Real Organic Podcast

#164:  Author and journalist Austin Frerick joins Linley to discuss his brand new book, Barons: Money, Power, and the Corruption of America's Food Industry. His research on the men shaping our food system through their desire for personal greed reveals a  shocking level of immorality. Austin's views were a great addition to our annual virtual symposium, which is available for instant access here:h...

#163: JM Fortier joins Dave to discuss the potential of promoting a replicable, decentralized food and farming system that relies on people building relationships with both land and community, by engaging their powers of observation and connection.https://realorganicproject.org/symposium-2024/JM Fortier is a farmer, educator, and author from Quebec, Canada. He is known for promoting a culture that...

#162: Live from the Saving Real Organic Conference at Churchtown Dairy in October 2023, and moderated by Matt Sheffer of Hudson Carbon, Zephyr Teachout and Dave Chapman field (tough) questions from audience members about the fate of the US anti-monopoly movement and its ability to impact our food system for the better.https://realorganicproject.org/symposium-2024/Zephyr Teachout is an attorney and...

#161: Co-director Dave Chapman joins our newest executive board member and Real Organic Project certified grain farmer Anna Jones-Crabtree for an interview by Al Gore at his Climate Underground Summit in November of 2023.Anna Jones-Crabtree holds a Ph. D in Civil and Environmental Engineering  and is a registered professional engineer and an early accredited US Green building Professional. She has...

#160: Organic farmer and Real Organic Project champion Eliot Coleman returns to discuss the role corporations, trade associations, and government policy has had on limiting the amount of real organic food found in the marketplace today. In the second half of the interview, the conversation focuses on growing on-farm fertility and stifling pest pressure by building up organic matter and biodiversit...

#159: An insightful conversation about what's happening on grocery shelves, with Errol Schweizer, whose career in the retail natural foods space included a long stint at Whole Foods on the merchandising team. Dave and Errol talk about Walmart's effect on food prices, sellers inflation, and the noticeable changes seen at food co-ops and other organic marketplaces as a result of corporate consolidat...

#158: Vandana Shiva shares her knowledge around the Green Revolution, a transformative and chemical-dependent set of agricultural practices and policies that promised to deliver food security to populations around the world. But has it delivered on those promises? And how does its outcomes compare to organic agriculture? Vandana Shiva is a celebrated scholar, prolific author, and longtime activist...

#157: A continuation of Linley's conversation (one year later and in-person!) with Professor Tim Bowles of UC Berkeley's Agroecology Lab. The discussion is focused on organic's relevant role in Climate Smart Agriculture, even as the DC chemical lobby is training our politicians to believe that any amount of tillage should disqualify a farm from claiming the term. Dr. Tim Bowles is an Assistant Pro...

#156: Professor Tim Bowles of UC Berkeley's Agroecology Lab introduces us to some interesting players in the soil, including arbuscular mycorrhizal fungi (AMF) and how they may interact with plant roots, drought, and fertilizers.  Dr. Tim Bowles is an Assistant Professor of Agroecology and Sustainable Agricultural Systems in the Department of Environmental Science, Policy and Management at UC Berk...

#155: Reginaldo Haslett-Marroquin promotes his vision for creating systems aimed at serving entire regions and communities of farms as a successful path forward for the organic / regenerative movement . Addressing the crowd at Churchtown Dairy in October of 2023, Regi also shares his thoughts about how a small group of thinkers can prevail against a big, powerful faction. Reginaldo Haslett-Marroqu...

#154: UK Soil Association trustee, Sustainable Food Trust co-founder, and organic dairy farmer Patrick Holden sits down with Dave to discuss the path forward for the organic movement, as activists on both sides of the pond try to inspire our governments and corporate powers to take note of our competence in the restoration of Earth's systems. Patrick Holden is a longtime member-turned-trustee of t...

#153: Real Organic dairy farmer and former National Organic Standards Board member Francis Thicke gives the crowd at Churchtown Dairy a view through the lens of his education and decades-long career. He also shares how he believes dairies like his own (Radiance Dairy in Fairfield, Iowa) can still fetch a premium for their standout products. Francis Thicke owns and operates Radiance Dairy in Fairfi...

#152: Alan Lewis  delivers deep insights into the growing number of reasons small and mid-sized farms can't find shelf space within American grocery stores. With the arrival of AI and its impact on purchasing systems, even food coops and small Mom and Pops are  aiming to stock convenient-to-order over real, local food. Alan Lewis is the VP of Government Affairs, Stakeholder Relations, and Organic...

#151: Ben Dobson, co-founder of Hudson Carbon, has been monitoring the changes in language and funding for agricultural ventures that claim to sequester carbon. He shares his thoughts about the pitfalls that some of these directions present with the crowd at Churchtown Dairy.  https://www.realorganicproject.org/donateBen Dobson is a lifelong organic farmer, originally from NY's Hudson Valley. He h...

#150: Dave Chapman and Eliot Coleman take the stage at the Saving Real Organic Conference at Churchtown Dairy to reflect on the importance of growing the real organic movement in the US amid the mounting challenges facing our country's food system. Meanwhile, the rest of the world is embracing the value of growing organic acreage and markets.  https://www.realorganicproject.org/donateDave Chapman...

#149: Organic farmer and founder of the Vermont Compost Company Karl Hammer shares his vast knowledge of our agricultural and social history, in a heady conversation with his longtime friend, Real Organic Project co-director Dave Chapman. https://www.realorganicproject.org/donateKarl Hammer has been involved with rural life, horse-powered farming, and manure-based composting since his family...

#148: Law Professor and author of "Break'em Up" Zephyr Teachout addresses the crowd at the Saving Real Organic Conference at Churchtown Dairy about what it will take to dismantle monopolies in the United States.  https://www.realorganicproject.org/donate Zephyr Teachout is an attorney and law professor at Fordham University. She is the author of Break'em Up: Recovering Our Freedom from Big Ag...

#147: Writer and farmer Kristin Kimball throws light upon the idea that organic family farmers desperately need eaters to help transform the food system. Choosing to buy whole foods, choosing to cook, choosing meaning over convenience, and choosing to teach others how to do the same can bring powerful and necessary change. https://www.realorganicproject.org/donateKristin Kimball is a celebrat...

#146: Linley Dixon, co-director of the Real Organic Project, speaks to the progress of our movement and the challenges we face, including new and misleading terms like "climate smart agriculture" and a misunderstood villainization of tillage. Linley was the lead-off speaker at our recent in-person event at Abby Rockefeller's Churchtown Dairy in Hudson NY, in mid-October. Dr. Linley Dixon is the co...

#145: Iriel Edwards, an inspector with Real Organic Project, a former dryland SRI rice farmer with Louisiana-based Jubilee Justice, and a graduate of Cornell University with a degree in Entomology, addresses the crowd at Churchtown Dairy at the Saving Real Organic Conference on October 14, 2023. https://www.realorganicproject.org/iriel-edwards-usda-discrimination-land-access-and-collective-liberat...

#142:  Dave interviews celebrated chef and author Dan Barber at Stone Barns Center for Food and Agriculture, where they discuss the potential of getting the masses to understand the value of food production practices above the final product. Dan believes the key lies in exceptional flavor and the innate human drive to pursue pleasure. Dan Barber is the chef and co-owner of Blue Hill in Manhat...

#144: Real Organic blueberry farmer Hugh Kent of King Grover Organics in FL, explains the complete transformation of organic blueberry farming within the US and outside of its borders, that make up an increasing amount of USDA-certified "organic" berries in the produce sections of US stores. This shift, as he explains is not occurring because the USDA lacks awareness of the issue, but rather becau...

#141:  Nutrition icon, author, and professor Joan Gussow reflects on changes in food and farming over the past many decades and how a concentration of power is negatively affecting our food system. Joan Gussow is a Professor Emeritus at Teachers College, Columbia University where she taught her revered course "Nutritional Ecology" until 2022.  Once called the "Matriarch of the eat-locall...

#143: Real Organic Idaho cattleman Glenn Elzinga shares his success story about reintroducing beaver and protecting important fauna and flora by moving his cattle with intention as they graze public lands. Glenn is addressing the crowd at the Saving Real Organic Conference at Churchtown Dairy in Hudson, NY on October 14, 2023. Visit our YouTube Channel to watch the video version of Glenn's talk wi...

#140:  Longtime organic, California vegetable farmer Tom Willey continues his lively conversation with Dave. They land on their thoughts around lasting solutions for sustainable food production that will take humanity into the future. Tom Willey has run TD Willey Farms with his wife Dennesse in Madera, CA since the mid-1980s.  Along with California farmers Scott Park, Phil Foster, Paul M...