National Organic Standards Board

You know, organic apples in Vermont might have been grown following different standards than those that you might buy in California.

The National Organic Standards Board, or the NOSB, had recommended a unified national standard for a long time, um, but Congress had not passed the Organic Foods Production Act, um, until 1990.

So we were in 1990, but I talked about the turn of the millennium because the organic regulations didn't actually go into effect until October 21st, 2002.

That was the day that the, you know, organic, the USDA organic seal that we are all familiar with became a federal guarantee.

We've got supply chain complexity.

We've got price parity so that, like, organic premium is shrinking in some categories, but production costs for organic ingredients still remains high.

The USDA and the National Organic Standards Board are constantly reviewing the National List of Allowed and Prohibited Substances, and I want you to know that's a capital letter actual name of a list.

[chuckles] Um, and that's really, you know, particularly regarding synthetic additives in processed organic foods, and I know we talk a lot about the, um, ultra-processed food movement here in our offices.