This episode provides valuable insights for anyone interested in the future direction of organic agriculture, food policy and changing consumer trust patterns in the natural products industry.
Co-host Adrienne Smith welcomes guest Douglas Brown, senior retail reporter at New Hope Network, to discuss his first-time experience at Organic Week 2025 in Washington, DC. The conversation explores the evolving organic landscape as the Organic Trade Association celebrates its 40th anniversary amid political gridlock and changing consumer expectations.
The discussion also delves into how organic must improve its storytelling to compete with regenerative agriculture's appeal, the growing importance of nutrient density metrics and how younger consumers experiencing "badge fatigue" are seeking transparency beyond traditional certifications.
Doug and Adrienne look at organic's balancing act between honoring its roots and staying relevant to new consumers and discuss how emerging technologies in farming, including AI applications like weed-picking robots and ripeness scanners, could fit into the industry.
In this episode:
1:20 – How has the DC food scene changed in the past 10 years?
2:00 - East coast vs West coast seafood debate
2:55 - Doug shares takeaways from his first time at Organic Week in DC.
3:20 - Organic continues to mature as a regulated sector and still strives to honor its roots. Big discussions around how to keep things lively and engaging for new consumers while still working in a highly regulated sector.
3:59 - The OTA celebrates 40 years!
4:29 – There was much discussion around trying to keep organic relevant in the face of uncertainty and political gridlock.
4:50 – Organic advocates and lawmakers are still fighting for the Farm Bill to be passed amidst political change and deadlock.
5:30 – There is tension and opportunity for organic growth with the emergence of regenerative and new consumer expectations.
6:03 – Regenerative has done a great job of storytelling, an opportunity for organic to improve storytelling for newer consumers and stay top of mind. Discussion around nutrient density and how newer consumers are beginning to look for that.
8:15 – There are new players on the organic scene; Many political players were not around when organic regulations were created or when the last Farm Bill was passed (2018).
9:20 – The OTA is insistent on working with lawmakers to ensure that everything needed gets included in this upcoming Farm Bill.
9:45 – Goal of the OTA at Organic Week: Investments in domestic supply chains so farmers don’t face bottlenecks.
10:06 - Goal of the OTA at Organic Week: Passing the Organic Imports Verification Act, to protect the integrity of the organic seal for products grown in other countries
10:34 - Goal of the OTA at Organic Week: Keep stable funding for the National Organic Program, who is responsible for organic regulatory enforcement. If no one is enforcing the organic regulations, the seal crumbles.
11:04 – Goal of the OTA at Organic Week: Discussion around the Farm Workforce Modernization Act, which aims to address the labor issues that are specific to organic agriculture. In conventional agriculture, machines do much of the work, but in organic agriculture, more farm labor is needed. The organic industry
12:35 – AI’s opportunity for farming: Robots picking weeds, targeted application of pesticides, scanners that will tell you when your avocado will be ripe
16:43 – Half of baby food is certified USDA organic, and parents expect that as a baseline, showing a large cultural shift from years past.
17:09 – Younger consumers are experiencing “badge fatigue” and don’t automatically trust the USDA organic seal. They want transparency and are leaning towards The Clean Label Project’s heavy metal testing seal. Trust is moving from regulatory seals to proof of performance metrics.
18:41 – Discussions around outcomes-based testing for regenerative farming vs. rules/regulatory systems like the organic industry made some attendees skeptical.
19:45 – Like and subscribe via YouTube, Spotify or Apple Podcasts. We’ll see you next week!
