Each day at 5 p.m. we collect the five top food and supplement headlines of the day, making it easy for you to catch up on today's most important natural products industry news.

September 21, 2017

2 Min Read
5@5: Wegmans works to advance organic, biodynamic farming | A standard for grass-fed organic dairy
Wegmans

Wegmans growing an army of organic farmers

Wegmans’s New York suppliers are experimenting with ways to grow food without using pesticides—and sharing their learnings with other local farmers. The retailer operates a 50-acre organic farm in Canandaigua as well as a 168-acre organic orchard—where it’s testing biodynamic farming practices—and a vineyard location. Read more at Democrat & Chronicle…

 

Dairy co-ops create new standards for grass-fed organic products

Under a new standard announced Sept. 11 by Organic Valley and likely to go into effect next year, cows who produce certified grass-fed organic dairy will be required to graze at least 150 days a year and not eat any grains at all. The co-op hopes the new third-party certification will be a way for organic, grass-fed products to earn and maintain consumer trust. Read more at Bloomberg…

 

Some growers say the costs of complying with new food safety regulations could put them out of business. The Food Safety Modernization Act’s Produce Rule, which producers are required to comply with by Jan. 26, 2018, subjects fruit and vegetables to the kind of stringent regulations that govern meat, dairy and processed foods. Some worry that FSMA will prevent some small organic farms from being able to scale. Meanwhile, President Trump’s proposal to cut $108 million from the FDA’s 2018 budget could hamper implementation and enforcement. Read more at Modern Farmer…

 

This bedsheets startup is the world’s fastest growing consumer of organic cotton

Cotton is a dirty crop that requires a lot of pesticides to grow. But Scott and Missy Tannen started Boll & Branch in 2013 to build a company that sources only organic cotton from a co-op in India and sells direct through consumer online. The company’s classic aesthetic is winning over not millennials but older consumers across the country, and a new report from the Textile Exchange ranks it as the seventh largest overall consumer of organic cotton. Read more at Fast Company…

 

Falling yogurt sales weigh on General Mills

A double-digit drop in yogurt sales fueled a 4 percent slide in General Mills’ quarterly sales. Cereal sales also slid 7 percent in the quarter, while snack sales fell 2 percent. Read more at MarketWatch…

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