2018 was a relatively quiet year for manufacturers of organic food, fiber and other non-food categories with the exception of a historical change to the allowance of natural flavors used in organic products, a mile marker precedent set by the Federal Trade Commission and a handful of amendments made to the National List of Allowed and Prohibited Substances.

World pesticide use has reached nearly 6 billion pounds per year, with the United States alone accounting for over 20% of that use. The Environmental Protection Agency has registered and approved almost 1,400 pesticides with over 900 active ingredients for use in the U.S. The majority are used on conventional farms in the form of synthetic herbicides, insecticides, fungicides, and fumigants.

2018 was a significant year for organic livestock producers. Although two landmark practices standards were withdrawn, NOP conducted a broad range of National List revisions to expand the options for health care treatments for organic livestock.

I am asked with some regularity about whether e-commerce will obliterate the grocery store as we know it. I wouldn’t bet on it. It is true that food retailers have not (yet) seen the same kind of disruption owing to convenience seeking and showrooming behaviors that other types of merchants face. Meal kit services have made a big splash and gotten more folks cooking, but I wonder if people keep the training wheels on once they become comfortable in the kitchen.

Some 200 organic stakeholders gathered this spring in Washington, D.C., for the Organic Trade Association’s 2018 Policy Conference to talk about the future of organic, and their roles in that future. Meeting in the historic National Press Building where for almost 100 years journalists have heard from American presidents and lawmakers, foreign heads of state, business titans and international celebrities, the organic advocates had a lot on their minds.