Policy
Recommendations: United States Agriculture Policy
Rodale Institute, a prestigious agricultural research and education nonprofit, is a trusted partner of small-scale family farmers, Fortune 500 companies, and state and federal governments and agencies. The Institute’s practical research and innovative workforce development programs are revitalizing American farming communities and future-proofing U.S. agriculture.
Our Principals
-
Leading the Way on Innovative Agricultural Research
With over 15 scientists conducting practical research at campuses across the United States, the Institute consistently provides actionable data to producers of all scales in real time to improve land management practices. This broad portfolio of work enables the Institute to provide policymakers with relevant information about cutting-edge regenerative organic farming models and best practices for farmers that ensures their success over the long-term and improves both the environmental and economic conditions in farming communities across the country.
-
Investing in the Next Generation of U.S. Farmers
Rodale Institute is rapidly expanding its partnerships with American colleges and universities to broaden access to its practical scientific research and regenerative organic farmer training programs that result in students being workforce-ready in under 12 months. With a specific track for returning U.S. servicemembers transitioning back into civilian life, first-generation farmers, and former conventional farmers, the Institute’s farmer training initiatives have historically met the nation’s need for skills-based training that’s accessible to individuals of all socioeconomic and educational backgrounds. For former servicemembers, the training is particularly meaningful: farming allows them to continue to serve their country and pass the skills they learn onto the next generation. In the years to come, Rodale Institute will invest to further grow America’s pipeline of expert regenerative organic farmers and encourages policymaker’s support of agricultural training initiatives.
-
Supporting Farmers & Market Development within the USDA Certified Organic Sector
Rodale Institute’s Organic Consultancy division provides multi-year on-the-ground training to producers as they transition all or part of their land from conventional to regenerative organic production, enabling them to avoid costly errors as they learn to manage land in accordance with USDA Organic regulations.
The Institute partners with organizations such as the Organic Trade Association (OTA) and Regenerative Organic Alliance (ROA) to support farmers in the marketplace.
As part of Rodale Institute’s collaborative efforts with OTA, The Institute’s innovative organic consulting division provides training and market development assistance to producers across the nation while OTA manages and oversees activities that support market development for organic products, facilitates the matching of organic producers and suppliers, and educates handlers in effective ways of dealing with organic products. This project is part of the USDA’s efforts to “build new and better markets and streams of income for farmers and producers.”
Learn more about our Consulting division here.
Improving the lives of farmers is a key priority of Rodale Institute. With the help of our partners, Patagonia and Dr. Bronner’s, we collectively founded the Regenerative Organic Alliance (ROA) and Regenerative Organic Certified (ROC) seal. ROC is a revolutionary global certification for food, fiber, and personal care ingredients that represents the highest standard for organic agriculture in the world, with stringent requirements for soil health, animal welfare, and social fairness. ROC uses the USDA Certified Organic standard as a baseline. From there, it adds important criteria and benchmarks that incorporate the three major pillars of regenerative organic agriculture into one certification. The certification fills a critical need in the industry: a transparent way to verify a brand’s commitment to regenerative organic agricultural practices.
-
Transforming Healthcare
The disconnection between our food and medical systems challenges the healthcare sector. For example, the increased industrialization of the global food system has led to epidemic levels of lifestyle-related diseases. In the United States, some in the medical community are looking for alternatives to pharmaceutical interventions to treat lifestyle-related chronic illnesses. But there’s a gap in knowledge that disincentives some doctors prescribing what is often referred to as “food as medicine.” At Rodale Institute, we’re investing in programming that fills this gap as we recognize physicians need new tools to improve human health such as practical knowledge about how nutrient-dense diets can improve outcomes for certain patients. The Institute’s experts share their research and successful programmatic initiatives with policymakers in order to expand access to this revolutionary model of care.