So, You Want to Start an Organic Farming Business
With growing worries in recent years over the effects of pesticides on our health and the safety of our food supply, people are turning more and more towards organically grown food. This is making organic farming a growing business. The resources in this webguide are intended to help someone interested in starting an organic farming business.
National Organic Program - This brochure, produced by the National Organic Program, which is part of the USDA, gives information on what organic food is and how to identify organic food in the grocery store.
Organic Food - This information, from Howstuffworks.com, focuses on the basics of organic food. It offers general information on organic food, including how it is grown, how it compares to conventional food, and whether it is better than conventional food or not.
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Agricultural Marketing Service - Part of the National Organic Program, this site offers information on the USDA's organic program. Includes links to information on certifying agents, consumer information, NOP regulations and guidelines, producers, handlers, processors, and retailers, and state and cost share information.
National Organics Standards Board - NOSB makes recommendations to the government about organic standards. (These standards do not become official until adopted by the USDA.)
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Organic Trade Association - Focuses on the organic business community in North America. Offers information on the organization, organic business related news, directories, and organic facts, among other things. Some parts of the site are restricted to members.
Sustainable Business.com - Focuses on all types of sustainable businesses. Follows stocks related to sustainable businesses, offers insider information, business connections, and a resource directory. Also offers a list of daily news links.
Organic Marketing Resources - Marketing resources targeted towards organic farmers. Contains information and links to federal crop insurance for organic farmers, sources of organic market price information, retailers, directories, and other pertinent sources.
Food Entrepreneur Resources - From Penn State. Offers a list of links containing information people should know before getting in to food processing and links to resources for starting a food business. Links not just related to Pennsylvania, but for all over the country.
Sustainable Agriculture Research and Education - The Sustainable Agriculture Research and Education group provides grants and information for organic farmers. They also have pages on the site offering information for researcher, educators, and consumers, and has information on Community Supported Agriculture programs.
Organic Price Index - This is a resource for organic farmers which tracks the price of organic products around the United States. Farmers are able to view those prices, thus allowing them to price their products in a competitive way.
Community Supported Agriculture Resources for Farmers - This list, produced by the USDA's Agricultural Library, covers publications dealing with the business aspects of CSA farming. Most of the listings for these resources contain links which will either take the user to the resource itself, or to a website where it can be purchased or downloaded.
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Community Supported Agriculture - This site offers a thorough overview of Community Supported Agriculture programs. It also offers a list of farms and farm profiles from CSA farms in the New England area.
Local Harvest - This site has a variety of resources aimed at helping who want to buy organic produce and organic farmers get together, including information on Community Supported Agriculture programs, farmers markets, and other related outlets. Organic farmers, retailers, and restaurateurs can become members of the site, thus allowing potential customers to learn about them.
Organic Consumer's Association - Links to information about organics, genetic information, health information, food safety, fair trade, and farm issues. Lots of basic background information about organic food and organic food production.
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Who Owns What - From the Canadian Organic Growers and the Certified Organic Associations of BC, this site offers a chart that shows what major North American corporations own what organic subsidiary companies. Also offers news article links dealing with corporate organic food ownership.
Organic Farming Research Foundation - Offers information to organic farmers about what is going on in the government dealing with organic farming. Has links to grant information for farmers. Part of the site deals with advocacy for farmers and supporters.
The Cornucopia Institute - The Cornucopia Institute works to help promote economic justice for the family-scale farming community. They also act as a corporate watchdog through their Organic Integrity Project to ensure that no one compromises organic standards and farming practices in favor of profit.
The Organic Center - The stated goal of the Organic Center is "To generate credible, peer reviewed scientific information and communicate the verifiable benefits of organic farming and products to society." They offer information about organics on a number of different topics, including antioxidants, healthy development, and pesticides.
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Compiled by Anne Marie Martin, April, 2007. For questions or comments, please e-mail Anne Marie.