Going organic

By Daily Press staff

Whole Foods Market, a natural and organic supermarket, is donating $84,695 to the Organic Farming Research Foundation (OFRF).

The money was raised through a regional Community Day held Aug. 16, in which 5 percent of the day’s net sales at 24 Whole Foods Market stores in Southern California, Arizona and Nevada were earmarked for the donation.

Whole Foods Market’s donation to OFRF will support: research to establish best practices for weed management, organic dairy systems and soil fertility on organic farms; policy work to increase federal funding for organic systems and transition research; dissemination of educational materials and results of OFRF-funded research projects to the nation’s 10,000 organic farmers.

Since 1990, the farmer-led OFRF board of directors has awarded more than 200 grants totaling more than $1.5 million in support of organic farming research and education projects. The foundation’s grant-making emphasizes grower-researcher collaboration through studies conducted on working organic farms and certified organic research land, as well as sharing of project results with other farmers and researchers to advance the state of the art of organic farming systems. OFRF grants also support educational projects to improve farmer access to science-based and field-validated organic farming information and practices.