National Organic Action Plan Presented to USDA
On April 16, Liana Hoodes and Michael Sligh were at the USDA Organic Working Group to present the National Organic Action Plan to representatives of all USDA agencies. USDA agencies have been tasked with developing their own organic agendas for their agencies, and the USDA as a whole. They used the NOAP to help begin these discussions.
The National Organic Action Plan: From the Margins to the Mainstream -- Advancing Organic Agriculture in the U.S. (NOAP) presents a shared vision and blueprint for an organic future for the US --"To establish organic as the foundation for food and agriculture in the US." It represents the culmination of a 5-year dialogue process with organic stakeholders across the country. The NOAP describes the current status of organic in the U.S. and provides a concrete framework for the development of organic food and agriculture practices, programs and policies for the next decade and beyond. It informs and empowers the grassroots to engage in public policy debates on organic by providing a detailed plan of actions that can be adapted to meet community, state and national needs.