The threat that climate change poses to our world, our ecosystem and our health demands bold policy solutions, and, as the devastating impacts of a warming Earth mount, the push for the development of robust and comprehensive federal climate policy is gaining traction. Organic agriculture can be a part of the solution and help tackle climate change through its ability to reduce greenhouse gas emissions, store away huge amounts of carbon, and enable farmers to be resilient in an evolving climate.
USA’s Organic Trade Association (OTA) today released a major report on organic and its ability to mitigate climate change, identifying policy opportunities to elevate the role of organic in the climate change discussion, support organic farmers and encourage transition to organic farming. Reflecting close dialogue with organic stakeholders and the association’s membership, the white paper, “Advancing Organic to Mitigate Climate Change,” incorporates the key principles identified by the OTA’s Board of Directors to achieve meaningful climate policy solutions.
The trade association also recently announced the launch of a Climate Task Force, open to all OTA members. The task force will amplify the OTA’s voice in climate policy discussions by advocating for policies that address the association’s core principles and sharing recommendations with lawmakers and key stakeholders.
Avi Garbow, OTA Board member and Environmental Advocate for Patagonia Works said, “Our climate crisis is real, is immediate, and affects us all. It is clear that urgent action is needed to help us mitigate and adapt to this crisis. While the nation’s conventional agricultural sector’s emissions and practices contribute to our worsening climate, there is a time-tested climate solution that regenerates our soils, nourishes our communities, and safeguards our environment from harmful synthetic chemicals: organic agriculture.”
Garbow, a nationally recognized environmental leader who served as the General Counsel at the Environmental Protection Agency from 2013-2017, added, ”The OTA, through the work of its members, the Climate Task Force and its research and analysis, will ensure that organic is well-positioned to play a leading and cost-effective role in stemming and ultimately reversing the effects of our changing climate.”
Organic priorities in the climate change fight
Organic agriculture provides a critical opportunity to mitigate climate change and at the same time create economic, environmental and health benefits for all those involved in our food system–from the grower and the processor, to the distributor and the consumer. But although public and private initiatives to support organic as a climate mitigation tool exist, stronger federal support is needed for organic to reach its full potential to fight against climate change.
The OTA’s Board of Directors early this year determined that organic had to be elevated in the climate change policy discussions that are increasingly taking place in the halls of Congress, in government offices, in corporate boardrooms. The Board also agreed that the OTA, as the leading voice in the nation for the organic sector, should spearhead the effort to advance organic as a solution to climate change and to protect organic from the risk of climate change. A climate task force consisting of seven Board members was formed with the goal of developing principles for good climate policy to guide organic’s engagement in climate policy discussions.
In June at the association’s annual meeting, the Board unanimously endorsed ten principles for climate policy. The OTA will engage in smart climate policy solutions that:
1. Advance organic agriculture. Any policy that addresses the role of climate change in food and agriculture should advance the opportunity for organic to be a climate change solution, allow organic to be successful, and not undermine organic.
2. Are science-based, data-driven and verifiable. Policy solutions should be based on and supported by science and data, with strong verification measures to meaningfully reduce agriculture’s impact on climate change.
3. Focus on outcomes and continuous improvement. Policies should reward the outcomes of good agricultural practices and enable a system of continuous improvement that achieves specific positive outcomes over time.
4. Promote soil health and carbon sequestration. Improving soil health is an important and central component in addressing agriculture’s role in climate change. Policies should include provisions for advancing soil health and carbon sequestration. .
5. Lower the use of fossil-fuel based chemicals: Chemical fertilisers and pesticides are a key source of greenhouse gas emissions in agriculture. Climate policies should minimize the use of and eliminate the dependency on fossil-fuel based inputs, especially synthetic nitrogen fertilisers.
6. Provide solutions for mitigation and adaptation: Policies should provide the resources to not only mitigate the impacts of climate change but also help the agricultural sector adapt to a changing climate.
7. Incentivise farmers and businesses: Farmers should not have to bear the brunt when making transformational changes. Public and private sector programs should provide tools and resources to achieve outcomes through market-based incentives or financial payments that encourage conservation practices or ecosystem services.
8. Decarbonise the economy: Policies that increase greenhouse gas emissions or rollback progress in decarbonising the economy and reducing emissions should be opposed.
9. Foster agricultural diversity and innovation: Climate policies should foster diversity and innovation in farming systems, and provide incentives for increasing diversity in cropping systems.
10. Address equity and inclusion: Policies should address the environmental and economic inequities caused by climate change, and include ways to support disadvantaged communities in adapting to climate change.
“Among the many threats posed by the climate crisis, perhaps the greatest is the potential it has to impact food production. The good news is that organic farmers are already focused on building soil health and eliminating the use of synthetic fertilisers, two steps that can help agriculture shift from being a source of greenhouse gas emissions to being a net sink. At Stonyfield we are excited to be working with the OTA’s Climate Change Task Force on advancing organic agriculture as a climate change solution. The climate change principles adopted by the association provide a roadmap for how federal policy can support climate mitigation and adaptation in agriculture,” Britt Lundgren, Director of Organic and Sustainable Agriculture at Stonyfield Farm and member of the association’s Board.
Recommendations to support organic’s battle on climate change
Incorporating the OTA’s guiding principles to fight climate change, the new white paper offers specific recommendations for policymakers to support organic farmers and encourage transition to organic farming as a key strategy for climate change mitigation.
“As a company that has made organic food for over 30 years, Amy’s has witnessed firsthand the inherent benefits of organic agriculture on the health of the planet. The OTA’s Climate Change White Paper, through scientific research, provides a practical set of policy recommendations to make organic agriculture a bigger and more meaningful part of the climate change solution. We look forward to seeing the positive impact of this important work,” said Paul Schiefer, Senior Director of Sustainability at Amy’s Kitchen and member of the association’s Board of Directors.
Specific policy recommendations in the white paper include:
- Elevating organic as a key voice in climate-smart agricultural policy;
- Establishing a national program to support transitioning organic farmers by reducing financial risks, improving market infrastructure development and increasing access to land;
- Developing a competitive grant program to provide technical services to organic and transitioning farmers to create better access to information about organic production methods that sequester greenhouse gases and improve crop yields;
- Creating a federal Healthy Soils pilot program, based on existing programs at USDA’s Natural Resources Conservation Service and the California Healthy Soils Initiative.
Doug Crabtree, Montana organic farmer and member of the OTA Board of Directors, said, “Extreme weather variability, caused by climate change, is the greatest challenge facing farmers. The (over)use of synthetic nitrogen fertilisers is agriculture’s most egregious contribution to climate change. Organic farmers demonstrate that farming systems can be productive, profitable and a significant part of the solution to climate change by avoiding synthetic nitrogen, building soil organic matter and sequestering carbon in the soil. I am proud that our trade association is taking the lead on illustrating the key role of organic food and farming in managing climate change.”
Laura Batcha, CEO and Executive Director of the OTA, “US communities, economies and ecosystems are under threat from climate change. Federal policies can help advance organic as a key solution by encouraging the adoption of organic practices and maximising benefits for mitigating climate change. The Organic Trade Association and our members stand ready to engage and support federal lawmakers in advancing these recommendations.”
