Meet Bruce Kaser, the owner of Pratum Farm in Salem, OR. Since 2019, he's been working hard to get his hazelnut farm certified organic. But in 2022, he discovered something shocking—Turkish 'organic' hazelnuts were being sold in the US at prices barely above conventional ones, pricing him right out of the market. So, he dug deeper. What he found? None of the Turkish farms were certified organic in the USDA database. Yet, they lead the market in 'organic' hazelnut imports. Tracing the source of those hazelnuts in Turkey led to dead ends—car shops and apartment buildings instead of farms! Here's the problem. The USDA allows foreign processors to skip farm inspections under group certifications, inspecting only 2% of these 'organic' farms each year. 100% of farms in the US are inspected. This system, meant to help small farmers, is now exploited by big agri-businesses, and is rife with corruption. That hurts the integrity of the organic label we trust and honest U.S. farmers like Bruce. So he took action and sued the USDA. The case is now in federal court. Until things change, I think we need to treat imported organic foods as if they were conventional. Buy domestic products with the organic seal, but also buy from local farms and farmers' markets even if they don't have the USDA organic seal. I'll take a local farmer's word that they use clean farming practices over that of a corrupt foreign handler. And let's hold our representatives accountable. Reach out to your people in congress through this link. The integrity of our food depends on it. If you want to see all of my reels when they come out, first follow me, then touch the notification bell at the top of my profile, then toggle on reels and posts. See you next time!

Bruce Kaser harvesting organic hazelnuts in Oregon. Photo courtesy of OrganicEye.org. Used by permission.