Because of hurricane Florence, Natural Products Expo East in Baltimore last week had slightly smaller crowds, but it did not detract from some fantastic innovation that I discovered.

As I do after each show, here are My Top 5 Organic Products of Natural Products Expo East 2018. Read more »

Most people recognize Foodstirs as the company that has completely transformed the organic baking category.

But with its latest move, the company will soon be known as a true trailblazer throughout the entire organic industry.

Foodstirs has become the first nationally distributed organic food brand — with its multi-ingredient food products being sold in natural and conventional retail outlets, as well as Starbucks — to receive Glyphosate Residue-Free certification.

Glyphosate, the primary ingredient in Monsanto’s Roundup, is the most widely used herbicide in the world, It is known to the State of California to cause cancer, and the World Health Organization declared that it is a probable human carcinogen, which means that it probably causes cancer. Read more »

One of the perceptions of organic food in the marketplace is that it is free from all heavy metals, and as long as a food product contains the USDA organic seal, there is nothing to worry about.

I wish both were true, but unfortunately, they are not.

A recent investigation from Consumer Reports found concerning levels of heavy metals — cadmium, lead, and/or inorganic arsenic — in many baby and toddler food products, a good number of which were from organic brands.

While organic production prohibits the use of GMOs or super-toxic pesticides, such as glyphosate or atrazine, the logical question is: how did these heavy metals get into these organic products in the first place? Read more »

When it comes to the organic textile business, serial entrepreneur Marci Zaroff is a true visionary — and I do not use this word lightly.

In 1995, Marci Zaroff coined and trademarked the termECOfashion® and launched Under the Canopy, which pioneered the market for organic and sustainable apparel and home textiles. Additionally, she helped create the Global Organic Textile Standard (GOTS).

Most recently, Marci Zaroff founded and is the CEO of MetaWear, the first “sustainable style” GOTS and Cradle to Cradle Certified cut and sew manufacturer in the world for organic and eco-friendly apparel. In addition to that, she is the founder of Farm to Home, producer of THREAD / Driving Fashion Forward, and co-founder of the Institute for Integrative Nutrition, Good Catch Foods and BeyondsBrands.

This organic trailblazer just launched her first book called ECOrenaissance: A Lifestyle Guide for Cocreating a Stylish, Sexy and Sustainable World, and I caught up with my good friend to speak with her about it. Read more »

Last Friday, a California court ruled that Monsanto’s Roundup chemical caused groundskeeper Dewayne Johnson to get cancer (non-Hodgkin’s lymphoma) and ordered the company to pay $289M in damages.

This was a watershed moment for the industry, as organic advocates had been sounding the alarm for years about the toxic effects of this herbicide, whose main ingredient in glyphosate. Read more »

The Stephens family, owners of Nature’s Path (l. to r., Ratana Stephens, Arjan Stephens, Jyoti Stephens, Arran Stephens)

* Iconic cereal brand Nature’s Path has quit the Organic Trade Association (OTA) as a protest to save organic.

* The company says the OTA “is not working in step with organic advocates to protect and strengthen the original principles of the organic movement” and is not acting with sincerity when it comes to hydroponics, the most divisive issue in organic.

* BASF and Cargill have been granted membership in the OTA, even though their GMO and chemical products “are actively harming” organic farmers.

* The OTA defends its governance, transparency and organic agenda.

—

For some people, having BASF — one of the world’s most powerful chemical and GMO companies — as a member of the Organic Trade Association (OTA) is not a problem.

For Arran Stephens, CEO and Co-Founder of the fiercely independent, family-owned Nature’s Path, this was something that he could no longer tolerate.

A combination of frustration with the OTA over the years, the organization’s willingness to accept hydroponics in organic, and allowing non-organic members, such as BASF, Cargill, Campbell’s and General Mills, to have influence over the direction of the OTA were all reasons Nature’s Path cited as reasons why it recently left the trade group.

“Our departure from the OTA is an act of protest to raise awareness of our concern that the important role organic plays to support the health of consumers and our planet is being compromised,” says Arran Stephens. Read more »

The Summer Fancy Food Show, put on by the Specialty Food Association, is always one of my favorite food shows of the year.

Aside from the fact that it attracts vendors from all over the world, it also features an Incubation Village, where food incubators from around the country showcase some of their most interesting brands. This gives invaluable exposure to young brands, many of whom would be unable to afford a booth on their own. Read more »