By Elena Seeley
Ronnie Cummins, the Founder of the Organic Consumers Association (OCA) and a staunch advocate of regenerative organic farming has passed away from complications of bone and lymph cancer. He was 77.
Since the 1960s, Cummins has used his voice to advocate for better food and farming systems. An author, he published several books including “Genetically Engineered Food: A Self-Defense Guide for Consumers” as well as a series for young readers known as “Children of the World.” One of his latest works, “Grassroots Rising: A Call to Action on Climate, Farming, Food, and a Green New Deal”, was described by scholar and activist Vindana Shiva, as one that “should be in the hands of every activist working on food and farming, climate change, and the Green New Deal.”
In 1998, he and his wife Rose Welch founded OCA to safeguard organic standards and promote healthier, more just, and more regenerative food and agriculture systems. Today, the organization’s education campaigns, which promote health, justice, and climate sustainability, reach an estimated 2 million consumers.
Cummins was also the co-founder of the Mexican affiliate of OCA, Via Organica, which serves as a network of organic consumers and farmers based in Mexico City. In 2015, he co-founded Regeneration International, a global network dedicated to mitigating and reversing climate change through regenerative food, farming, and land use.
Cummins encouraged others to “move beyond the gloom and doom and focus on the positives.” At the start of the COVID-19 pandemic, he told Food Tank that he was confident the world would emerge stronger and more resilient. “But,” he said, “it’s going to require economic justice as well as an expansion of regenerative and organic farming.”
Cummins is survived by his wife, Rose, and son, Adrian.
