Organic Trade Association Names New Farm Policy Director

The Organic Trade Association has brought on Johanna Mirenda as farm policy director of its regulatory team, effective Aug. 1.

Mirenda is an expert in organic regulations, having served as technical director for the Organic Materials Review Institute (OMRI) since 2015 with extensive experience in policy development, project management and technical writing. 

In her new role, Mirenda will help develop policy strategy through producer engagement, serving as primary staff to its Farmers Advisory Council and building relationships with the organic farming community. Mirenda will also be lead technical expert on issues related to crop and livestock materials and standards, and in-house technical lead in international standards evaluation and analysis.

Mirenda will primarily work from her home office in Wilder, Vt., but will frequently travel to meetings and events to represent the Organic Trade Association (OTA), which includes the upcoming Natural Products Expo East show in Baltimore. 

As technical director of OMRI, Mirenda oversaw standards manuals for review of materials to USDA’s National Organic Program regulations and Canadian Organic Regime standards, and has been OMRI’s primary point of contact for governmental and regulatory bodies, among other duties. 

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 Mirenda will succeed Nate Lewis, who will focus more time on his certified organic farm in Washington after four years with OTA.