We’re honored to partner with established research institutions, universities, and non-profits in the pursuit and achievement of sound science for the public good. Our research empowers consumers and helps strengthen and expand sustainable farming to make organic even better.

The science supporting organic is (in)credible.

Projects

The Benefits of Organic Spices, Herbs, and Teas
The Benefits of Organic Spices, Herbs, and Teas Spices and teas are unique because many are grown outside of the United States and imported for consumption. Extra steps must be taken abroad to uphold...
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Challenges and Opportunities for U.S. Organic Rice
Challenges and Opportunities for U.S. Organic Rice  Demand in the U.S. for organic rice exceeds domestic supply encouraging significant competition from imports. While there is substantial potential...
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Developing Food Safety Tools and Training for Organic Produce Farms
Food producers follow important safety rules that protect consumers from illness, yet many organic farmers face insurmountable financial barriers and other obstacles in meeting food safety...
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Agrochemicals, Racism, and Social Justice
The history of pesticide manufacturing and use in the United States reveals an enduring legacy of environmental racism against communities of color and their collective action for environmental...
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Organic Training for Agricultural Professionals Prize
The "Organic Training for Agricultural Professionals" prize recognizes extraordinary contributions to training farming community groups, farmer-leaders, and agricultural professionals in organic...
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Organic Center-FFAR joint Organic Research Program
The “Organic Center-FFAR joint Organic Research Program” supports innovative research that will have the biggest impact on bringing organic into the future. For 2022, the research should focus on...
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Calculator: Avoiding Agricultural Chemicals in Dairy
The use of synthetic chemicals in conventional farming has skyrocketed over the last decade, causing a cascade of environmental and human health problems. Choosing organic dairy at the grocery store...
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Strategic partnerships to build a scaffolding for prioritizing research projects to address the top needs of the organic community 
The Organic Center partnered with the Foundation for Food and Agriculture Research (FFAR) to look at research priorities within the organic community READ THE CONVENING OUTCOMES READ THE ADDENDUM...
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Protecting Organic Farmers from Pesticides
Over the past 20 years the use of pesticides in conventional agriculture has skyrocketed, leading to widespread contamination of non-target areas, including organic farms.  While the organic...
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Benefits and Risks of Integrating Livestock Into Crops
This project is funded by the USDA Specialty Crop Multi-State Program grant to look at the benefits of livestock integration through cover-crop grazing on bacterial population dynamics, soil building...
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The Effects of Organic Farming Practices on Nitrogen Pollution
The Organic Center collaborated with Professor James Galloway’s team at the University of Virginia to investigate the effect of different farming systems on nitrogen pollution. Over the last century...
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Soil Health on Organic Farms
The Organic Center collaborated with the University of Maryland to review the science that evaluates organic methods for building soil health.      Healthy soils are essential for resilient crop...
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