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Cost Share Program to Aid Organic Farmers in Florida

Application deadline: October 15, 2008

Florida Certified Organic Growers and Consumers, Inc. (FOG) is accepting applications from certified organic growers and handlers in Florida for reimbursement of up to 75 percent of certification costs, or a maximum of $500 per year. Reimbursement funds will be issued on a first-come, first-served basis for certification costs paid between Oct. 1, 2002 and September 30, 2008. Priority will be given to years when cost share funds were not already made available. The deadline for submitting applications is October 15, 2008.

To qualify for the organic certification cost share reimbursement, a certified operator must have certified organic farm or production facilities in Florida, must hold an organic certificate issued by a USDA accredited certification agency issued between Oct. 1 and Sept. 30 of the year in which reimbursement is requested, and must not have previously received cost share reimbursement for the same period.

The application can be downloaded here: FL Cost Share Application

Posted July 10th, 2008

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Announcing: "Just Organic"™

FOG is participating in a pilot project to test social justice standards intended for use domestically. The objective of this project is to run through a social justice certification process in order to get feedback from all the participants. The information gathered during the pilot project will be used to mold the social justice certification program including the standards. You can view the standards at www.rafiusa.org/pubs/SocialJustice_final.pdf

The social justice standards are detailed in the document entitled "Toward Social Justice and Economic Equity in the Food System: A Call for Social Stewardship Standards in Sustainable and Organic Agriculture" found on the RAFI-USA website at http://www.rafiusa.org/programs/JUSTFOODS.html.

The phrase "Just Organic" is registered service and or certification mark registered as a trademark of Florida Certified Organic Growers and Consumers Inc. for use in certification of socially just agricultural practices. While the standards governing the use of the mark require that the operation certified under the "Just Organic" mark be either certified organic by a USDA accredited organic certifier or an operation who is excluded from the NOP requirement to be certified but otherwise complies with the USDA organic regulations, this certificate is not a certificate of organic certification under the National Organic Program and should not be used as a substitute for verification of the operation's current organic status. For verification of the operation's current organic certification status, please contact the operation or their organic certifier. This certificate only verifies that the operation meets the social justice agriculture standards of the "Just Organic" certification program and that at the time of issuance of this certification the operation was certified organic by a USDA accredited certifier or claimed exemption from the requirement to be certified and compliance with the NOP regulations contained in 7 CFR 205 of the Code of Federal Regulations. For a copy of the "Just Organic" socially just agricultural standards or to obtain more information about the proper use and meaning of this certificate please contact Florida Certified Organic Growers and Consumers Inc. at www.foginfo.org or call (352)377-6345.

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The new FOGhorn Newsletter Summer '06 can be found here

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2005 Survey of Certified Organic Agriculture in Florida released.