Real Organic Podcast

#212:  Entomologist and grower Ronald Valentin joins Dave to talk about the advantages of using biological controls to manage pests in a greenhouse setting, where synthetic biocides are still the norm. Biological control have grown in popularity, as today, even in non-organic settings, techniques like "banker plants" have been adopted, where non-crop species provide habitat for beneficial insects...

#211: On a recent trip to Biofach 2025 in Germany, Linley Dixon visits with former IFOAM (International Federation of Agriculture Movements) president Bernward Geier to discuss ways to maintain organic integrity around the globe amid growing industrial pressures. Market forces, political influences, and variances in integrity among certifiers are all contributing to the growing differences between...

#210: Chuck Benbrook may be the most-informed person on the planet when it comes to Monsanto's manufacturing of glyphosate and the unnecessary and sometimes fatal harm it's caused people across the United States. Chuck discusses the cases he was involved in as a pesticide litigation consultant, after a great conversation with Dave about the fate of Organic within our complicated food system and wh...

#209: Nora Taleb witnessed the birth and naming of the Real Organic Project during her time at our joint venture partner Naturland, the EU's oldest add-on food label based in Germany. She shared her thoughts about our next steps on the stage at Churchtown Dairy during our 2024 event, Real Organic: A World Movement. Nora Taleb is a food systems consultant focusing on regenerative organic agricultur...

#208: Legendary California organic farmer Warren Weber peppers Dave with questions about Real Organic Project's structure, standards, and funding while also touching upon their shared philosophies and the early days of the organic movement. Warren Weber co-founded Star Route Farms in California's Marin County in 1974, the oldest continuously operating certified farm in Northern California, and has...

#207: Taken from an interview done in 2021, Dave gets the whole adventurous story from California-turned-Vermont farmer Will Allen about his life filled with activism, teaching, and learning, which included founding the Sustainable Cotton Project in 1990 to help farmers grow organic cotton and to convince big brands like Patagonia, Esprit, Levis, and Nike to use organic cotton to make their clothe...

#206: As a special 10 minute bonus episode to the film Organic Rising, director Anthony Suau focuses on the issue of whether or not hydroponics have a place in the market under the USDA organic label. Real Organic Project co-founder Dave Chapman explains the history of this issue and why it has never been properly settled, as well as the current state of the conversation today, now that a core gro...

#205: Organic California field and row crop farmer Scott Park details the success he's found with his low-input, targeted tillage operation for a room full of real organic certified farmers. Primarily a tomato grower for canneries, Scott's does not shy away from sharing his experiences with slippery price negotiations and the headaches around the regenerative movement's lack of enforceable standar...

#204: Organic grain farmer Anna Jones-Crabtree shares an emotional glimpse into the real and challenging issues she and her husband Doug face as they try to align their nature-first stewardship practices with the reality of operating in an economic system that favors extractive agriculture. Anna spoke this past September at our Churchtown Dairy event in Hudson, New York,  Real Organic: A World Mov...

#203: In her work helping activist organizations and environmental change-makers succeed in their journeys towards truly positive impact, Renee Lertzman of Project InsideOut studies why change is so difficult. She examines the different parts inside each of us, and how they often battle to choose which path we will follow as they react to the daily pressures we each face.  Renee Lertzman is a prof...

#202: Author and Green Revolution expert Tim Wise speaks to the crowd this past September at our Churchtown Dairy event, Real Organic: A World Movement. As Tim points out, industrial agribusiness, as well as biotech companies and philanthropic (or philanthrocapitalist) foundations, are dictating how we feed the world, treat the land, and write policy. But do their economic and regulatory holds acr...

#201: Dave visits author Frances Moore-Lappé at her Small Planet Institute in Cambridge, Mass to discuss the role democracy plays in our food system and why she has chosen to home in on democracy since publishing her breakout book "Diet For A Small Planet."Frances Moore-Lappé is the author of 20 books, including her breakthrough best seller "Diet For A Small Planet" which was published in 1971 sol...

#200: Martin Frick, Director of the World Food Programme's Berlin office, sits down with Dave to discuss issues of food security and their interconnectedness with the Climate Crisis. The challenges of food waste, industrial agriculture, misguided philanthropy, and the need for global cooperation to extend true support to smallholder farmers all come up. Dr. Martin Frick has served as the Senior Di...

#199: Paul Holmbeck's talk from our event, Real Organic: A World Movement, which took place at Churchtown Dairy this September, is a straight shot of strategy aimed at increasing organic crop plantings and food sales. Paul's experience as the (former) Director of Organic Denmark has him considering many effective paths that the US organic movement could adopt to move the needle and generate real i...

#198: Real Organic Project champion Eliot Coleman returns to the stage at Churchtown Dairy to speak about the need to focus our conversations and energy around organic practices, instead of popularizing the reliance on outside inputs. He contends that even commercial-scale growers have all they need on-farm to feed their soil and crops, utilizing green manures, compost, and rotation strategies.  E...

#197: Dave is joined by the founders of the del Cabo Collective, farmers Larry Jacobs and Sandra Belin. You'll hear about challenges small farmers around the world face today, due to unpredictable weather, changing consumer demands, and rapid consolidation in the marketplace. The strengths of biological controls, often overshadowed by chemical products, are also discussed. Longtime organic farmers...

#196: Real Organic farmer Paul Muller takes the stage at Churchtown Dairy to remind folks about the importance of a food system that celebrates farmers who sink their hands into the soil as they grow food and tend land. Paul Muller is a lifelong farmer and co-founder of Full Belly Farm in northern California's Capay Valley, along with his wife Dru. Since the 1980s, Full Belly has been supplying Ba...

#195: Award-winning filmmaker Anthony Suau sits down with Dave to talk about his documentary Organic Rising. Although he set out to make a short, ten minute piece about organic food and farming practices, he quickly realized the deep need American's have for clarity around the role of chemicals in our food system and the outcomes they cause. Anthony Suau is a filmmaker and photojournalist whose wo...

Bonus: Co-director Linley Dixon was the final speaker at "Real Organic: A World Movement" held in the Round Barn at Abby Rockefeller's Churchtown Dairy outside of Hudson, NY on Sept 28, 2024, where she focused on the people who make this movement so meaningful: https://realorganicproject.org/events/churchtown/Dr. Linley Dixon is the co-director of the Real Organic Project and the owner-operator of...

#194: Greg Asbed and Gerardo Reyes Chavez of the Coalition of Immokalee Workers tell the story of their movement's origins, including the injustices faced by farmworkers in Florida's tomato fields that led to slavery lawsuits. As they continue to apply pressure through corporate boycotts and public campaigns, they reflect on what has worked, what has changed, and all that still needs fixing since...

Bonus: Dave Chapman takes the stage at "Real Organic: A World Movement" held in the Round Barn at Abby Rockefeller's Churchtown Dairy outside of Hudson, NY on Sept 28, 2024: https://realorganicproject.org/events/churchtown/To watch a video version of this podcast please visit:https://www.realorganicproject.org/dave-chapman-churchtown-dairy-2024-bonus-episodeThe Real Organic Podcast is hosted by Da...

#193: Real Organic blueberry grower Hugh Kent takes the main stage in the historic Round Barn at Churchtown Dairy on Saturday, September 28, 2024 to address the crowd at Real Organic: A World Movement. Hugh speaks about the drastic changes that organic - previously known as just agriculture -  has undergone at the hands of industrial forces in recent times, and how this influence is affecting mark...

#192: John Bobbe revisits the investigation and exposure of organic grain fraud that he led, which inspired a series of articles in the Washington Post, and later, the US congress to take action. He also updates us on where things stand today and how bad actors in the organic grain distribution and regulation space still need our deep attention. John Bobbe is the former Executive Director of the O...

#191: Professor of Physics and Astronomy Marcelo Gleiser explains why Earth, like all planets in our solar system and most likely beyond, is so unique in its climate and environmental make up. The ability for agriculture, humanity, and all other parts of nature to exist and thrive is tied directly to Earth's irreplaceable uniqueness, making our will to take action for its survival paramount. Marce...

#190: Chef and 2020 champion of the Food Network show "Chopped" Eliza Daly shares her story and her passion for educating kids about food and cooking and making sure that everyone is comfortable in the kitchen. Eliza Daly is a culinary instructor living in San Diego, CA. She has worked in  restaurants in New York, Chicago and San Francisco, focusing on a variety of cuisines. In 2020, she won the c...