Francis Thicke earned the Ph.D. in Agronomy/Soil Fertility from the University of Illinois (1988), a Master’s degree in Soil Science from the University of Minnesota (1984) and a Bachelor’s degree in Music and Philosophy from Winona State College (1972). An organic farmer for over 30 years, Dr. Thicke currently operates an 80-cow, certified organic dairy in Fairfield, Iowa, producing milk, cream, yogurt, and cheese for sale at local grocery stores and restaurants. He has been active in many organic and environmental organizations including the Iowa Environmental Protection Commission, the Leopold Group Sierra Club in Southeast Iowa, Food Democracy Now, the Organic Farming Research Foundation, and the Midwest Organic and Sustainable Education Service, which named him the 2012 Farmer of the Year. He is a current member of the Cornucopia Institute’s Policy Advisory Panel.
What Does “Organic” Mean?
There are two important things that I have learned during my five years on the National Organic Standards Board (NOSB). First, I learned that the NOSB review process for materials petitioned for inclusion on the National List is quite rigorous, with Technical Reviews of petitioned materials and careful scrutiny by both NOSB subcommittees and the full board. The second thing I learned, over time, is that industry has an outsized and growing influence on USDA – and on the NOSB (including through NOSB appointments) – compared to the influence of organic farmers, who started this organic farming movement.
December 11, 2017