Dive Brief:
- The USDA is seeking a private contractor to create and maintain an interactive database for the roughly 30,000 farms and processors that are certified to use the USDA Organic seal.
- The goal is to replace the existing list, which is updated only once a year, with something closer to real-time capability.
- Other features in the database would include a "visualization map" that would let suppliers see at a glance what certified providers are in a geographic region.
Dive Insight:
There may not be anyone who would object to replacing the list maintained by the USDA’s National Organic Program (NOP) with something more modern. That's especially true given the soaring popularity of the seal among consumers, growers, and food processors.