#125: Hans Herren and Barbara Gemmill-Herren join Dave to share their takeaways on the state of the global food system today. Through their extensive work in organic agriculture,  pollination, and the use of biocontrols (managing pests and disease with other living organisms instead of chemicals) they see that our world and food system never benefit from the use of biocides.    Hans Herren has served as the President and CEO of the Millennium Institute, an organization dedicated to systems dynamic modeling and the support of sustainable development policies, since 2005. In 1995, he won the World Food Prize for successfully managing against  the Cassava Mealybug in Africa and and averting a major food crisis that could have claimed an estimated 20 million lives. https://www.millennium-institute.org/ Barbara Gemmill-Herren serves as an associate faculty member at Arizona's Prescott College and as a Senior Associate at the World Agroforestry Centre in Nairobi, Kenya. From 2004-2015 she worked as a Global Pollination Project Coordinator and Agroecology Programme Specialist for the United Nations. https://www.worldagroforestry.org/ To watch a video version of this podcast with access to the full transcript and links relevant to our conversation, please visit: https://www.realorganicproject.org/hans-herren-barbara-gemmill-herren-no-pesticides-episode-one-hundred-twenty-five 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 year. Our add-on food label distinguishes soil-grown fruits and vegetables from hydroponically-raised produce, and pasture-raised meat, milk, and eggs from products harvested from animals in horrific confinement (CAFOs - confined animal feeding operations). To find a Real Organic farm near you, please visit: https://www.realorganicproject.org/farms We believe that the organic standards, with their focus on soil health, biodiversity, and animal welfare were written as they should be, but that the current lack of enforcement of those standards is jeopardizing the ability for small farms who adhere to the law to stay in business. The lack of enforcement is also jeopardizing the overall health of the customers who support the organic movement; customers who are not getting what they pay for at market but still paying a premium price. And the lack of enforcement is jeopardizing the very cycles (water, air, nutrients) that Earth relies upon to provide us all with a place to live, by pushing extractive, chemical agriculture to the forefront. If you like what you hear and are feeling inspired, we would love for you to join our movement by becoming one of our 1,000  Real Friends: https://www.realorganicproject.org/real-organic-friends/ To read our weekly newsletter (which might just be the most forwarded newsletter on the internet!) and get firsthand news about what's happening with organic food, farming and policy, please subscribe here: https://www.realorganicproject.org/email/