Colleges continue to add more organic studies to their curriculums:

• New York State has awarded a $4.9 million grant to help establish the Center for Organic and Sustainable Agriculture at Alfred State College. The new facility will house New York's first on-campus organic dairy herd. The college also intends to develop New York's first degree program in organic agriculture.
• The University of New Hampshire's Burley-Demerritt Farm is the nation's first organic dairy farm at a major land grant college. Organic Trade Association (OTA) members Stonyfield Farm and Aurora Organic Dairy have each donated $200,000 to the project.
• The University of Florida at Gainesville has established a new organic agriculture undergraduate degree program beginning with the fall 2006 term. Colorado State University and Washington State University both began offering similar programs this fall.
• Michigan State University will start a one-year certificate program in organic farming in January 2007.
• Beginning in the Spring 2007 semester, Delaware Valley College in Doylestown, PA, will offer a course entitled “Organic Crop Science.”
• One of the University of Nebraska at Lincoln's four research plots to study production challenges on organic farms has been certified by the Organic Crop Improvement Association International. The certified land at the High Plains Agricultural Lab near Sidney will be used to grow organic wheat, proso millet, peas, forage and other crops.
• Michigan State University has announced plans to launch a new certificate program in organic farming starting in January 2007. According to John Biernbaum, professor of horticulture and one of the architects of the new program, the university is responding to student demand for such a program. The university began its student organic farm in 2002.

Meanwhile, students continue to raise awareness about organic foods:

• Students at the University of Illinois in Champaign-Urbana have started a student organization called Just.Food to raise awareness about the benefits of eating locally grown organic produce and to start a pilot program to add more locally grown and organic produce in a campus dining hall.
• Students in the Sierra Club Coalition and officials at the University of Wisconsin at Milwaukee are looking into incorporating organic food into foodservice menus, according to an article in the campus newspaper, The Leader.

 Recent grants include funding earmarked for organic research projects:

• The U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) earlier this year announced 27 matching grants totaling slightly more than $1.3 million to support agricultural market research and demonstration projects in 25 states. Three of the grants, totaling more than $90,000, were awarded to projects centering on organic agriculture and trade. The grants went to the Hawaii Department of Agriculture, Texas Department of Agriculture, and Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University.
• In addition, USDA is awarding slightly more than $4.6 million in fiscal year 2006 research grants administered through its Integrated Organic Program and Cooperative State Research, Education and Extension Service (CSREES) to address organic agricultural issues and priorities. The ten grants to universities in 12 states will focus on two areas; improving the competitiveness of organic producers, and assisting producers and processors who have already adopted organic standards to grow and market high quality organic agricultural products.
• In other news, USDA has awarded Stephen Jones, a professor of crop and soil science at Washington State University, a $680,000 grant to fund an organic wheat breeding program for another four years.
• Meanwhile, Illinois Governor Rod R. Blagovevich has awarded a $45,000 grant to help build Illinois' organic industry through his economic development strategy, “Opportunity Returns.” This grant will help fund a feasibility study by Chicago-based Goodness Greeness to develop and build a 100,000-square-foot distribution center.
• In addition, the Northeast Sustainable Agriculture Research and Education (SARE) program recently awarded approximately $2.8 million in grants to help researchers, farmers, educators and organizations find ways to make agriculture profitable, environmentally sound, and beneficial to the wider community. Some of the programs singled out center on organic research. For instance, a project at the University of Maine to manage weed seed received a grant of $156,520; a University of Maine Cooperative Extension project to expand grain production and use on organic dairy farms in Maine and Vermont received $143,626; a Cornell University project to optimize reduced tillage for root, leafy and organic vegetables grown in the Northeast received $164,628; and a Penn State University Fruit Research and Extension Center project for Pennsylvania regional organic fruit industry transition was given $99,208.
• The Northwest Coalition for Alternatives to Pesticides (NCAP) has received USDA funds to provide an organic potato demonstration field in eastern Idaho. The project will help researchers at the University of Idaho and Potato Growers of Idaho to better understand how to grow potatoes organically.

Meanwhile, research findings show benefits of organic agriculture and products:

• Findings from a four-year study at the Agricultural Research Service's (ARS) 130-acre Swan Lake Research Farm near Morris, MN, indicate grain farmers can be more profitable if they switch to organic crops. In the study, ARS economist David Archer and soil scientist Hillarius Kludze compared an organic corn-soybean rotation and an organic corn-soybean-spring wheat/alfalfa rotation, half grown with conventional tillage and half with strip tillage, with a corn-soybean rotation using conventional tillage. Records from the study showed that organic soybeans earned up to $14 more per bushel, organic corn up to $3 more per bushel, and organic wheat up to $5 more per bushel than their conventional counterparts. Researchers said the Sawn Lake Research Farm is representative of typical corn and soybean operations in Minnesota. See http://www.ars.usda.gov/is/pr/2006/060725.htm.
• The Organic Center has posted a State of the Science Review entitled “Impacts of Organic Farming on the Efficiency of Energy Use in Agriculture.” One of the factoids contained in the report: “On organic farms, it takes about 30 percent less energy to produce a bushel of corn.” See www.organic-center.org, under “State of Science.”
• A three-year study in the United Kingdom, sponsored by the Organic Milk Suppliers' Co-operative, found organic milk contained 68 percent more omega-3 fatty acids, on average, than conventional milk. Findings from the study have been published in the Journal of Dairy Science.
• Scientists at the University of California at San Diego and Yale University have discovered that a natural protein produced by Bacillus thuringiensis, a bacterium sprayed on crops by organic farmers to reduce insect damage, is highly effective at treating hookworm infections in laboratory animals. Their findings were posted on the online edition of the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences the week of Sept. 25.
• Research conducted in central India by the Swiss Agency for Development and Cooperation (SDC) and The Research Institute of Organic Agriculture has shown that growing cotton organically could offer hope to cotton farmers in India. According to an account in the Sept. 28, 2006, issue of The Hindu, an Indo-Swiss research team collected and compared agronomic data from 60 organic and conventional farms. Variable production costs were 13 to 20 percent lower for the organic cotton, and average cotton yields were 4-6 percent higher in the organic fields.
• A report, “Organic Dairy Farms in Wisconsin: Prosperous, Modern, and Expansive,” conducted by the University of Wisconsin's Program on Agricultural Technology Studies provides a descriptive picture of organic dairy farming in Wisconsin, where 306 of the 15,300 dairy farms are certified organic. Visit www.pats.wisc.edu to access the report.
• An article by Professor Joe Cummins and Dr. Mae-Wan Ho posted on the member web site of the Institute of Science in Society (www.i-sis.org.uk/osscc/php) explores the latest evidence showing that organic strawberries stop cancer cells. Cited is research by Swedish researchers at the Swedish University of Agricultural Sciences in Alnarp and Lund University that compared the extracts of five organic and conventional cultivars for their ability to inhibit the proliferation of human colon and breast cancer cells. According to Cummins and Ho, the researchers found that extracts from organically grown strawberries inhibited cell proliferation more effectively than extracts from the conventionally grown ones, and in both types of cancer cells.

 Consumers are seeing more organic products offered by more retailers, manufacturers, and eating establishments:

• Stater Bros. Markets, a privately owned supermarket chain in California, has introduced a “Full Circle” line of 110 all natural and organic products, including cereals, pastas, pasta sauces, peanut butter, fruit preserves, canned vegetables, rice, soymilk, coffee and teas.
• The Giant Eagle chain with 220 stores in four states in June opened its first two Market District stores in the Pittsburgh, PA, area. The stores offer 4,000 organic and natural items.
• Panera Bread Co. now offers a kids' menu that includes organic and all natural items. Based in Richmond Heights, MO, Panera has about 900 U.S. outlets.
• Millstone Coffee, a division of Procter & Gamble, has introduced three new coffee roasts that are both organic and Fair Trade Certifiedä.
• Kellogg Company is adding organic crackers to its Keeblerâ brand line.
• Pizza Fusion, a new restaurant in Deerfield Beach, FL, with another one planned for Boca Raton this fall, features organic and all natural ingredients, including 100 percent organic pizza sauce.
• The Bolinas-Stinson Union School District in West Marin, CA, has signed up to take part in the Marin Organic School Lunch Program.
• Retailer Target Corporation has introduced a private-label organic food line under the name Archer Farms brand, and announced that the produce departments at all SuperTarget stores are now certified organic to meet national organic standards.
• United Natural Foods, Inc., is partnering with MedAssets, a purchasing organization for the health care industry, to provide natural and organic food for more than 2,000 hospitals nationwide.
• Korean Air is now offering in-flight meals prepared with organic vegetables and grains. The new organic menus contain fresh organic vegetables such as lettuce, red chicory and romaine, bread made from organic flour, and organic cereal. The airline started serving the new menu in September initially in First Class and Prestige Class, with plans to gradually extend the service to Economy Class.

Organic farming and products are the center of other news:

• The Cherokee County Board of Supervisors in Cherokee, IA, has voted to offer farmers property tax incentives to convert to organic farming practices. The county's Organics Conversion Policy will provide up to 100 percent county tax relief a year for up to five years for growers converting from conventional to organic farming practices and becoming certified organic farmers. The policy is similar to one enacted in Woodbury County, IA, in 2005.
• A 24-page dossier from The Research Institute of Organic Agriculture in Switzerland entitled “Quality and Safety of Organic Products—Food Systems Compared” highlights what is known about the quality of organic products, and how they differ from non-organic products in terms of quality and safety. Benefits cited include: more beneficial nutrients and less nitrates and pesticide residues; higher sensory quality; functional suitability; more careful processing; and environmental benefits to the soil, water, climate, air, biodiversity, and energy consumption.
• OTA member company Sambazon in November received the U.S. State Department's 2006 Award for Corporate Excellence for the work it has done to sustain the Brazilian rainforest and its inhabitants. Sambazon, headquartered in San Clemente, CA, manufactures and sells organic açaí products and supplies wholesale açaí puree around the world.
• More than 250 of the world's leading organic livestock experts took part in the 1^st IFOAM International Conference on Animals in Organic Production held at the University of Minnesota in August. The presentations arrived at many conclusions that demonstrate that organic livestock systems improve both animal and human health while protecting the environment. For conference proceedings, go to http://shop.ifoam.org/bookstore/index.php?cPath=64_65.
• The Organic Materials Review Institute has designed an interactive searchable organic seed database to be used by growers and certifiers to encourage the use of organic seed in organic production. See www.omri.org/OMRI_SEED_list.html.
• The Vermont Agricultural Credit Corp. is providing $1 million in interest-free loans in its Organic Transition Program to Vermont farmers to offset some of their costs in converting to organic dairy production. In addition, Vermont's Agency of Agriculture, Food and Markets allocated $275,000 in emergency funding for its organic transition and buy-local programs, of which $175,000 was for NOFA-VT to help farmers transition to organic.
• In 2006, Washington State University's Center for Sustaining Agriculture & Natural Resources received $400,000 in seed money from the Washington State Legislature for its Biological Intensive Agriculture and Organic Farming Program. As a result, the program is funding 13 research projects.

Consumers are seeing more organic products offered by more retailers,
manufacturers, and eating establishments:

• Stater Bros. Markets, a privately owned supermarket chain in California, has
    introduced a “Full Circle” line of 110 all natural and organic products,
    including cereals, pastas, pasta sauces, peanut butter, fruit preserves,
    canned vegetables, rice, soymilk, coffee and teas.
• The Giant Eagle chain with 220 stores in four states in June opened its first
    two Market District stores in the Pittsburgh, PA, area. The stores offer 4,000
    organic and natural items.
• Panera Bread Co. now offers a kids' menu that includes organic and all natural
    items. Based in Richmond Heights, MO, Panera has about 900 U.S. outlets.
• Millstone Coffee, a division of Procter & Gamble, has introduced three new
    coffee roasts that are both organic and Fair Trade Certified^TM.
• Kellogg Company is adding organic crackers to its Keebler® brand line.
• Pizza Fusion, a new restaurant in Deerfield Beach, FL, with another one
    planned for Boca Raton this fall, features organic and all natural
    ingredients, including 100 percent organic pizza sauce.
• The Bolinas-Stinson Union School District in West Marin, CA, has signed up to
    take part in the Marin Organic School Lunch Program.
• Retailer Target Corporation has introduced a private-label organic food line
    under the name Archer Farms brand, and announced that the produce departments
    at all SuperTarget stores are now certified organic to meet national organic
    standards.
• United Natural Foods, Inc., is partnering with MedAssets, a purchasing
    organization for the health care industry, to provide natural and organic food
    for more than 2,000 hospitals nationwide.
• Korean Air is now offering in-flight meals prepared with organic vegetables
    and grains. The new organic menus contain fresh organic vegetables such as
    lettuce, red chicory and romaine, bread made from organic flour, and organic
    cereal. The airline started serving the new menu in September initially in
    First Class and Prestige Class, with plans to gradually extend the service to
    Economy Class.
  
   Organic farming and products are the center of other news
• The Cherokee County Board of Supervisors in Cherokee, IA, has voted to offer
    farmers property tax incentives to convert to organic farming practices. The
    county's Organics Conversion Policy will provide up to 100 percent county tax
    relief a year for up to five years for growers converting from conventional to
    organic farming practices and becoming certified organic farmers. The policy
    is similar to one enacted in Woodbury County, IA, in 2005.
• A 24-page dossier from The Research Institute of Organic Agriculture in
    Switzerland entitled “Quality and Safety of Organic Products—Food Systems
    Compared” highlights what is known about the quality of organic products, and
    how they differ from non-organic products in terms of quality and safety.
    Benefits cited include: more beneficial nutrients and less nitrates and
    pesticide residues; higher sensory quality; functional suitability; more
    careful processing; and environmental benefits to the soil, water, climate,
    air, biodiversity, and energy consumption.
• OTA member company Sambazon in November received the U.S. State Department's
    2006 Award for Corporate Excellence for the work it has done to sustain the
    Brazilian rainforest and its inhabitants. Sambazon, headquartered in San
    Clemente, CA, manufactures and sells organic açaí products and supplies
    wholesale açaí puree around the world.
• More than 250 of the world's leading organic livestock experts took part in
    the 1st IFOAM International Conference on Animals in Organic Production held
    at the University of Minnesota in August. The presentations arrived at many
    conclusions that demonstrate that organic livestock systems improve both
    animal and human health while protecting the environment. For conference
    proceedings, go to http://shop.ifoam.org/bookstore/index.php?cPath=64_65.
• The Organic Materials Review Institute has designed an interactive searchable
    organic seed database to be used by growers and certifiers to encourage the
    use of organic seed in organic production. See
    www.omri.org/OMRI_SEED_list.html.
• The Vermont Agricultural Credit Corp. is providing $1 million in interest-free
    loans in its Organic Transition Program to Vermont farmers to offset some of
    their costs in converting to organic dairy production. In addition, Vermont's
    Agency of Agriculture, Food and Markets allocated $275,000 in emergency
    funding for its organic transition and buy-local programs, of which $175,000
    was for NOFA-VT to help farmers transition to organic.
• In 2006, Washington State University's Center for Sustaining Agriculture &
    Natural Resources received $400,000 in seed money from the Washington State
    Legislature for its Biological Intensive Agriculture and Organic Farming
    Program. As a result, the program is funding 13 research projects.
   
  Consumer studies reveal an interest in organic products:
• Health and wellness trends are popular topics among bloggers, according
  to a study, “Organic Food: Purchasing Behavior and Attitudes,” conducted during
  April through June 2006 by Umbria, Inc. The top reasons cited for buying organic
  products were health benefits, taste, and the effect on the environment. For
  highlights from the study, see www.umbrialistens.com.
• Seeds of Change recently surveyed consumers in ten major U.S. cities
  and also did a national sampling to measure consumers' understanding of organic
  products. In the July 2006 survey, 2,774 people were queried about their
  knowledge of organic production and processing standards, as well as questions
  about their attitudes and behaviors toward organic foods. The findings ranked
  the cities, from most correct answers to least, as follows: Portland (OR), San
  Francisco (CA), Seattle (WA), Boston (MA), Minneapolis (MN), Kansas City (MO),
  Dallas (TX), Cleveland (OH), Los Angeles (CA), and Detroit (MI). Although
  Detroit and Los Angeles had the lowest scores, all 10 cities had a higher
  average “Organic IQ” than the national average.