Real Organic Podcast

#227: Kate Mendenhall, Executive Director of the Organic Farmers Association, breaks down the strategic grassroots campaign to keep organic standards rooted in soil, transparency, and trust. As corporate influence grows, Kate outlines how OFA is working to ensure the organic label still reflects its original values and that farmer voices are always at the forefront.

https://realorganicproject.org/kate-mendenhall-defending-organic-integrity-nationwide-227

Kate Mendenhall is the Executive Director of the Organic Farmers Association, whose aim is to "provide a strong and unified national voice for domestic certified organic producers." An Iowa native, Kate has returned to her home state...

#226: Peter Segger shares his journey from music and metal testing to pioneering organic farming in Wales. He reflects on the legacy of the Soil Association, his encounters with E.F. Schumacher, and the decades-long effort to protect the soul of organic food against industrial takeover.

https://realorganicproject.org/peter-segger-farming-small-thinking-big-226

Peter Segger is a well-known early adopter of organic practices in the UK, having run a 45 acre mixed fruit and vegetable farm in Wales since 1974. A long time member of the Soil Association and dedicated student of the soil, Peter now sits on the board of...

#225: Julie Guthman explains how Silicon Valley’s growing role in agriculture is reshaping organic from the top down. From hydroponics to venture capital, she explores what’s lost when food is engineered like software and soil is written out of the future.

https://realorganicproject.org/julie-guthman-big-tech-takeover-organic-225

(From the Harvard Radcliffe Institute site): "Julie Guthman is a professor of social sciences at the University of California, Santa Cruz. Her research has broadly been about how neoliberal-inflected capitalism shapes the conditions of possibility for food system transformation. She has also studied the influence of California’s agrarian past o...

#224: Author and economist Austin Frerick returns to break down how grocery store monopolies are shaping what ends up in our carts, who profits from it, and who gets left out. From Walmart’s grip on food access to the collapse of fair pricing for farmers, Austin exposes how consolidation is driving inequality across the food system. This conversation offers a clear-eyed view of the corporate forces eroding real food, real farms, and the possibility of justice in what we eat.

https://realorganicproject.org/austin-frerick-grocery-store-monopolies-224

Austin Frerick is a 7th generation Iowan who, after watching his ho...

#223: JM Fortier shares his vision for farming as a pathway to food sovereignty. From his home in Quebec, JM has helped lead a growing movement of small-scale, soil-based farmers working to reconnect communities with their food. Through his work with the Market Gardener Institute, he’s offering tools, structure, and encouragement to a new generation hungry for change. This is a grounded and inspiring look at how living soil, real skills, and deep purpose can rebuild the food system from the roots up.

https://realorganicproject.org/jm-fortier-farms-for-food-sovereignty-223

JM Fortier is a farmer, educator, and author fr...

#222: What happens when an NFL team decides to fuel its players with real organic food? Houston Texans wellness coach Ladd Harris shares how he’s building a performance-driven nutrition program based on soil-grown, nutrient-dense ingredients - including Hugh and Lisa Kent's blueberries. Ladd explains how organic food for athletes goes beyond macros — it's about integrity, flavor,  knowing your farmer and rejecting synthetic, lifeless alternatives.

https://realorganicproject.org/feeding-nfl-athletes-real-organic-food-222

Ladd Harris serves as the Director of Team Wellness for the Houston Texans and was previously the Director of Performance Nutrition for the Oakland Raiders from February 2017 to Fe...

#221: Pulitzer Prize-winning filmmaker Anthony Suau returns to share the impact of his documentary Organic Rising and the growing urgency behind its message. After more than a decade documenting the chemical takeover of food, Suau reflects on how toxic agriculture has reshaped our soil, our health, and our trust in the food system. In this conversation, he and Dave Chapman explore what’s at stake—from unregulated pesticide use to the collapse of soil biology—and why telling the truth about farming has never been more important.

https://realorganicproject.org/anthony-suau-filming-the-chemical-takeover-of-food-221

Anthony Suau is a filmmaker and ph...

#220: Investigative journalist Sharon Lerner shares how “forever chemicals” like PFAS entered our food, soil, bodies, and blood - revealing corporate cover-ups, regulatory failures, and the human toll of toxic exposure:  

To watch a video version of this podcast with access to the full transcript and links relevant to our conversation, please visit:

https://realorganicproject.org/sharon-lerner-pfas-in-food-220

Sharon Lerner is an investigative reporter focusing on environmental issues. She has written for The Intercept, ProPublica and Politco, and was featured in the film The Devil We Know. Her work on PFAs was cited in the Stock...

#219: Organic blueberry farmer Hugh Kent pulls no punches in this deep dive into the truth about hydroponics and organic farming. From his soil-first philosophy to the dangers of plastic pot "organics," Hugh explains why hydroponics is not organic — and how corporate interests are replacing real, soil-grown food withn these lifeless, watered-down imitations. If you care about soil health, flavor, and the future of food, this is a must-listen.

https://realorganicproject.org/hugh-kent-hydroponic-is-not-organic-farming-219

Hugh Kent and his wife Lisa are longtime blueberry growers in Eustis, FL. They're proud to operate a biodiverse farm surrounded by intentional ha...

#218: Author Matthew Ingram dives into the roots of the counterculture organic food movement, tracing how music, radical ideas, and back-to-the-land farming shaped a generation. Based on his new book The Garden: Visionary Growers and Farmers of the Counterculture, this conversation explores the deep connections between soil, society, and the ongoing fight for a more honest food system.

To watch a video version of this podcast with access to the full transcript and links relevant to our conversation, please visit:

https://realorganicproject.org/matthew-ingram-counterculture-organic-food-movement-218

Matthew Ingram is a record collector, music journalist...

#217: Scott Myers, a second-generation farmer from Ohio, opens up about the hard truths of organic grain farming. From navigating weak federal support to managing high-stakes rotations and market volatility, Scott shares what it really takes to farm with integrity. This episode is a rare glimpse into the grit, risk, and soil-deep knowledge behind every organic grain harvest.

Scott Myers is a 4th generation farmer who grows ertified organic hay, corn, soybeans, oats, barley, and rye at Woodlyn Acres Farm in Dalton, Ohio. Scott has been vocal about the challenges facing organic farmers for years, advocating to his...

#216:  Tina Owens, senior advisor to the Nutrient Density Alliance, joins Dave to discuss how the future of nutrient density testing could be the key to transforming our food system. With years of experience representing major food companies like Kellogg's and Danone, and a family background in farming, Tina unpacks the science behind “nutritional dark matter,” the power of soil health, and why real organic and real regenerative practices matter more than ever—for farmers, eaters, and the planet. 

Tina Owens co-founded the Nutrient Density Alliance, where she continues to serve as a senior advisor. In addition to her work...

#215:  Missouri farmer Liz Graznak tells Linley about facing the season after the very recent funding cuts have left her operation, Happy Hollow Farm, without a quarter of its regular sales channels. Many organic farmers have found themselves in the same ill-timed situation this spring, having bought their seed and started many crops weeks ago, only to learn they will not be supplying local schools and institutions with their food.

Liz Graznak founded Real Organic Project-certified Happy Hollow Farm in Columbia, Missouri in 2010 after earning her Master's Degree in Plant Breeding from Cornell University. Her farm has grown i...

#214:  David Weinstein returns to discuss the urgent need for a food system that nourishes both people and the planet. In another compelling conversation about the heart of the organic food movement, Dave and David  explore how the original vision of organic farming—rooted in cooperation, soil health, and sustainability—has been compromised by market forces. Can we reclaim organic’s true purpose and break free from industrial agriculture’s grip?

David Weinstein is Director of Marketing for Heath & Lejeune, a Los Angeles-based full-line wholesaler of organic fruits and vegetables. He has been involved with the organic agriculture movement s...

#213:  Soil scientist Jennifer Pett-Ridge joins Linley to talk about the opportunities organic agricultural presents to the planet's need to drawdown and sequester carbon, with the caveat that instead of just storing carbon, we are actively using it to grow healthy foods.

Jennifer Pett-Ridge is a senior staff scientist at the Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory and an adjunct professor at UC Merced. She specializes in soil microbial communities, plant-soil interaction and carbon sequestration.

To watch a video version of this podcast with access to the full transcript and links relevant to our conversation, please visit:

Bonus Episode: Author, Researcher, and investigative reporter Timothy A. Wise interviews Dr. Elena R. Álvarez-Buylla about her concerning findings on GM Corn risks during her time heading up Mexico's National Science Agency. With the US challenging Mexico's documented results and claiming unfair trade practices, the world awaits s decision from a 3-member panel of arbitrators. 

You can register for a March 4, 2025 webinar, titled "GMO Corn & Glyphosate: New evidence for precaution from Mexican scientists" here:
https://www.healthandenvironment.org/che-webinars/96960

Tim Wise is a writer, researcher and speaker, and the author of Eating Tomorrow: Agribusiness, Fa...

#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 that can help control aphids and other crop-damaging insects.

Ronald Valentin grew up in the Netherlands, learning the craft of greenhouse management from his family. As an entomologist, he specializes in biological control identification and techniques, ensuring that growers know w...

#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 the EU and US organic labeling systems, with the EU growing their acreage planted in Organic and corresponding labeling programs, and the US importing the majority of their offerings on the shelf while keeping their farmland dedicated to chemical agriculture. Whether you're an organic farmer...

#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 what ideas may prove helpful.

Chuck Benbrook is an agricultural economist, former professor, and sought-after pesticide litigation consultant whose deep involvement in the lawsuits tying Monsanto's glyphosate product Roundup to multiple cancer cases in the...

#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 agriculture and sustainable systems. She joining Naturland Association for Organic Agriculture in 2015, to manage the team Naturland Fair with its full-supply-chain certification program combining organic standards that go beyond the NOP/EU regulation, animal...

#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 remained faithful to practicing and promoting Organic throughout his career. He served as an early President of CCOF (California  Certified Organic Farmers) in the 1980s and was instrumental in Ferry Plaza Farmers Market's decision to go all organic in 2003.

To w...

#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 clothes.

Will Allen is a longtime organic farmer, activist and author who grew up and started farming in southern California. After many years of farming in the west and teaching at universities,  Will founded the Sustainable Cotton Project (SCP) i...

#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 group of certifiers has stepped forward to publicize their unwillingness to certify hydroponic operations as organic.

Organic Rising is a 2024 film that highlights the key differences between organic food...

#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 standards. Scott's full talk and excellent slides can be viewed on our YouTube channel:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rdGiGqNTf2M

Scott Park and his son Brian run Park Farming Organics in Meridien, CA and are...

#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 Movement.

Anna Jones-Crabtree and her husband Doug own and operate Vilicus Farms in northern Montana where they manage thousands of acres of mixed grains and lentils alongside beneficial plantings for pollinators and other wildlife. She holds a...

#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 professor, psychsocial researcher and the founder of Project InsideOut. She teaches Psychology of Environmental Education and Communication in the MA programme at Royal Roads University, British Columbia, Canada, and has a PhD in Psychosocial S...

#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 across the globe address hunger or do they create it?

Tim Wise is a writer, researcher and speaker, and the author of Eating Tomorrow: Agribusiness, Family Farmers, and the Battle for the Future of Food. He is...

#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 sold more than 3 million copies. Since that time, her life's work and the continuous theme of her writing has been focused on what she calls "living democracy" or democracy that goes beyond government an...

#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 Director of the UN Framework Convention on Climate Change and the Director for Climate Change at the Food and Agriculture Organization of the UN (FAO). He was the German representative for human rights and humanitarian affairs at...

#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 impact here in the States.  

After moving from North Carolina to Denmark, Paul Holmbeck served as the Director and Political Director of Organic Denmark for 20+ years. His involvement in political strategy, policy development, and ma...

#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. 

Eliot Coleman is an author, market gardener, and educator. His work on the USDA study in the late 1970's, "Report and Recommendations on Organic Farming" helped lead to the formation of the National Organic Program, setting the very s...

#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 Larry Jacobs and Sandra Belin founded the del Cabo Collective of Baja, Mexico in 1985, In addition to thier work creating a ready market for organic vegetables in the US that would support an entire farming community in Baja, they are...

#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 Bay Area restaurants and eaters with a diverse selection of organic food, including nuts, fruit, eggs, and a broad and ever-changing array of vegetable crops. They are known for...

#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 work has appeared in National Geographic, New York Times Magazine, and Life. He has published five books, including photo essays documenting the fall of the Berlin Wall and war imagery in Iraq. Originally  f...

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 Adobe House Farm in Durango, Colorado. She has a Master’s Degree in Plant and Soil Science, specializing in Organic Agriculture,  and also earned a PhD in Plant Pathology from the University of Wes...

#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 their early win enrolling Taco Bell into the Fair Food Program

The Coalition of Immokalee Workers is a human and worker rights organization founded in 1993 by farmers experiencing injustice in Florida's tomato fields. In 2011, CIW...

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-episode

The Real Organic Podcast is hosted by Dave Chapman and Linley Dixon, engineered by Brandon StCyr, and edited and produced by Jenny Prince.

The Real Organic Project is a farmer-led movement working towards certifying 1,000 farms across the United States this...

#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 markets, livelihoods, ecosystems and communities 

Hugh Kent and his wife Lisa are longtime blueberry growers in Eustis, FL. They're proud to operate a biodiverse farm surrounded by intentional habitat for wildlife and pollinators, where th...

#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 Organic Farmers Agency for Relationship Marketing (OFARM) and a current Policy Advisor for the Cornucopia Institute. He is well known throughout the organic community for his dedicated detective work tracking...

#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.

Marcelo Gleiser is a Brazilian theoretical physicist and professor of physics and astronomy at Dartmouth College in Hanover, NH. He writes a weekly science column for the Brazilian Folha de S.Paulo newspaper and...