Spring 2021 Comments to NOSB
April 5, 2021
PCC submitted written comments and provided oral testimony for the virtual spring 2021 meeting of the National Organic Standards Board (NOSB), the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) advisory committee to the National Organic Program (NOP).
Each year the NOP holds two open meetings of the NOSB, giving the public an opportunity to learn about the NOSB’s analysis and recommendations. These meetings also are a platform for individuals to share information, perspectives, and input on issues concerning the organic program.
Due to the unprecedented circumstances of the COVID-19 pandemic continuing in 2021, this year’s spring meeting, like both 2020 meetings, took place virtually.
As a certified organic grocer that places a priority on organics, we are accountable to our shoppers and more than 90,000 active member-owners to advocate for organic integrity. As part of this advocacy, we not only submitted our own comments, but contributed and signed on — as a full member — to the extensive comments submitted by the National Organic Coalition (NOC). Read the NOC’s spring 2021 NOSB Comments.
PCC’s comments addressed a variety of topics, including opposing the petition for allowing Kasugamycin on fruit crops, providing critical feedback on the proposed fish oil annotation, encouraging the NOP and NOSB to address equity in the organic industry, and urging the NOSB and NOP to develop meaningful protections against heavy metal contamination in organic foods. PCC also reiterated from the spring 2020 and fall 2020 comments, the importance of leveraging organic as a leader in pandemic and climate resilience, and identifying and developing recommendations to strengthen organic practices for climate mitigation, adaptation, and carbon sequestration.