Real Organic Podcast

293: Author and agroecologist Liz Carlisle has spent years documenting farmers who are building food systems around diversity, resilience, and cooperation rather than extraction. She challenges the idea that we must intensify industrial agriculture in some places in order to “save” nature somewhere else, pointing instead to thousands of years of human history in which people have grown food as part of functioning ecosystems. Liz offers a hopeful picture of what becomes possible when we design agriculture around place.

https://realorganicproject.org/liz-carlisle-land-sharing-how-we-feed-the-future

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. 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/directory⁠⁠⁠⁠

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.

To read our weekly newsletter and get firsthand news about what's happening with organic food, farming and policy, please subscribe here:

⁠⁠⁠⁠https://www.realorganicproject.org/email/⁠

292: Congresswoman Chellie Pingree has spent years working at the intersection of farming, food, health, and federal policy. She sees growing concern about pesticides and ultra-processed foods coming from people across the political spectrum, creating a rare opportunity for alliances that did not exist before. But turning that agreement into policy means confronting powerful agricultural and chemical interests, rebuilding support for small and mid-sized farms, and deciding what role government should play in protecting eaters. Congresswoman Pingree also challenges the growing enthusiasm for loosely defined “regenerative” agriculture, arguing that without meaningful standards it can easily be co-opted by the same industrial system that organic was created to change.

https://realorganicproject.org/chellie-pingree-can-healthy-food-bring-left-right-together

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. 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/directory⁠⁠⁠⁠

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.

To read our weekly newsletter and get firsthand news about what's happening with organic food, farming and policy, please subscribe here:

⁠⁠⁠⁠https://www.realorganicproject.org/email/⁠

291: Corinne Hansch and her husband Matthew Leon started farming during one of the hardest financial periods of their lives. Years later, Lovin’ Mama Farm has become a thriving organic business built around intensive production, direct relationships with customers, and an extraordinary diversity of crops and products. Corinne explains why they stopped wholesaling, how six weekly farmers markets transformed their cash flow, why microgreens remain an important year-round crop, and how flowers, herbs, perennial crops, value-added products, and a loyal customer base all contribute to financial stability. She also talks candidly about women in agriculture, raising a family while farming, paying employees year-round, and creating a business that supports both the people working on the farm and the community eating its food.

https://realorganicproject.org/corinne-hansch-small-farms-can-make-great-living

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. 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/directory⁠⁠⁠⁠

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.

To read our weekly newsletter and get firsthand news about what's happening with organic food, farming and policy, please subscribe here:

⁠⁠⁠⁠https://www.realorganicproject.org/email/⁠

290: Antitrust scholar Zephyr Teachout explains how monopoly power has reshaped food, retail, health care, media, technology, and nearly every other part of American life. A handful of grocery companies now control much of the marketplace, while dominant distributors use kickbacks and other questionable methods to control of shelf space. Zephyr lays out practical ways states can begin reversing that concentration. Drawing on the history of farmer-led populist movements, she argues that real food depends on democratic markets, strong communities, and alliances capable of challenging corporate oligarchy.

https://realorganicproject.org/zephyr-teachout-reorganizing-food-systems-for-real-food

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. 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/directory⁠⁠⁠⁠

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.

To read our weekly newsletter and get firsthand news about what's happening with organic food, farming and policy, please subscribe here:

⁠⁠⁠⁠https://www.realorganicproject.org/email/⁠

Today, we are sharing an episode from the Signal Award-winning and 2026 Ambie Award-nominated podcast No Small Endeavor. Hosted by award-winning teacher and Professor of Theology and Ethics Lee C. Camp, No Small Endeavor explores what it means to live a good life, uncovering the habits, practices, and dispositions that facilitate human flourishing.

In this episode, marine biologist, policy expert, and New York Times bestselling author Ayana Elizabeth Johnson who wrote What If We Get It Right? Visions of Climate Futures. Ayana asks a question that reframes everything: how do you respond to climate change with joy?

Those two words, climate change, can fill us with dread, anxiety, and doom. Advocates for action are often fueled by breakneck urgency, but for many, that outlook is paralyzing. Johnson argues there is another way. "This is the work of our lifetime," she says, "so why don't we find ways to make it delightful?" In this conversation, she explains why the climate crisis is no less dire than the news makes it seem, but why climate activism must be rooted in hope and joy to be truly sustainable.

Follow and listen to more episodes of No Small Endeavor here: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/no-small-endeavor-with-lee-c-camp/id1513178238