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Organic Friends' E‑zine: March 2015

Photo of the Month, by Andy Hammermeister
BioFach 2015, the world's leading trade fair for organic food, took place in Germany in February and was attended by over 44,000 visitors from 136 countries.

In this issue:

OACC Director's Message

Organic 3.0 – Envisioning the Future of Organic

I recently had the privilege of attending , the world’s leading organic trade fair, held in Nuremburg, Germany. It is easy to see that organic has captured the imagination of the food industry, with over 2,200 exhibitors and over 40,000 trade visitors (i.e. not general public) attending. Products covered the full spectrum of the food industry and beyond, from baby food to bubble bath. Ìý

Over the last few decades, organic agriculture and food has evolved from an ecologically based movement (Organic 1.0) to a well-recognized and leading system of sustainable production with regulated standards and identifiable market presence (Organic 2.0). However, organic agriculture remains a niche, accounting for only 1% of the global agricultural land base, and the highest market share in any country has reached only 8% (Denmark). The best organic farmers have demonstrated that organic agriculture can be a sustainable and economically viable production system. However, organic agriculture is presently growing too slowly to have a significant impact on global issues such as climate change, food security and hunger, biodiversity loss, ecological degradation, rural depopulation and social justice. Is it our goal to sustain organic agriculture as a niche market opportunity, or are we really seeking mainstream adoption of organic practices to the extent that organic can truly influence global issues?

is leading the discussion of Organic 3.0: What is our vision for the future of organic agriculture and food? What needs to be done to ensure that organic agriculture rapidly effects change in these global issues? What research is needed? Do our current organic standards and regulations enable or disable producer adoption of organic practices?

Watch for future discussions around this very interesting initiative!

Sincerely,
Andy Hammermeister, Ph.D., P.Ag.
Director, OACC

Assistant Professor, AV¾ãÀÖ²¿ Faculty of Agriculture

Organic Science Cluster II

  • [PDF - 590 kB]
    • Poster at Weed Science Society of America Conference. 2015

  • The Food Development Centre and MAFRD, in partnership with the Canada Organic Trade Association, with funding from Agriculture and Agri-Food Canada through the Organic Science Cluster II project, are conducting the first ever national survey of the specific challenges that organic food manufacturers face in bringing value-added organic food products to market. If your business manufactures organic processed food products to sell at Farmers' Markets, retail outlets or through any other sales channel, they would love to hear from you. Results of the survey will be used to help improve the business environment for organic food processing in Canada.

Practical Resources

Horticulture

Field Crops

    • eOrganic. 2015
    • eOrganic. 2015
    • Organic Eprints. 2015

Crop Rotation

  • [PDF – 191 kB]
    • Midwest Organic & Sustainable Education Service. 2015

Pest Management

    • eOrganic. 2015
    • eOrganic. 2015
    • eOrganic. 2015

Livestock

  • [PDF – 1.3 MB]
    • FiBL. 2015

Marketing and Economics

    • FiBL. 2015
    • Organic Eprints. 2015

Scientific Results

Soils and Fertility

    • Journal of Soil and Water Conservation (2014) 69: 422-430
    • Nutrient Cycling in Agroecosystems (2015) 101: 153-165

Horticulture

    • HortScience (2015) 50: 218-224
    • HortScience (2015) 50: 295-303
    • HortScience (2015) 50: 223-233
    • European Journal of Soil Biology (2015) 67: 59-68
    • Applied Soil Ecology (2015) 88: 26-31
    • Agronomy Journal (2015) 107: 634-640
    • HortScience (2015) 50: 240-246
    • The Canadian Entomologist (2014) 146: 567-578

Crop Rotation

    • Weed Science (2015) 61: 282-295

Pest Management

    • Biological Control (2015) 82: 96-103
    • Agriculture, Ecosystems & Environment (2015) 203: 55-61

Livestock

    • Organic Eprints. 2015
    • Organic Eprints. 2015
    • British Poultry Science (2014) 55: 774-784
    • The Journal of Applied Poultry Research (2014) 23: 212-220
    • Animal Welfare (2015) 24: 101-111

Ecology and Environment

    • Landscape Ecology (2015) 30: 125-140
    • Agriculture, Ecosystems & Environment (2015) 202: 223-231

Nutrition, Safety and Health of Organic Foods

    • Environmental Health Perspectives (2015)
    • Journal of Dairy Science (2015) 98: 1411-1425

Post-harvest Handling, Storage and Processing

    • Journal of Food Science and Technology (2015) 52: 803-812

Social Science

    • Journal of Agriculture, Food Systems and Community Development (2014) 4: 47-60
    • Journal of Agriculture, Food Systems and Community Development (2014) 4: 155-171

Marketing and Economics

    • International Journal of Consumer Studies (2015) 39: 162-171

Organic in Canada

  • Drafts of the revised Canadian Organic Standards documents that will be balloted by the Technical Committee on Organic Agriculture
    All proposed modifications to the Canadian Organic Standards have been inserted, editorial reviews have been done, and the voting members of the Technical Committee on Organic Agriculture will now cast their votes: the first 30-day ballot was launched on February 24, 2015. Please note that this is not a public review.
    • [PDF - 732 kB]
    • [PDF - 825 kB]

  • [PDF - 370 kB]. Comment period open to April 13, 2015
    • Standards Interpretation Committee. 2015
      Ìý
  • Organic Value Chain Roundtable's Organic Advantage Documents
    • [PDF - 5.0 MB]
    • [PDF - 4.7 MB]
    • [PDF - 5.3 MB]

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Student, Job and Apprentice Opportunities

  • [PDF - 135 kB]
  • :
    • Production Team Member
    • Gardener and Herb Grower
    • CSA Office Administrator and Bookkeeper
    • Livestock Farm Worker Ìý

Events

Event Location Date

Various locations in Manitoba March 7, 14, 21 and 24, 2015

Vienna, Austria April 12-17, 2015

Bratislava, Slovakia October 14-17, 2014

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Organic Friends' E-Zine March 2015, Volume 11, Issue 5
Copyright © 2014 Organic Agriculture Centre of Canada (OACC)
PO Box 550, Truro, NS B2N 5E3, oacc@dal.ca
Please send comments or questions to joanna.mackenzie@dal.ca, Editor of Organic Friends' E-Zine
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