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| Moyer
brings farming expertise to national organic
board role
Jeff Moyer,
The Rodale Institute’s farm manager,
was recently appointed as a new member of
the National Organic Standards Board (NOSB),
by Agriculture Secretary Mike Johanns. Moyer
has been employed for over 29 years by The
Rodale Institute®, a global leader in
organic research and education.
“We’re honored that Jeff has
been appointed to the NOSB. His years of
practical organic farming experience working
directly with farmers, extension, and researchers
will be a major asset to the Board, and
the entire farming community,” said
John Haberern, president of The Rodale Institute.
“I have been involved in organic
agriculture for many years and plan to bring
to the NOSB the same energy I’ve brought
to the farm manager position here at The
Rodale Institute. Searching for innovative
and creative ways to solve the many problems
and issues facing the organic industry is
a challenge I look forward to tackling,”
said Moyer.
The Rodale Institute is a not-for-profit
educational and research organization committed
to sharing information globally about successful
agricultural solutions to health and environmental
problems. The Rodale Institute has worked
for sixty years to establish and share knowledge
about how to achieve a regenerative food
system that renews environmental and human
health, bringing to life the philosophy
of J. I. Rodale, the founder, that "Healthy
Soil = Health Food = Healthy People®."
--GB
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Posted December 8, 2005 The National
Organic Standards Board (NOSB) got its first executive
director and welcomed six new members this week.
Valerie Frances, who has served as certification director
and marketing coordinator at the Maryland Department
of Agriculture, will begin work in late January. She
will facilitate the work of the NOSB, including handling
its recommendations to the secretary of the USDA.
Jim Riddle, immediate past chair of the NOSB, said
of Frances, “I believe that Valerie understands
the importance of the NOSB serving as the pulse of the
organic community and as a gatekeeper for organic integrity
and consumer confidence. I am confident that Valerie
will do a good job in her new position.”
Riddle, founding chair of the Independent Organic Inspectors
Association (IOIA), is leaving the board this month
at the end of his term. He noted the NOSB spearheaded
work over the past three years to define the executive
director job description and secure funding for it.
Starting five-year terms to replace persons whose terms
have expired are: certifier member Joseph Smillie; consumer/public
interest members Daniel Giacomini, Jennifer Hall and
Katrina Heinze; and producer members Kevin Engelbert
and Jeffrey Moyer.
Giacomini is an independent dairy nutrition consultant
from Middletown, California. Hall, an advocate for anti-hunger
policies, is also an organic consultant to Seattle restaurants.
Heinze is the manager of global regulatory affairs for
General Mills of Minneapolis, Minnesota, where she is
responsible for food safety and regulatory matters.
Engelbert, from Nichols, New York, is a fifth-generation
crop and dairy farmer. Moyer is the farm manager at
The Rodale Institute® in Kutztown, Pennsylvania.
Smillie, of South Burlington, Vermont, is senior vice
president with Quality Assurance International, a USDA-accredited
certifying agent that operates globally to certify organic
operations to National Organic Program (NOP) standards.
The board’s membership is designed to span the
many interests within the organic food and farming sector.
It is authorized by law to make recommendations to the
“national list” of allowed and prohibited
substances, the document used for certification inspections
throughout organic production, processing and packaging
systems. The board may also provide advice on other
aspects of the organic program, such as the current
dialogue on enforcement of access to pasture matters.
The NOSB has 15 members representing all the various
interests of organic producers and consumers (four producers,
two handlers, one retailer, three environmentalists,
three consumers, one scientist, and one certifying agent).
To ensure a broad representation of interests on the
Board, NOP conducted an aggressive nomination search
for the new members, contacting over 11,000 organic
certified organic producers and handlers as well as
numerous farmer groups throughout the nation.
For details on the National Organic Program, visit www.ams.usda.gov/nop.
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