#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 because they are encouraging this outcome. Hugh is addressing the crowd at the Saving Real Organic...

#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-locally-think-globally food movement" by the New York Times, Joan is a prolific author and researcher, and a...

#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 with...

#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 Muller, Dru Rivers, Andrew Brait and others, Tom has been participating in on-farm trials that aim...

#139: Tom Willey is a longtime, organic vegetable farmer in Central California who has participated in recent trials seeking to minimize tillage in organic row crop production.  His thoughts on the reliance of of Haber-Bosch nitrogen, the overuse of compost, and intentionally moving towards the use of chemicals in organic leads to some lively conversation with Dave. Tom Willey has run TD Willey Farms with his wife Dennesse in Madera, CA since the mid-1980s.  Along with California farmers...

#138: Decades ago, Dennesse Willey left her career as a nurse to join her husband Tom on their organic vegetable farm in California. As the farm's sales and marketing  lead, Dennesse witnessed many changes in both retail sales and distribution in an increasingly-consolidated food system. Dennesse Willey has run TD Willey Farms with her husband Tom in Madera, CA since the mid-1980s. She is recently retired. https://tdwilleyfarms.com/ To watch a video version of this podcast with access to...

#137: Bryan O'Hara has been learning about, tweaking trials, and sharing his observations on how to grow organic vegetables in a no-till system for over a decade. Last fall he sat down with Dave to share his thoughts on whether these practices  can be used at scale, using compost as a nutrient vs as a mulch, cover cropping, and many other nuanced thoughts that contribute to the greater no-till veggie production conversation.  Bryan O'Hara is a longtime organic veggie farmer growing food in...

#136: Jeff Moyer of the Rodale Institute recalls the intended meaning behind the origin of the term "regenerative" as envisioned by Bob Rodale, and explores what's both exciting and concerning as a new context emerges for regenerative agriculture today. Jeff Moyer is the former CEO, Director, and Farm Manager of the Rodale Institute in Pennsylvania. He is internationally-known for his deep knowledge of organic practices and principles. https://rodaleinstitute.org/ To watch a video version...

#135: Organic farmer and former NOSB member Steve Ela talks about managing his fruit-focused operation with diverse market strategies, crop rotations, and biological controls for orchard pests. He also speaks about the difficult mission of achieving carbon neutrality on the farm, Steve Ela is a longtime farmer in Western Colorado, where his family grows 55 varieties of organic fruit trees and participates in on-farm organic research trials. Steve holds degrees in biology and environmental...

#134: Hannah Smith-Brubaker,  aReal Organic Project farmer and the Executive Director of Pennsylvania-based  sustainable agriculture organization PASA, shares what her peers are learning as they ramp up efforts to collect data from on-farm organic trials and experiments. Hannah Smith-Brubaker married into the farm family at Village Acres  farm, a highly-diversified, organic operation founded in the 1980s in Juniata County Pennsylvania by her wife Deb's parents Roy and Hope Brubaker. She is...

#133: Retired Minnesota berry farmer and founder of the International Organic Inspectors Association Jim Riddle discusses his time on the National Organic Standards Board, including observing the culture of a revolving door of corporate lobbyists. Jim Riddle is the founder of Blue Fruit Farm, an organic blueberry farm in Minnesota, as well as the Winona Farmers Market and the International Organic Inspectors Association. He has served on the National Organic Standards Board in a farmer seat,...

132: Longtime organic farmer Dru Rivers speaks to the crowd at the 2023 EcoFarm Conference about the future of food, and the important role activism plays in farming. Dru Rivers is an original founding farmer at Full Belly Farm in California and has played an important role in both the EcoFarm Conference and CCOF (California Certified Organic Farmers) since their beginnings.  https://fullbellyfarm.com/ To watch a video version of this podcast please...

#131: Farmer Mark Kimball and his wife, author Kristin Kimball, almost everything that's been in their heads recently, as their journey at their year-round, CSA-model farm in Essex, New York continues to evolve. Dave caught up with the Kimballs at the NOFA New Hampshire Conference last February, where they all discussed the future of food production, late-stage capitalism, and the organic movement. Mark Kimball founded Essex Farm in 2003, along with his wife Kristin. With deeply diversified...

#130: Peter Donovan of the Soil Carbon Coalition shares his thoughts on the true value of carbon sequestration in agricultural settings, and how it differs from the ideas being pushed by industrial players who stand to benefit from carbon credits and offsets. Peter Donovan has a long history working in agriculture, specifically managing livestock, pastures,  and soil. He has authored numerous articles and given lectures on improving the soil carbon sponge and finessing ideal grazing...

#129: Zach Cannady of Prema Farm joins Dave to discuss the inspiration he found working as a produce manager that led him to start his own farm, dedicated to growing crops that his community was asking for and could not find locally. Dave and Zach dive deep into conversation about Prema's composting and cover cropping practices, as well as the use of simple, human-powered farm tools that allow them to minimize soil disturbance. Zach Cannady grows food at Prema Farm in northern California, on...

#128: In the second half of our interview with Dr. Dave Mortensen, we hear about the events that  led to his resignation from the National Organic Standards Board, as well his thoughts around the off-base claims of "environmental consciousness" being presented today by Big Ag companies. Dave Mortensen heads the Agriculture, Nutrition, and Food Systems department at the University of New Hampshire. He was the Distinguished Professor of Weed and Applied Plant Ecology at the Penn State College...

#127: Longtime researcher and plant ecologist Dave Mortensen brings to light the increased use of herbicides and pesticides in modern agriculture. Through our nation's dedication to monocropping practices and planting fence row to fence row, we have eliminated natural defense systems in the majority of our fields, which cannot be solved through conciliatory cover cropping programs.  Dave Mortensen heads the Agriculture, Nutrition, and Food Systems department at the University of New...

#126: Dave sits down with therapist Dick Schwartz, the founder of Internal Family Systems, to discuss how acknowledging and caring for the various "parts" within ourselves and others can serve us as individuals, business leaders, and social activists. Dick Schwartz is a well-known psychotherapist who founded Internal Family Systems in the 1980s, a treatment approach based upon the concept that humans are made up of "parts" that are guided by their own core essence or "self. " This idea runs...

#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...

#124: Steffen Reese, CEO of Naturland, the EU's most-prominent add-on food label and certifier, sat down with Dave last fall after announcing Naturland's partnership with Real Organic Project to  discuss the spread and preservation of organic agriculture across the globe.    Steffen Reese is the CEO of Naturland, a well-known add-on organic and fair trade food label located in Germany that certifies farms and food worldwide. In early 2023, Naturland and Real Organic Project announced their...

#123: Kellee James of Mercaris Data Services sits down with Dave Chapman to discuss what her company sees today as they track pricing and performance in organic food and agriculture.    Kellee James founded and runs Mercaris Data Services, a research company that tracks organic commodity prices and performance analytics. https://mercaris.com/ To watch a video version of this podcast with access to the full transcript and links relevant to our conversation, please...

#122: After 25 years of trials and experimentation, Scott Park shares his long view on the challenges and upsides of organic no till practices in vegetable production.   Scott Park, along with his wife Ulla, son Brian, and daughter-in-law Jamie, grows 1700 acres of organic mixed vegetable and grain crops in Meridian, CA: https://parkfarmingorganics.com/ To watch a video version of this podcast with access to the full transcript and links relevant to our conversation, please...

#121:  Dave Chapman spends an afternoon touring Pinnacle Organics with California vegetable farmer Phil Foster who explains the successes, failures, and still-unknown results of the organic no-till agriculture trials taking place on his farm. Pinnacle, along with a handful of other well-known CA veg farms, has been experimenting with no-till practices under the guidance of Chico State and UC Davis.   Phil Foster grows 60+ crops in northern California along with his wife Katherine and a large...

#120:  Miguel Altieri brings the concepts of Agroecology as a global movement that preserves traditional peasant knowledge and promotes a food system that works outside of the industrial system that dominates the US, to his conversation with Dave Chapman, as they explore the similarities and differences between the Organic Movement and the Agroecological Movement.   Dr. Miguel Altieri is a PhD entomologist and Professor of Agroecology at UC Berkeley. His long career has focused on the set of...

#119:  Longtime farmer, gardener, and researcher Helen Atthowe joins Dave to discuss the findings that led to her new book: "The Ecological Farm: A Minimalist No-Till, So-Spray, Selective-Weeding, Grow-Your-Own-Fertilizer System for Organic Agriculture." By focusing on creating habitat plantings for beneficial insects, Helen learned how to implement living mulches, re-seeding cover crops, and organic no till practices.   Helen Atthowe now farms in Western Montana where she focuses on ...