USA: Organic Center benefit dinner a full success

More than 500 supporters gathered for The Organic Center’s Annual Benefit Dinner on 5 March 2015 in Anaheim, California. The sold-out fundraiser, held in conjunction with Natural Products Expo West, raised nearly US$450,000 (about €432,000 million) for the work of the non-profit research and education organisation. Additionally, almost a million people outside the gala ballroom had the chance to share in the event through social media.

Dinner speakers stressed the importance of the work of The Organic Center in educating the public about organic and the broad and real impact of organic on the environment, on ecosystems, and on human health. “When we fight for organic food, it connects us to every living creature on the planet, from birds to frogs and pollinators - all those harmed by toxic pesticides,” keynote speaker Anna Lappé, widely respected author and educator, food systems expert and sustainable foods activist, told dinner attendees. Chef Susan Feniger, a 30-year restaurant industry veteran, celebrity chef, and cookbook author who designed the all-organic menu for what was the largest dinner event of the five-day Natural Products Expo West, said she chose specific dishes related to the center’s research - including exotic citrus-inspired dishes in honor of citrus greening research and organic rice-based offerings in recognition of efforts to reduce arsenic uptake in organic rice. More information is available here.