Organic Produce Association Applauds Organic Recognition in the Make Our Children Healthy Again Strategy
September 11, 2025September 11, 2025— On Tuesday, the Make American Healthy Again Commission released the Make Our Children Healthy Again strategy, a national effort to improve child health.
The Organic Produce Association was pleased to see a commitment within the strategy to streamline organic certification processes and reduce costs for small farms transitioning to organic practices. OPA supports this commitment and believes it will help expand access to organic food, support farmers, and ensure that healthy options are more widely available to children and families across the country.
The Organic Produce Association views reevaluating the current three-year organic transition period as a critical step in supporting this new initiative to streamline certification and reduce costs for small farms. While the transition period is essential for maintaining organic integrity, farmers face financial and operational hardships during this phase, as they must adopt organic practices without accessing organic price premiums. The organic industry has transformed significantly since the three-year transition period was implemented, and introducing more flexible, science-based approaches would accelerate the pathway for more producers to enter the organic sector, while protecting USDA’s organic seal, the global gold standard.
Consumer demand for organic products continues to rise, but supply has struggled to keep up, largely due to challenges faced by producers during the transition period. The Organic Produce Association looks forward to working with both Congress and USDA to continue to innovate in the organics program and support new policies that will help more organic farmers provide healthy, affordable food for American families.