Reginald’s seed money is just one example of the type of research being funded by the OFRF, according to Don Burgett.
Individual farmers, groups of farmers, or graduate students working with scientists can thrive on very small grants, traditionally hard to come by in this field. That’s why the OFRF focuses on small grants. The OFRF has been making such awards for 15 years. Director Don Burgett says, “There is no such thing as a little bit of money.” The OFRF is run by organic farmers and is not a fundraising foundation in the traditional sense. It is a “re-granting” organization, Burgett says. Farmers make up the board of directors. “The farmers on the board view the money as ‘theirs’ and take great pains in how they award it. More than 233 grants totaling $1.5 million have been awarded in this manner. Those awards are then announced to every certified organic farmer in the country.” Funding from such places as Stonyfield Farm and its Profit for the Planet program help the marketing efforts of OFRF, which ultimately help it attract more funders and inform the public on the importance of organics and organic research.
Interest in organics is growing tremendously and the organization sees the results of that growing interest everywhere. Some of the most interesting research, according to Burgett, is happening in Switzerland, where a 30-year study of organic vs. conventional practices is underway. “We are well-positioned to change the world,” Burgett said. “Our ability to step back and plan and question what we’re doing as an organization, and to build alliances, will put it us in a great position to move forward as the world moves forward in organics.” “Because Stonyfield Farm and other visionary companies have used their philanthropic money this way, to market these research programs, we’ve been able to make incredibly efficient use of the funds we have, and we will sustain them for the next generation.” The OFRF has made grants in such areas as organic production methods, organic practices for de-worming sheep, the fight against Genetically Modified Organisms (GMOs) and organic composting methods. “We’ve gotten more complex and multi-dimensional in our activities,” Burgett says. “Organic farmers are now numerous enough and strong enough to impact legislation. They lobbied to pass the first federal Organic Research Act in 1998 and, later, to get the Act funded with $3 million in 2002. In addition to the research, the organization sponsors advocacy programs on organic public policy-making. “We are profoundly passionate about bi-partisan activity,” Burgett said. “Our efforts are getting millions to organic research now,” Burgett says.
Important research in organic dairy farming is happening at Cornell University, with a $1.1 million project that began with an OFRF grant of $30,00 to $50,000 four years ago. “Multi-year, multi-million dollar organic research programs are just very exiting,” Burgett says. “We now have a generation of professional research. It is so important for farmers to know what does and doesn’t work. These kinds of projects will only serve to benefit all of us in the end.” |
