NOP).

    Resources & Information from the meeting are available here.


From top left to bottom right:
(1) Providence Pre-NOSB Meeting in Providence, RI; (2) Farmer panelists Cassius Spears, Emily Landeck, Jorge Mazurca, Corie Pierce, and Mohammed Hannan; (3) Corie Pierce, Mohammed Hannan, and Jorge Mazurca, (4) Farmer panelists;
(5) Bay Hammond and Nicole Dehne (Vermont Organic Farmers), (6) NOSB Update during the Pre-NOSB Meeting, (7) Kate Mendenhall (Organic Farmers Association) and Heather Spalding (MOFGA); (8) Steve Ela (NOC) sharing apples from his organic orchard;
(9) Steve Etka (NOC), Jaydee Hanson (Center for Food Safety), and Steve Ela (NOC); (10) Annie Sholar, Melissa Milliken, Hannah McDonald, and Ulum Pixan Athoh'il Suk'il (NOFA-Mass); (11) Farmer panel; (12) Q&A with Dr Jenny Tucker, National Organic Program.

Thank you to the meeting co-sponsors:


As part of the events in Providence, the National Organic Coalition also convened in-person meetings for organizations taking part in the Transition to Organic Partnership Program.

Alice RundeNOSB