Sydni Phillips grows vegetables and herbs at Golgi Farm. She's the new produce vendor at Milford Farmers Market.(Photo: Courtesy of Golgi Farm)

Sydni Phillips grows her garden with GMO-free seeds, organic practices and maybe even a little divine help.

The owner of Golgi Farm, LLC works the soil on one-third of an acre at Commerce Church of the Nazarene, where her husband, Matt, serves as youth pastor.

Shes the newest addition to Milford Farmers' Market, which kicked off its new season Thursday, May 11, on Liberty, just east of Main in downtown Milford.

Arugula, baby kale and mint, said Phillips, listing what she brought to the market last week. I actually sold out by 6 p.m. She hopes to have radishes within a week or two, followed by lettuce.

Phillips said she grows unusual and heirloom varieties of familiar vegetables.

I have 10 different colors of carrots, cool varieties of cauliflower, broccoli. Everything is organic. I mostly just pay attention to how I plant things, she said, explaining that some plants act as natural pest repellents.

Phillips said her arrangement with Commerce Church of the Nazarene helps her budding business and brings some attention to the church. She spends approximately 5-10 hours on the farm, Monday-Saturday.

The Redford native fell in love with farming and food justice while in college, where she earned a biology degree, learned about farming and sustainability, and tended to a garden during a life-changing internship in 2013.

More: Opening day approaches for farmers market

I planted food for the first time in my life and I said, yep, this is my career.

After graduating from college and losing her job at a church, Phillips moved into the basement at her parents home in Dearborn, where she also gardened.

I was able to practice what I preached. I ended up selling a tiny bit of produce at (Dearborn) farmers market. I didnt make a living wage, but I learned so much.

The following year she started a community garden in Dundee where she had been living, and realized that she wanted to farm full time. After their marriage last October, Phillips husband suggested she do what she loved. Phillips received permission from the pastor and church board to garden at the church.

Chris Redman, of Christine's Natural Soaps, makes a sale at the May 11 Milford Farmers Market.(Photo: JOHN HEIDER | STAFF PHOTOGRAPHER)

The name, Golgi, is a reference to her love of science. The Golgi apparatus is the part of a cell that takes things and turns them into more complex and usable things, like proteins, Phillips explains on her Facebook page.

At Golgi Farm, my goal is to take simple things like seeds, soil and water (and a ton of hard work) to produce useful things like fruits and veggies. Pretty cool, huh?

Milford Farmers Market, which is volunteer-run, also welcomed returning vendors last week, including Garden Fort, Great Harvest Bakery, Christines Natural Goats Milk Soaps and Dianas Heirloom Produce.

What I like best about market day is the community gathering. I often compare the streets of our market to an Italian town square, said Kelley M. Hovitch-Kirchner, market master. The community comes together to gather their local goods and be social. It is such a sight to see.

The market runs 3-8 p.m.Thursday, through Oct. 19. See local entertainment from 5-7:30 p.m. at the market. Special events include a dog fashion show on Sept. 7.

sdargay@hometownlife.com

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New farm vendor sells organic produce at Milford Farmers' Market - Hometownlife.com

A new investigation from the Washington Post has revealed that non-organic corn and soy with organic labels is flooding into the United States.

36million pounds of soybeans, which originated in the Ukraine and Turkey were priced like regular soybeans, and fumigated with pesticides, but by the time they reached California, they had been labeled as organic boosting their value by $4 million.

Millions more pounds of corn, which the Post says makes up a large proportion our supply, was discovered to have undone the same mysterious process.They found at the Romanian company that provided the corn is not certified organic, and originally purchased the corn from a supplier also not certified organic at prices usually seen on its conventional counterpart.

The fraudulent shipments of corn and soybeans that the Post uncovered all originated in Turkey, which is supposedly one of America's largest suppliers of organic foods.

Eventually the soybean shipment in question was tested for pesticides, but by then, 21 million pounds of the 36 million-pound shipment had already been distributed to farms and mills.

Most of that corn and soy ended up in animal feed, but organic meat and dairy products that are labeled as such are supposed to only be produced from animals that have been fed organic products.

The USDA claims that their safeguards against this type of food fraud are strong, explaining that any organic product must verify its status by producing a USDA organic certificate. Still, companies are not required to track their products all the way to the farm of origin, leaving a gap open in the process.

Farmers can also hire inspection companies on their own and schedule inspections in advance and with warning, meaning theres plenty of opportunity to cover up any evidence that their production process isnt organic.

Theres plenty of incentive to game the system: Organic products sell for twice as much as non-organicversions.

The U.S. market is the easiest for potentially fraudulent organic products to penetrate because the chances of getting caught here are not very high," John Bobbe, executive director of the Organic Farmers' Agency for Relationship Marketing, told the Post.

Products coming from China are even more susceptible to being mislabeled: A German inspection agency called Ceres which tests so-called organic products imported from China found that 37% of the 232 samples showed pesticide residue.

But not even those results can be trusted.

The certifying agencies can choose who and when they test," said Mischa Popoff, a former USDA organic inspector."That's why the results they can get are completely arbitrary."

These lax standards may seem shocking for people who think that the U.S. has built barriers to prevent this type of food fraud, but the USDA still has some gaps, which clearly can be exploited. In the meantime, if youneed brushing up on how to combat food fraud in your home, check out our easy guide.

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How 36 Million Pounds of Fake-Organic Food Ended Up in the US - Food & Wine

By Kristy OConnell

A Roslyn couple recently launched Full House Organic, a fast-casual eatery located at 38 Glen Cove Road in Greenvale, with the goal of introducing organic options to more than just health-conscious consumers.

According to co-owner Judy Racz, the couple opened their restaurant back in January for deliveries via their website, app and grubhub but has since opened for eat-in.

The idea is that a lot of times people think organic food is healthy and wont taste as good, but I believe that is a big myth, Racz. With organic food, the ingredients are just cleaner and realer.

While their chef specializes in Italian cuisine, Racz said the restaurant offers a wide variety of food, ranging from vegan options to meatballs and rotisserie chickens.

The make-your-own-salad option is a fan favorite, she said.

The couple wanted their restaurant to be a place that can suit people with specific dietary needs while also appealing toa more traditional diet, she said. Vegetarian, vegan and gluten-free options are all available.

The couple is working towards not only maintaining their organic ingredients status but also towards certifying their entire kitchen as organic as well.

We arent just trying to meet the minimum requirements of being organic, said Judy.

Judy also emphasized that their restaurant does not use tap water and instead uses reverse-osmosis water for soups and the cleaning of vegetables. In addition, Judy emphasized that they do not use plastic for packaging.

She also expressed particular excitement over the work her team is doing with a dietician to soon begin offering meal plans.

The Full House Organic currently offers eat-in, take-out or free delivery and can be contacted at 516-621-4040 or at http://www.FullHouseOrganic.com.

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Organic eatery joins Greenvale - The Island Now

The greenhouse on Richard and Sharon Hastings property in rural East Texas looks like a typical greenhouse any gardening enthusiast might own.

But a closer look reveals the channels of water where red and green butter lettuce plants are floating on foam pads. This is not a typical greenhouse after all.

The Hastings endured the hustle and bustle of Austin for over 28 years. They raised their children while working in the tech industry. They survived the big city traffic and hour-long commutes to work.

Now theyre managing partners in their own business, East Texas Aquaponics.

We were looking for the next phase of our lives, Mrs. Hasting said. We are passionate about food and food quality. We are part of that community and wanted to find a way to make it into a business.

The Hastings greenhouse boasts a deep-water culture system where Tilapia and channel catfish make their home in 2,000 gallon water tanks. A pump system moves the water through a filtration system. That water goes into the channels, where lettuce plants are floating on foam rafts on the surface of the water. The plant roots hang into the water and absorb the nutrients that the fish put into the water.

This form of farming uses one-tenth of the water to grow good, clean food, Hasting said. Tons and tons of water resources are used to grow vegetables to make a salad. We have the opportunity to reduce that and to reduce the transportation costs.

The water shortage crises that can occur throughout Texas make this type of farming ideal in areas where drought and people lack access to water.

We wanted to help support food shortages in underserved areas, Mrs. Hasting said. Trying to get processed food out and something green and healthy in is important to us.

It takes butter lettuce six weeks to mature in the winter months and four weeks during the summer. This makes it an ideal crop for aquaponics.

Food that is organically grown, using reduced amounts of water, fertilizers and pesticides is a trend that many people support and the type of food many people want on their tables.

Weve partnered with Mudhen Meat and Greens in Dallas, Mrs. Hastings said. Its a farm to table restaurant in Dallas. We also sell at farmers markets in Winnsboro, Mineola, Dallas and Rockwall.

Hastings is working to expand their farming operation beyond lettuce and herbs. Next year, they hope to be growing tomatoes and fruit bushes and trees.

When Hasting lifts the granite rock gravel in one of his beds, he exposes the worms. He said the book Worms Eat my Garbage turned him into a sort of eco hippie type.

I bought a pound of the worms to get started, Hasting said. Worms eat 30 percent of their body weight each day.

Hasting uses the worms in the granite gravel bed and the bed of expanded clay pellets where strawberries and fig trees are starting to grow.

The worms feed on the decayed roots of the plants. Theyre a tool to ward off plant disease and manage insects.

This keeps the tanks clean, Hasting said. Selling the worms can be another source of income.

East Texas Aquaponics is partnering with Genuine Provisions to sell and promote their products. They hope to establish a partnership with the East Texas Food Bank to have their food distributed to hunger relief programs in East Texas.

This gets our product to another demographic that wouldnt have access to this type of food, Mrs. Hasting said. Were also interested in educating the community and helping them learn to grow their own food in this way, with minimal investment.

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East Texas Aquaponics grows organic produce using non-traditional growing practices - Tyler Morning Telegraph

Step into any supermarket these days and youre sure to find a wide variety of organic foods on the shelves. From produce, milk and meat to breakfast cereals and snack foods, consumers have their pick of certified organic productsa far cry from the time when you could only find them in natural foods stores. The demand for organic foods continues to soar: According to theOrganic Trade Association, organic food sales saw their biggest dollar gain ever in 2015 with more than 10 percent growth.

Certified organic foods have been linked to manyheath benefits, but they can sometimes be more expensive than conventionally farmed produce. Try these tips to make an organic diet more affordable.

The Environmental Working Group (EWG) recently completed an analysis of conventionally grown (non-organic) produce to measure pesticide residue levels. Based on the results of almost 34,000 samples taken by the U.S. Department of Agriculture and federal Food and Drug Administration, EWG estimates that eating the 12 most contaminated fruits and vegetables, referred to as The Dirty Dozen, exposes the average person to about 15 different pesticides each day, while someone eating the least contaminated will be exposed to fewer than two pesticides each day. By avoiding these most contaminated foods, consumers could reduce their pesticide exposure by almost 90 percent.

If you have budget constraints, get more health for your money by choosing organic varieties of the following fruits and vegetables (listed in descending order, starting with greatest levels of pesticide contamination). Download a pocket guide to the Dirty Dozenhere.

If going totally organic is too difficult or pricey, play it safe and eat the following conventional produce items to minimize your exposure. These are known to have the least amount of pesticide residue (listed in ascending order, starting with lowest levels of contamination):

When eating conventional foods, be certain to peel away edible skins and outer leaves (such as those on lettuce), as pesticides are often concentrated there. Remember to wash all produce (conventional and organic) thoroughly with a natural fruit and vegetable cleanser. Peeling and washing can helpreduce (not eliminate) pesticide exposure, but can also cause the loss of valuable vitamins and nutrients, such as fiber.

When you have the choice between an organic item and one thats conventionally grown, choose organic as often as possible. To see EWG's complete study results and the rankings of different produce items, visittheir website.

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When to buy organic & when to save your money - Atlanta Journal Constitution

A shipment of 36million pounds of soybeans sailed late last year from Ukraine to Turkey to California. Along the way, it underwent a remarkable transformation.

The cargo began as ordinary soybeans, according to documents obtained by The Washington Post. Like ordinary soybeans, they were fumigated with a pesticide. They were priced like ordinary soybeans, too.

But by the time the 600-foot cargo ship carrying them to Stockton, Calif., arrived in December, the soybeans had been labeled organic, according to receipts, invoices and other shipping records. That switch the addition of the USDA Organic designation boosted their value by approximately $4 million, creating a windfall for at least one company in the supply chain.

After being contacted by The Post, the broker for the soybeans, Annapolis-based Global Natural, emailed a statement saying it may have been provided with false certification documents regarding some grain shipments from Eastern Europe. About 21million pounds of the soybeans have already been distributed to customers.

The multimillion-dollar metamorphosis of the soybeans, as well as two other similar grain shipments in the past year examined by The Post, demonstrate weaknesses in the way that the United States ensures that what is sold as USDA Organic is really organic.

The three shipments, each involving millions of pounds of organic corn or soybeans, were large enough to constitute a meaningful proportion of the U.S. supply of those commodities. All three were presented as organic, despite evidence to the contrary. And all three hailed from Turkey, now one of the largest exporters of organic products to the United States, according to Foreign Agricultural Service statistics.

Agriculture Department officials said that they are investigating fraudulent organic grain shipments. But the agency declined to identify any of the firms or shipments involved.

We are continuing the investigation based on the evidence received, it said in a statement.

The imported corn and soybean shipments examined by The Post were largely destined to become animal feed and enter the supply chain for some of the largest organic food industries. Organic eggs, organic milk, organic chicken and organic beef are supposed to come from animals that consume organic feed, an added expense for farmers that contributes to the higher consumer prices on those items.

While most food sold as USDA Organic is grown in the United States, at least half of some organic commodities corn, soybeans and coffee come from overseas, from as many as 100 countries.

USDA officials say that their system for guarding against fraud is robust.

Under USDA rules, a company importing an organic product must verify that it has come from a supplier that has a USDA Organic certificate. It must keep receipts and invoices. But it need not trace the product back to the farm. Some importers, aware of the possibility of fraud, request extra documentation. But others do not.

Regardless of where organics come from, critics say, the system suffers from multiple weaknesses in enforcement: Farmers hire their own inspection companies; most inspections are announced days or weeks in advance and lack the element of surprise; and testing for pesticides is the exception rather than the rule.

These vulnerabilities are magnified with imported products, which often involve more middlemen, each of whom could profit by relabeling conventional goods as organic. The temptation could be substantial, too: Products with a USDA Organic label routinely sell for twice the price of their conventional counterparts.

In recent years, even as the amount of organic corn and soybeans imported to the United States has more than tripled, the USDA has not issued any major sanctions for the import of fraudulent grain, U.S. farmers said.

The U.S. market is the easiest for potentially fraudulent organic products to penetrate because the chances of getting caught here are not very high, said John Bobbe, executive director of the Organic Farmers Agency for Relationship Marketing, or OFARM, a farmer cooperative. In Europe and Canada, he said, import rules for organics are much stricter.

Moreover, even when the USDA has responded to complaints of questionable imports, action has come too late to prevent the products from reaching consumers.

Four months after the soybeans arrived in California and after The Post began making calls about the shipment, county officials acting on behalf of the USDA showed up at the warehouse where the soybeans were being stored. The officials took samples to test for exposure to pesticides.

By that time, about 21million pounds of the 36million-pound shipment had already reached farms and mills. The customers who have purchased the soybeans said they were unaware there may have been a problem until a Post reporter called.

Gauging the extent of fraud in imported organics is difficult because there is little incentive for organic companies to advertise their suspicions about suppliers.

To test USDA claims that organic imports are rigorously monitored, The Post examined pesticide residue testing conducted on organic products in China.

China is the leading source of organic tea and ginger in the United States, and its food exports have drawn repeated scrutiny.

In China, farmers have trouble following their own laws, said Chenglin Liu, a professor at St. Marys University School of Law in San Antonio. So how can Americans expect Chinese farmers will follow U.S. organic rules?

As in the United States, farmers in China seeking the USDA Organic label hire an inspection agency to certify that they meet the organic rules.

Using public-records laws, The Post obtained the results of pesticide residue tests conducted on farms with USDA organic certification in China. Although pesticide tests are not mandatory, inspection agencies are required to take samples from 5percent of their clients, and The Post requested the results from the three most active inspection agencies overseeing Chinese farms.

The pesticide results showed very high levels of pesticide residue on some organic Chinese products. They also showed that the pesticide residue tests are applied unevenly.

One of the largest inspection agencies, a German company known as Ceres, appears to do rigorous testing.

Ceres conducts most of its tests on plant leaves, rather than on fruits, a method that can be more likely to detect pesticide use.

Their results from China, as a Ceres official said, were quite shocking.

Of 232 samples that Ceres tested from the Chinese organic farms, 37percent showed more than traces of pesticide residue.

This is the reality we are battling with in China, said Albrecht Benzing of Ceres.

Some of the problem arises from pesticides from neighboring farms drifting over, experts said, and some is contamination from Chinas polluted soil and water.

For example, in Shandong province, the Laiwu Manhing Vegetables Fruits Corp. harvests ginger that has been grown organically. But the water available for washing the ginger is so polluted that it leaves pesticide residue.

After the ginger is washed, the water leaves behind pesticide residues too high to be considered organic in the United States, said Li Hongtao, a sales manager at the company. He said the ginger is sold as organic in some countries but not the United States or Europe.

The pesticide residue results that were obtained by The Post also indicate that enforcement of USDA Organic rules for pesticides are uneven and possibly arbitrary, with results depending on the inspection agency.

While Ceres found remarkably high levels of pesticide residue, others reported extremely low levels.

For example, Ecocert, a French inspection agency, reported pesticide residue on about 1percent of 360 samples from China in 2015 a level of cleanliness remarkable for any country, let alone China and its well-documented pollution.

This wide range of pesticide use detected by organic inspectors in China nearly 40percent at one company and 1percent in another suggests a variety of methods and standards at work. Ecocert said their results may be low because they chose samples from a large number of farms. Different firms may also use different thresholds for what constitutes a positive result. The next year, Ecocert said, its testing criteria changed slightly, and the percentage of samples with pesticide levels rose to 8percent.

Critics say the disparity in results shows that certifying agencies can make any farm look organic.

The certifying agencies can choose who and when they test, said Mischa Popoff, a former USDA organic inspector turned critic. Thats why the results they can get are completely arbitrary.

Each of the questionable organic shipments of corn and soybeans examined by The Post passed through Turkey, a country whose organic exports have provoked criticism from international authorities.

In 2013, for example, a report by the Research Institute of Organic Agriculture found that half of European importers and Turkish handlers had detected pesticide residue on organic products from Turkey.

The United States has seen large spikes in the amount of organic corn and soybeans entering from Turkey, according to USDA statistics. Between 2014 and 2016, the amount of organic corn arriving from Turkey rose from 15,000 metric tons to more than 399,000 metric tons; the amount of organic soybeans coming from Turkey rose from 14,000 metric tons to 165,000. (The three shipments examined by The Post represent roughly 7percent of annual organic corn imports and 4percent of organic soybean imports.)

Such sudden jumps in organic food production draw scrutiny because the organic transition process is slow it can take three years for conventional land to be converted into organic farmland.

Where did all this big production come from? Where are these organic farmers? Miles McEvoy, chief of the USDAs organic program, said to a group of U.S. organic farmers earlier this year.

The rise of imports has helped drop prices by more than 25percent, hurting U.S. organic farmers, many of them small operations.

My neighbor, small farm, lost $30,000 last year on 100 acres of organic corn, said OFARMs Bobbe. In fact, theres so much coming in, were finding buyers who wont take any corn.

To piece together the three questionable shipments, The Post was given records of the transactions by an industry expert who requested anonymity because they may conflict with the mandates of his employer. The documents included company invoices, shipping records and health certificates accompanying the shipments. Warehouse operators, importers, exporters and Ukrainian officials verified key documents and added details.

The first of the shipments arrived at the port of Wilmington in Delaware a year ago. It consisted of 46million pounds of organic corn.

The Romanian company that provided the corn is not a certified organic company, and receipts show that the corn was initially purchased at the conventional price, not the organic one.

The shipper is listed as Hakan Organics, a Dubai-based company with operations in Turkey.

Hakan Organics is listed as an organic handler in good standing with the USDA.

The first intended customer for the corn, Perdue Agribusiness, asked for additional paperwork and then refused to accept the shipment, because we could not confirm all the proper documentation that Perdue requires, a company spokesman said.

The Post could not determine who ended up purchasing the organic corn.

Since then, Perdue has not received any shipments from Hakan Organics, a Perdue spokesman said.

Hakan Organics continued to ship agricultural products to the United States.

Hakan Bahceci, the chief executive of Hakan, indicated by email that he would answer questions but then did not respond further.

The second shipment, the soybeans from Ukraine and Turkey, arrived aboard the Four Diamond at the port of Stockton in December 2016.

A set of health certificates that accompanied the soybeans allowed The Post to trace the soybeans from California back to Turkey and to their origin in Ukraine.

The health certificates and associated receipts indicate that they were not really organic. For one thing, the soybeans were fumigated with tablets of aluminum phosphide, a pesticide prohibited under organic regulations; some of the soybeans originated from ADM Ukraine, a company that does not produce or trade organic soybeans and did not sell or label them as such, a company spokeswoman said; and finally, the soybeans were originally priced at the level of conventional soybeans.

Invoices and other documents for those soybeans showed that they were originally priced at about $360 per ton. By the time they reached the United States, the price reached almost $600 per ton.

Global Natural, the Annapolis-based firm that was marketing the soybeans in the United States, said it has stopped selling all potentially affected product. Company officials declined to answer further questions.

The importer of the soybeans is Agropex International.

Ashley Anderson, who is listed as the president of Agropex International, insisted that the soybeans that arrived in Stockton are legitimately organic.

The third shipment involved 46million pounds of organic corn that sailed from Romania to Turkey and then to Baltimore, arriving in March.

The Romanian producers of the corn, a company called Belor, is not a certified organic company and sold the corn at conventional prices, according to receipts. But by the time the corn from Romania reached the United States, it was labeled organic. Its price had risen 72percent. As with the cargo aboard the Four Diamond, the value of the shipment increased by millions.

Dennis Minnaard of DFI Organics said his company had been set to buy some of the corn but rejected the shipment because the broker did not take away our doubts about its authenticity.

Yet that organic corn continued to be marketed to other customers, according to industry officials who spoke on the condition of anonymity because of the private nature of the deals.

With the complex supply chain of organic grain, McEvoy, the USDA official, told concerned farmers at the Midwest Organic and Sustainable Education Service conference earlier this year, there are challenges.

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The labels said 'organic.' But these massive imports of corn and ... - Washington Post

The reply by the Agri-Food and Veterinary Authority (Certificate required to prove food is organic; May 8) to the letter (Who checks on claims of foods being organic?; April 29) raises even more concerns and questions on the authenticity of food labelled and sold as organic in Singapore.

I have seen organic corn that is supposed to be grown locally, but there was no mention on the label as to who certified that farm to be organic.

A conventional farm needs to undergo three years of stringent and expensive checks by certifying bodies in order to be qualified as organic.

There are organic vegetables in our supermarkets that are imported from as far as Holland and Peru, aside from Australia, Malaysia and Thailand.

So my questions are:

Is it not possible for a certified organic farm to produce a small amount of organic food for show and authentication purposes, but then supply many tonnes more from an adjacent non-organic farm and lump them all together as organic?

Is it not possible for the suppliers to Singapore supermarkets to import a small amount of certified organic produce, and then mix this with non-organic produce and label all as organic? Who checks on this aspect and how is it done?

As an agronomist, I can safely say that it is technically and agronomically near-impossible to produce truly organic food consistently, season after season and year after year, and in large amounts.

This is especially true in the tropics where pressures from diseases and pests are extremely high, as there are no cold winters to break their life cycles. The limited arsenal of organic pesticides is not robust and efficacious enough.

The AVA says original organic certificates are needed for verification and even then, "when required".

This can certainly lead to fraudulent behaviour along the organic food supply chain.

The AVA needs to have a more drilled-down and robust system to ensure the organic food that consumers are paying for is indeed organic.

Liew Ching Seng

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More stringent checks needed on organic food - The Straits Times

LONDON--(BUSINESS WIRE)--As the popularity of organic food continues to grow, so too will the challenges associated with maintaining organic food supply chains. Organic food supply chains are too often faced with heavy pressure to increase their output to keep up with consumer demand for organic food products, and supply chain management is becoming increasingly complicated.

This is according to SpendEdge, in their blog titled Challenges in Maintaining Organic Food Supply Chains.

A major hindrance to supply chains, says SpendEdge, is the complexity and risk that comes with organic farming. They say, In addition to the real physical risks posted by the increased threats of pests and other crop-destroying influences, its costly and time-consuming for farmers to convert to organic farming. In the US, land used for organic farming cannot have had prohibited substances, including many pesticides, used on it for a period of 36 months before produce grown on it can be sold as organic. There are less organic farmers than non-organic farmers, and that it is more of a challenge to find reliable and steady suppliers of truly organic produce that can meet industry demands.

SpendEdge continues, The seasonality of certain organic crops and the inability to grow sufficient amounts to meet customer demands in specific regions is also a challenge for the supply chain Often, businesses will have to use multiple suppliers in order to procure all of the ingredients, crops, or products that they need.

For more insights, get in touch with SpendEdge procurement market intelligence experts

Businesses must optimize their food supply chains and procurement strategies in order to remain successful and generate profits from organic food products.

Read the entire blog here: https://www.spendedge.com/blogs/challenges-maintaining-organic-food-supply-chains

More information on the latest procurement trends and how Fortune 500 companies are adopting procurement intelligence to their advantage can be found using resources from SpendEdge. These resources are compiled from SpendEdges team of 500+ procurement solutions experts.

About SpendEdge

SpendEdge shares your passion for driving sourcing and procurement excellence. We are a preferred market intelligence partner for leading Fortune 500 firms and other leading companies across a variety of industries. Our strength lies in delivering actionable insights that help sourcing and procurement professionals get the right information in the right format, without any unnecessary frills.

Our procurement market intelligence coverage extends across critical processes of sourcing strategy planning and helps clients achieve more than just monetary savings. Our procurement insights are well-defined to meet the information needs of procurement organizations, and are aimed at helping category managers extract hidden values out of sourcing teams, suppliers, contracts, and processes.

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Organic Food Supply Chain Management Becoming More Complex ... - Business Wire (press release)

Emily Drooby

May 12th 2017 11:34AM

There are several reasons why it's best to buy organic, but buying organic may not always be best!

You might be used to paying extra for avocado, but don't buy organic. According to Cheat Sheet, their thick skin protects them from pesticides.

The same goes for pineapple, cantaloupe, and kiwis. Lisa Lee Freeman, a savings expert at Flipp, says never buy organic seafood either -- because organic seafood is farmed, not caught, wild-caught fish is healthier.

Pests don't like the bitter taste of asparagus, so it's less likely to need pesticide protection. It's also why Cheat Sheet suggests not buying organic onions.

So, what should you buy? Freeman suggests buying grass-fed meat.

Related: Food shopping on a budget

26 PHOTOS

How to Buy Organic Foods on a Budget

See Gallery

The Environmental Working Group has identified 12 fruits and vegetables you should be buying organic and 12 fruits and vegetables that are least likely to be contaminated with pesticide residues.

Peaches: Buy Organic

Image Credit: Stuart Minzey/ Getty Images

Apples: Buy Organic

Image Credit: Digital Vision/ Getty Images

Sweet Bell Peppers: Buy Organic

Image Credit: Steve Wisbauer/ Getty Images

Celery: Buy Organic

Image Credit: Ursula Alter/ Getty Images

Nectarines: Buy Organic

Image Credit: Rosemary Calvert/ Getty Images

Strawberries: Buy Organic

Image Credit: Lew Robertson/ Getty Images

Cherries: Buy Organic

Image Credit: Chris Stein/ Getty Images

Pears: Buy Organic

Image Credit: Sasha Bell/ Getty Images

Grapes: Buy Organic

Image Credit: Echo/ Getty Images

Spinach: Buy Organic

Image Credit: Rob MacDougall/ Getty Images

Lettuce: Buy Organic

Image Credit: Visuals Unlimited Inc./ Inga Spence/ Getty Images

Potatoes: Buy Organic

Image Credit: Adam Gault/ Getty Images

Papaya: Don't Buy Organic

Image Credit: Riou/ Getty Images

Broccoli: Don't Buy Organic

Image Credit: Mint Images/Tim Pannell/ Getty Images

Cabbage: Don't Buy Organic

Image Credit: Mint Images/ Tim Pannell/ Getty Images

Bananas: Don't Buy Organic

Image Credit: Andrew Dernie/ Getty Images

Kiwi: Don't Buy Organic

Image Credit: Paul Frederiksen Jr./ Getty Images

Frozen Sweet Peas: Don't Buy Organic

Image Credit: Kroeger Gross/ Getty Images

Asparagus: Don't Buy Organic

Image Credit: Bill Deering/ Getty Images

Mango: Don't Buy Organic

Image Credit: Rosemary Calvert/ Getty Images

Pineapple: Don't Buy Organic

Image Credit: Rosemary Calvert/ Getty Images

Frozen Corn: Don't Buy Organic

Image Credit: Richard Clark/ Getty Images

Avocado: Don't Buy Organic

Image Credit: Rick Lew/ Getty Images

Onions: Don't Buy Organic

Image Credit: Phillip Hayson/ Getty Images

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7 foods you should never buy organic - AOL

Dive Brief:

Organic grain-based food producers are struggling to keep up with U.S. consumer demand, according to Food Business News.

Suppliers of organic wheat, yeast, dough strengtheners, oils and other ingredients have implemented strategies to boost acreage and specialty ingredient production, but organic demand is so strong that hardly any domestically grown organic wheat, corn or soybeans is exported.

Organic food sales are expected to see a CAGR of 7.6% to 2025, according to Rabobank figures although it warns the lack of an established supply chain could restrict further growth. John David Roeg, senior consumer foods analyst for Rabobank said:Food producers should increase their focus on organic, through new products and brands, or through the reformulation of existing products to help grow their top lines. This will also help them to position themselves as responsible businesses.

There is now more organic farming in the United States than ever before. The number of organic operations increased 12% in 2015 from the prior year, according to USDA figures, and is up nearly 300% since 2002. However, farms classified as organic still account for just 0.7% of the total operations in the U.S.

The main problem for farmers is that converting from conventional to organic farmland is time consuming and expensive. It takes at least three years, during which time farmers must use organic practices but are not paid organic prices.

There are plenty of incentives for U.S. farmers to make the switch to organic farming, including the USDAs Environmental Quality Incentives Program (EQIP)which offers first-time organic farmers technical assistance as well as a one-off payment that varies by region. Food manufacturers and retailers also have put programs in place as they struggle to meet their needs for organic ingredients and products. Stonyfield Farms, Organic Valley, Whole Foods and Natures Path Foods are among those who have offered grants and technical assistance to farmers in an effort to boost supply.

For many manufacturers it is often a challenge to source organic ingredients, whether they be specialty ingredients like organic herbs and spices, which may not be grown in the U.S., or mainstream commodity crops like wheat. Digital platforms have been set up to help, such as GreenTrade.net or Mercaris Auction Platform, which claims to have traded 280,000 bushels of organic grain so far this year more than what was traded during the whole of 2016.

The Organic Trade Association also provides a range of resources for suppliers and manufacturers alike, including pricing and market data, and a directory of certified organic suppliers.Shortages of some organic products have cause price spikes. In some cases, livestock producers, hungry for organic feeds, have imported it from overseas because they can't find enough domestically.

Some grocery stores and restaurants have worked closely with farmers and ranchers to give them an idea as to how much of the product they will need in the future. Wal-Mart, for example, works with farmers and other suppliers to outline its organic needs several years in advance..Elevation Burger, which sells organic, grass-fed, free-range beef, shares information like growth projections and store openings with its suppliers.

Top image credit: Food Dive

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Growing demand for organic ingredients leads to supply challenges - Food Dive