National Organic Standards Board gets new members

The USDA has appointed two new members to the National Organic Standards Board (NOSB). Their terms began immediately April 25, 2018.

James Greenwood from California, has been appointed to fill the open environmental protection and resource conservation seat. Greenwood is an organic avocado farmer and handler and has served on the board of directors for the USDA Hass Avocado Board. He has served on the Faculty of the School of Public Health at University of California, Los Angeles where he has been actively engaged with UCLA’s Institute of the environment and sustainability, and the Center for Public Health. Greenwood holds a master’s in public health, a master’s in microbiology and a doctorate degree in microbiology.

Eric Schwartz, also from California, has been appointed to fill the open organic handling seat. Schwartz serves as the chief executive officer for the United Vegetable Growers Cooperative. Before that, he served in a number of roles at Dole, including as senior vice president for operations. He served on several panels and boards, including the California Healthy Soils Initiative, and co-chaired the start-up of the California Leafy Greens Marketing Agreement. Schwartz also served as a board member for the Arizona Leafy Greens Marketing Agreement. He has been involved in different aspects of organic growing, harvesting and processing for over twenty years. He holds a bachelors in Logistics Management from Penn State University.

The National Organic Standards Board (NOSB) is a Federal Advisory Board made up of 15 dedicated public volunteers appointed by the U.S. Secretary of Agriculture. The NOSB was established under the Organic Foods Production Act of 1990 and operates in accordance with the Federal Advisory Committee Act (FACA) to assist in developing standards for substances used in organic production and to advise the Secretary on aspects of the National Organic Program.