USDA Conducts “Illegal” Organic Meeting

OrganicEye is demanding transparency in organic labeling and advocating for testing all imports, getting carcinogenic carrageenan out of organic food, and lifting the cloak on corporate agribusinesses hiding behind their certifiers, consultants, and lobbyists. 

The Spring 2026 National Organic Standards Board (NOSB) meeting began on May 5 with its first day of public comments, including testimony from OrganicEye Executive Director Mark Kastel raising concerns about the incomplete composition of the congressionally mandated board.

After making major staff cuts at the National Organic Program, USDA Secretary Brooke Rollins has failed to fill the five open positions on the NOSB. This leaves the board without a third of its members and is in direct conflict with the 1990 Organic Foods Production Act requiring the USDA Secretary to appoint 15 diverse organic stakeholders to review all non-organic materials used in organic farming and food production, along with advising the secretary on implementation of the Act.