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Third Plate Bookclub Dan Barber and the Future of Food “On top of being a pro-farmer, ecologically-minded chef, Dan Barber is a masterful storyteller. The cool thing about the stories Dan tells is that…” Read Linley’s appeal to join our next book club discussing Third Plate by Dan in this week’s letter below:   “What …

Soul of the Soil “The magic of soil” and the “soul of organic“ “The title of this film, Soul of the Soil, combines these two phrases. They are not bits of marketing fluff. They are the lived truth of the Lazors and Butterworks Farm.” Read on below for Dave’s take on the documentary streaming now on …

Organic Farming’s Lawsuit Loss “How can this kind of soilless farming be called organic? Only by a lawyer or a lobbyist.” “What this week’s legal decision will mean to the good certifiers who refuse to certify hydroponic production as organic is unknown. Certainly, all of us will need to come together to protect them. If …

Proposed OLPP Standards The end of organic poultry porches? Don’t hold your breath. The current proposed organic livestock & poultry practices rule demonstrates the power of chemical agriculture over the organic sector. Read on below for Linley’s take on the standards’ past and challenges for the future of Real Organic: If the Organic standards required …

Organic Questions & Answers with Bob Quinn Our monthly book club continued our intimate setting for participants to ask Bob Quinn all about organic questions and answers. We loved hearing his take on some major issues around organic farming. Read on below for a few of the questions that came up in Linley’s recap letter …

Our Whirlwind California Tour Our whirlwind California tour brought us to the heart of communities that were early adopters of Organic farming. We interviewed Warren Weber, Javier Zamora and more… Read on below about our conversations with California organic farmers, eaters, chefs, and more in our letter below:   Dear Friend, Linley and I had …

Mycorrhizal Relationships Though mycorrhizae are incredibly common (and functionally important) to land plants, they are in rapid decline. We are farming in ways that destroy these fungal interactions, and we are now farming on half of the world’s land. Read on below about plant mycorrhizal relationships and why they are important in organic farming systems: …

Soil and Health Discussion “What Your Food Ate is a capstone piece that looks at why the WAY that we farm is important, not only for the health and longevity of human societies, but how that actually affects our own individual health.” – David Montgomery in the Real Organic book club.” Read our What Your …

Organic’s Law Of Return “One of the great foundational lessons of organic farming is the belief that everything is connected. Albert Howard wrote about the Law Of Return and Dave reflects on waste and a whole system approach to organic farming in conjunction with Eli Goldratt’s “no complex systems” argument in this week’s letter:   Dear …

Books helping organic grow: What Your Food Ate In their latest book, David and Anne tackle the question scientifically: “Is my health affected not only by what I eat but by HOW it is produced?” “David Montgomery has a knack for writing books that help the organic movement grow…” Read Linley’s letter about the soon-to-be-released What …

A Simple Lie or a Complex Truth Our first June book club sessions focused on the complex truth of our soils, our food, and our health with Anne Biklé “Our science is based on isolating elements from larger processes and learning all that we can about them.” Read Dave’s letter about our What Your Food Ate …

What Your Food Ate Our June book club has two sessions focused on “how to heal our land and reclaim our health with Anne Bikle and David Montgomery” “Their books are packed with data, interwoven with interesting stories, all of which result in a full understanding of why we need to transform the food system …

Farmer-Led Food System Solutions Examples “We all need to think of ways we can work together to change the food system.” – Read Linley’s letter about organic farmer-led solutions for a broken food system below. Dear Friend, One of our Real Organic certified farmers wrote to me last weekend with a story of hope. There …

“Dear NOSB” “Big Ag creates a disconnection from the land and from the people doing the actual work on the land.” – Read Dave’s letter about his National Organic Standards Board testimony and reflection below. Hi Friend, I testified to the National Organic Standards Board (NOSB) a few weeks ago. In the short time that …

The Sustainable Agriculture Continuum Read Linley Dixon’s National Organic Standards Board spring meeting reflection and testimony, where she paints a picture of a sustainable agriculture continuum, below. Hi Friend, The National Organic Standards Board (NOSB) just finished their Spring meeting. Twice a year, 15 members come together to vote on recommendations for what is allowed …

Paul Hawken Regeneration We are pleased to announce Paul Hawken as our second Real Organic Book Club speaker. He will be discussing Regeneration, at 6 pm EDT on Thursday, May 5. Dave Chapman’s letter this week talks about this book and some takeaways. Hi Friend, Paul Hawken has been a good friend to the Real Organic Project. …

“In other words, while not all certified organic farms are necessarily climate-smart, a chemical farm can NEVER be climate-smart agriculture.” – Linley Dixon Climate-Smart Agriculture and Organic Farming Sunday April 17th, 2022: Fiddling while Rome Burns Dear Friend, The USDA has announced that it will grant $1 billion for the “implementation, verification, and development of …

Organic Berries Shipped To Your Door: King Grove Organics This week’s letter tells the story of one blueberry farmer shipping organic berries nationwide at the peak of their flavor and nutrition. The easiest way to get an organic berry better than any other is to buy them directly so read our love letter to King …

“If there is enforcement of the Origin of Livestock rule, the industrial dairies will be required to do what is simply a given for the real organic dairies. We are all aware that enforcement of the pasture rule has been a failure.” – Linley Dixon   An Origin of Livestock Victory for Organic “As I’ve …

“How is it that we keep losing the meaning of organic in the USDA? During the symposium, Michael laid out a complex chain of thought that helped me understand. It is an important interview, and we highly recommend listening.” – Dave Chapman   Losing The Meaning of Organic with Michael Pollan “Your challenge is telling …

“I have been deeply affected by his work, as have so many others. Samuel is one of the great pioneers of organic farming in America.”– Dave Chapman in this week’s letter. Read his full remembrance of Samuel Kaymen below.   Remembering Samuel Kaymen, Founder of Stonyfield “… Sometimes the light’s all shinin’ on me Other …

“Michael Phillips was the patron saint of organic orcharding. He gave many talks around the country. His books The Organic Orchardist and The Holistic Orchard are classic guides to both commercial and home growers. With his partner Nancy, together they wrote The Herbalist’s Way. Separately and together they traveled the country giving workshops on orcharding …

Disappearing Barn Lights (See All Our Previous Letters Here) Help us Turn the Lights Back On in the barns of rural America. Our Milk & Money symposium opened and closed with the heartfelt words of Wisconsin Real Organic farmer, Helen Kees. She tells us about the loss of the warm barn lights that used to dot her Western …

“Gary Hirshberg and the Real Organic Project walk into a bar together…” Wed 6pm EST Session with Gary Hirshberg As it turns out, what happens next is not a joke. Tonight at 6 PM we will host a 40-minute bonus session for our Milk & Money symposium. We will post a portion of our interview …

Farmer Activists (See All Our Previous Letters Here) One thing that all Real Organic certified farmers have in common is the understanding that we don’t farm in a vacuum. Like it or not, we are part of a greater system that affects our farms, our markets, our ability to continue to do what we do. …

Farewell To Senator Leahy (See All Our Previous Letters Here) Patrick Leahy is someone who has served in Congress who represented people before power. He is ending his long Senate career. After 46 years of service to our country, his seniority makes him the President Pro Tempore of the US Senate. He has guided the …

The most complex, radical technologies on earth: Truth Default Theory and Organic (See All Our Previous Letters Here) “Collectives do not emerge from the tops of institutions. They begin with one person and then another, the invisible social space where commitment and action join and come together to become a dyad, a group, a team, …

The Great Organic Food Fraud: Some Surprises (See All Our Previous Letters Here) This week, The New Yorker published the story of Randy Constant, the perpetrator of the “largest-known fraud in the history of American organic agriculture.” Surprisingly, Constant didn’t need to be a mastermind to pass off a quarter of a billion dollars worth …

Real Change: The Political Ecology of Food I had the privilege of giving a farm tour to a college class entitled “Political Ecology of Food.”  Prior to their visit, the student’s assignment was to watch the video on our homepage, “Why Real Organic Matters”. It’s a video that I have seen dozens of times, and somehow I’m still …

Taste This: Lessons From Stone Barns   The lesson of the day was to pay attention, to listen with all our senses. To show up for the food we were eating, to honor it, enjoy it. To use my tongue and nose to find nourishment. To digest it, in every sense of the word. The …

Why Doesn’t The USDA Support Farm To Fork?   In May of 2020, the European Commission issued “A Farm to Fork Strategy for a fair, healthy and environmentally-friendly food system.” It is a landmark document that sets ambitious goals for the EU (and the rest of the world). It is the heart of the European …

Glorious Grasses: Diversified Organic Pasture Management “Cows were meant to move about and grass was meant to stay in place, and we have a system that does the opposite.” – Francis Thicke, Real Organic dairy farmer Dear Real Organic friends, An acre of properly managed diversified organic pasture yields more nutrition for a cow than …

Show Me A Movement “Show Me A Movement” Barak Obama talking to Dan Barber in 2009 on the possibility of reforming the food system. Dear Real Organic friends, To change the world, should we focus on changing the system or on changing what we buy? Do we best create change as activist citizens or as …

Danone To The Rescue? “Danone is committed to growing food in a way that regenerates natural ecosystems and strengthens the well-being of farmers, livestock, local communities and consumers. Supply chain transparency is essential to accelerate the regenerative agriculture movement worldwide,” said Mickael Baud, Transparency & Traceability Transformation Program Director at Danone in 2021. Beautiful words. …

“The farmers of the West are repeating the mistakes made by Imperial Rome. Money, profit, the accumulation of capital and luxury, became the objects of landowning and not the great virtues of the soil and the farmers of few acres.” -Albert Howard Dear Real Organic friends, Flying home from visiting farms in California last week, …

“That is the fundamental cause of the problem. I can go down the list of every major problem we’re confronting and it’s because we give a priority to economic efficiency, “productivity”, profitability and we end up compromising our relationships with each other, our social values. We end up destroying the natural resources, degrading the soil, …

Dear Real Organic friends, Talking to some friends in Vermont a few years ago, they thought I was exaggerating when I said that the National Organic Program was in trouble. It seemed to them that organic farms were flourishing in Vermont. I asked, “Even the dairy farms?” Well, no… Not the dairy farms. We are …

Dear Real Organic friends, More and more people are starting to ask questions about how their food is produced. Many eaters are starting to make highly informed connections between production practices and the nutritional, environmental, and social implications of their choices.   But, how can we make informed decisions without transparency? This CBS news coverage features Paul …

Dear Real Organic friends, I have learned is that real organic is not a brand. It is a movement. And this movement is connected to many other movements. It isn’t just about growing good food on one farm, as wonderful as that is. That one farm is connected to a community of eaters and farmers. …

This week we are introducing two podcasts. Dear Real Organic friends, Once upon a time, in the early 1970s, when I left high school and went to work in the world, the Vietnam war was coming to an end and our culture was in upheaval. We had lost an earlier innocence in that painful war, …

Dear Real Organic friends, In the mid 1990’s Suzi Simard found that nutrients are transferred between the roots of forest trees through their mycorrhizal fungal connections. Her research, published in the distinguished journal Nature, challenged a government policy strategically labeled “Free to Grow” that required herbicide use on “reforested” clear cut land. Under this policy, …

“There’s something happening here But what it is ain’t exactly clear There’s a man with a gun over there Telling me I got to beware I think it’s time we stop Children, what’s that sound? Everybody look, what’s going down?” –  Buffalo Springfield: “For What Its Worth” Dear Real Organic friends, It’s time we “stop …

“What I caution against is folks who believe that just by buying organic or just by sharing muffins with my neighbor, I’ve done my part. There’s more to it than that.” – Leah Penniman Dear Real Organic friends, Leah Penniman took a typical path into organic farming, starting as an apprentice on small farms, reading, …

“What does Theory Of Constraints say that is so different from common sense? ‘If I can find the leverage point, I can move the earth.” – -Eli Goldratt Dear Real Organic friends, I have long been inspired by the thinking of Eli Goldratt, based on the simple question: Where do we put our attention? We …

“The reality is we don’t live in a perfect world. We live in a very imperfect world. And that’s politics. And you kind of have to navigate, and it’s frustrating. And the reality is I get what you are doing with the Real Organic Certification process that you put in place. “But in reality, that …

“Democracy is two wolves and a lamb voting on what to have for lunch. “Liberty is a well-armed lamb contesting the vote!” – Ben Franklin Correction. Several people informed us that Ben Franklin (despite often being quoted incorrectly) did not write the words attributed to him in the last letter. It is still an important …

Speaking at a rally to protect organic, Fred Kirschenmann was asked what he would do if he was Secretary of Agriculture? He replied, “Well, that all depends on how long I wanted to remain Secretary of Agriculture.” Dear Real Organic friends, We (Francis Thicke and Dave Chapman) are writing again today about our meeting with Secretary Vilsack. …

“So our number one responsibility needs to be, and should be, protecting the brand, as we see, and based on the recommendations that we get from the board, and based on the recommendations and feedback that we get from organic producers.” – Secretary Tom Vilsack speaking in his meeting with organic farmers Dear Real Organic …

“Change isn’t made by asking permission.” – Seth Godin Dear Real Organic friends, I spoke with a friend who has worked all his life in the organic industry. And our conversation depressed me. I like him. I respect him. He has spent a lifetime building relationships with like-minded people. He is part of the highly …

“Cheap Food Isn’t.” – Michael Olson’s Third Law of the Food Chain “Alice Waters by herself did not defeat McDonald’s. But Alice Waters taught someone who taught someone who taught someone who taught someone who taught someone. At the same time that McDonald’s continues to grow, there is now a significant alternative, in public schools …

“My first thought as I began eating them was, ‘Wow, these could not taste any fresher if I had grown them myself.’” – Eliot Coleman, Four Season Farm   Dear Real Organic friends, Our world seems designed to put King Grove Organic Farm out of business. When we first met farmers Hugh and Lisa Kent, …

Why Real Organic Matters… Click above to watch this short video about our farmer-led movement! “If you look the other way, things change. So you have to be very vigilant and see what’s going on out there. “Perhaps if we don’t start talking about it and get together and save the core values of what …

“As a nation, we’ve simply become too cheap, particularly when it comes to food. “Achieving this extraordinary cheapness has meant continually extracting value out of the entire supply chain that leads to our suppers — from the farms and rural communities where our feed is grown, to the processing facilities and fast-food restaurants where underpaid …

“We, by our choices, have the power to make or destroy the world. We have to wake up.” – Arran Stephens, Real Organic Project symposium   Red dots: 500 Certified ROP Pilot Farms Blue dots: 350 Ready for Inspection this summer Help us Grow the Real Organic Movement to 1,000 farms!   Dear Real Organic …

“If I were asked to sum up the results of the work of the pioneers of the last 12 years or so on the relation of agriculture to public health, I should reply that a fertile soil means healthy crops, healthy livestock, and last, but not least, healthy human beings.” – Sir Albert Howard, 1945 …

    “So it’s no wonder that people can’t eat bread or grains anymore. I’m sure there could be problems with the breeding or the gluten, but you are also eating Roundup.  “Most human-grade grains, (that are so-called “human-grade grains”; they really shouldn’t be) are sprayed with Roundup as a desiccant. So if you’re eating …

    Dear Real Organic friends, After many months of research and work, the first session of the Real Organic Symposium came out last Sunday. Over 1500 people have signed up, and the first session was a remarkable success. The biggest question we heard was, “What can we do?” As one person wrote: “In the beginning, I found the …

  “Rachel Carson wrote more about pesticides, and Albert Howard wrote more about the fertilizers. But both tried to wake us to the fact that companies that had gotten addicted to making profits from killing people and for war were now wanting to continue to make profits by selling the same chemicals as agricultural inputs. “I realized …

Hi Friend,   “I thought that we were having an argument, and that as soon as we had a preponderance of evidence clearly piled on one side, then our leadership would do the right thing. It took a while to figure out that we had won the argument long before. The science was abundantly clear. …

Hi Friend, I got an article this week. It appeared in Civil Eats, and It had quotations from Linley Dixon, Kathleen Merrigan, and others about COVID, farm scale, and feeding people. It raised very important questions. “The idyllic five-acre organic farm that only sells within a five-mile radius . . . won’t feed many people. Shouldn’t …

“I’m going to make my opinion heard. I think you folks ought to make your opinion heard too.“ – Senator Jon Tester on the certification of hydro as organic Hi Friend, Jon Tester joined the Senate in 2006. But he has been a grain farmer in Big Sandy, Montana all his life. With his wife, Sharla, he …

“To be truly radical is to make hope possible rather than despair convincing.” – Raymond Williams Hi Friend, When the Real Organic Project began in 2018, we were immediately joined by a respected group of organic pioneers. There was a need for a label that would honestly represent the organic movement. Many eaters were unaware of …

Hi Friend, The inescapable challenge of our time is climate crisis. Regardless of race, gender, income level, nationality, or creed, our lives are being changed by climate. And our lives are changing climate. Those changes are only going to multiply, until our world is profoundly transformed. There are a growing number of voices calling for dramatic changes to how …

Organic Grain Fraud The Real Organic Project was formed by organic farmers to address five major lapses in USDA Organic integrity: 1) The certification of hydroponic production, 2) The certification of confinement livestock operations, 3) The lack of enforcement of the “pasture rule” in organic dairy, 4) The failure to implement the Origin of Livestock Rule and, …

Farm Labor at Swanton Berry Farm When you grocery shop, too much is invisible. You can’t see the buildings that housed the farm animals, you can’t see the slaughterhouse, packing house, nor a day in the life of the people who picked the produce. I truly believe that if you could know the FULL story …

Brave Little State The Brave Little State Versus Godzilla. We know how that movie ends. Vermont is the Brave Little State. In this case, Godzilla is Monsanto and the Organic Trade Association.That is an odd pairing. How did that happen?For years there was a huge national effort to require labeling for products containing GMOs. And there was an …

What Do A Rancher And A Vegan Have In Common? Must-see “Know Your Farmer” video of Alderspring Ranch Glenn Elzinga is an endlessly interesting cowboy. I spent a day with him and four of his seven daughters in the backcountry of the Salmon Challis National Forest. If your time is limited today, please stop reading this …

Dear USDA – What will it take? Most organic farmers do not know what the NOSB is. Most of us don’t even know what the NOP is. Huh? The NOP is the National Organic Program. This is the branch of the USDA that administers the organic certification program for America. They guard and protect the …

How Long Could Your Community Feed Itself? Liz Graznak wanted to farm her own land. But, it took her nearly a decade to make it happen. Like many first generation farmers, Liz didn’t have access to farmland nor did she have the capital to make a purchase. So, she got a job at a local …

Which Came First- The Organic Chicken Or The Organic CAFO? Which Came First- The Organic Chicken Or The Organic CAFO?That’s an easy one. The Organic Chicken came first. The Organic Chicken has been around for thousands of years, long before the word “Organic” was used. These chickens explored outside, hunted and pecked, scratched and rolled, and flapped their wings. They …

Whose Government Is It? “I can think of several outcomes of Harvey v Veneman, some of which would require many pages to explain. But the main one was how easily the entire organic movement rolled over and allowed a handful of senators and reps to amend OFPA to defeat the principal reform of my lawsuit—the …

What Food Do We Want? Our Know Your Farmer video this week is a visit with Anne and Jack Lazor of Butterworks Farm. Butterworks is an iconic dairy farm in Vermont. The Lazors have been organic pioneers for the last thirty years. Their farm has evolved from selling whole milk to primarily selling yogurt. Their …

Years ago I was sitting in a cafe when the lights went out. A regional electrical failure led to the stunning silence. And then, within moments…. everyone began talking to each other. In the last month, the lights have been going out in our world. And people are talking to each other. We NEED to …

Strange days. How quickly everything is changing. And how quickly this tumult becomes the new normal. The Dartmouth symposium is postponed for a year. We will let you know the new date when it is set. In the meantime, above is a link to a short video that we were planning to show at the symposium. It …

CCOF Board Meeting Takes On (Pet Tiger) Hydroponics Our “Know Your Farmer” video this week comes from Park Farming Organics. I got to hear co-owner Scott Park speak at EcoFarm last month. He gave an inspiring keynote about their soil health practices on their innovative farm. We all left inspired about the possibilities for real …

EcoFarm is a compelling conference, especially for a sheltered East Coast boy. I have never toured California agriculture before this conference. We drove around the Coastal Valley in buses to visit three farms. The first one was a certified “organic” hydroponic operation. The tour organizers made clear to me that this trip was not intended …

This week we are sharing a great “Know Your Farmer” video of a California pioneer: Frey Vineyards. I got to visit with Katrina Frey at the EcoFarm Conference. Katrina and her husband, Jonathan, and daughter Eliza, are Real Organic Project pilot farmers who got certified with us last year. The video shows their spectacular vineyard, …

Real Organic In California Okay, not a short letter… Sorry. The Real Organic Project is immensely busy this Winter. We are getting more farmers applying for ROP certification every day. We have now gotten over 400 farms applying or accepted for certification with ROP. We have gotten 175 farm applications in the last two weeks …

Can Real Organic Farming Reduce Climate Change and Enhance Biodiversity? By Jean-Paul Stewart-Courtens I will start off with a somber fact; agriculture has a terrible reputation for its impact on the environment. The displacement of hunting and gathering by farming caused tremendous disruption on our planet. Desertification and the loss of biodiversity are but two …

  Eliot Coleman will be one of the keynote speakers at the Real Organic Project symposium at Dartmouth on April 3 & 4. In 2019, ROP Associate Director Linley Dixon visited Eliot and Barbara Damrosch at their farm in Maine. Above is her her great interview with Eliot in his library. When we suggested that …

In the dark of the year, we celebrate the return of the light. That is exactly what the Real Organic Project is about. We are bringing the light back to organic after the crisis in the National Organic Program. The word “crisis” is based on the Greek word “krisis,” meaning “decision.” We are at a …

Pete’s Greens And Dartmouth Symposium Our Know Your Farmer video this week is Pete’s Greens in Craftsbury, VT. Farmer Pete Johnson has built one of the Northeast’s leading organic vegetable farms. His CSA based farm grows a profusion of vegetables. He is remarkably innovative and always hard working. His many farming ideas have spread to …

Legend Organic Farm and NOSB Testimony We were happy to certify Legend Organic Farm as part of the Real Organic Project this summer. The iconic organic cereal company, Nature’s Path, created Legend Organic Farm to explore and demonstrate the best of organic grain farming. It is a “Think And DO Tank”. Located in Saskatchewan, Canada, …

Cheap Food High Costs This week’s Know Your Farmer video of Skokomish Valley Farm details the success that results from many people working together toward a common vision. The organic movement has a deep history of decentralized, small and productive farms that are vital to economic, social, and environmental health. But there is a false …

Organic AND Pastured Eggs https://therealorganicproject.wistia.com/medias/h1bl4lr1kw It’s nearly impossible to find a grocery store egg from hens that are BOTH: Certified Organic AND truly pastured. Yet, this is what most organic egg consumers WANT. Instead, we find USDA Organic eggs that come from confined chickens, OR “pastured” claims from chickens that are likely fed conventional grain. …

May The Fork Be With You The following is a reprint of an article I wrote that appeared in the Fall 2019 issue of Health Science. It is reprinted with their permission. I have added pictures: Albert Howard made a radical observation. When farmers returned all the agricultural wastes to their fields and grew cover …

Bob Bansen and his family milk 200 cows on 470 acres of pasture in Oregon. Their organic farm, Emerald Veil Jerseys, is a 5th generation family farm. In his “Know Your Farmer” video, Bansen reveals that he might not be in business long enough to pass down the dairy farm to the 6th generation. The …

This is a long letter. I apologize. Please forgive me. It is another important but complicated subject. Before I begin, let me present our Know Your Farmer video for this week. Appropriately it is an inspiring video of Jesse Buie at Ole Brook Organics in Jackson, Mississippi. I am very happy to share this video, …

Wisconsin has lost 1,654 dairy farms in the last 3 years, according to the state department of Agriculture. That’s over 20% percent of the state’s dairy farms! In response to the current crisis, Trump’s Secretary of Agriculture, Sonny Perdue recently said, “In America, the big get bigger and the small go out.” Apparently, the proliferation …

Greetings from Oregon as we wrap up what has been an incredible cross country road trip inspecting farms for the Real Organic Project. The grass-roots of ROP have now spread to every corner of the country and there is no doubt in my mind that we are the future of organic! I want to highlight …

One of our inspectors for Real Organic Project got a letter a few weeks ago. It brought up some important concerns that I want to address. Their letter is friendly and respectful. This is an expression of concern that deserves a response. Here is the letter we got: “While I agree with the mission of …

Like most Gen-Xers, I grew up learning about overwhelming environmental problems: the destruction of tropical rainforests, the pollution of our oceans, rivers and air, the disappearing ozone, and what was then called “global warming.” We were taught about these horrible acts of humanity that, as kids, we had no power to change. Of course, we …

Jean-Martin Fortier doesn’t need to be certified with the Canadian Organic Growers. But he is. He doesn’t need to be certified with the Real Organic Project. But he is. Watch JM’s fascinating Know Your Farmer video! Selling all of his crops directly to eaters and restaurants, JM is a living example of Know Your Farmer. …

Do We Dare Speak Out? I wrote an article that came out last week in the Independent Science News entitled The Hydroponic Threat to Organic Food. Co-editor Jonathan Latham forwarded several responses to me from readers. One from Mark Squire was particularly interesting to me, and I asked for permission to reprint it and respond …

We don’t get many wins with the Federal government these days. But we had one last week. USDA had been allowing the use of prohibited substances for hydroponic producers just days before certification. We stopped them from allowing glyphosate and insecticides for hydro berry operations. That means there will be a little less Roundup sprayed …

It is a simple question. Is a three-year transition required for all operations in USDA organic? We finally have proof of the answer. Zero transition time means that glyphosate, malathion, and other egregious materials can be permitted the day before organic certification. With no transition time, what is there to stop some cynical hydroponic producers …

USDA Organic Now Allows Herbicides A few weeks ago I got to ask an important question of Jennifer Tucker, the head of the National Organic Program (NOP). “I have received reports from both Florida and California of hydroponic berry operations that are spraying herbicide, immediately covering the ground with plastic, putting pots down and then …

The Truth About Real Organic Food In The Supply Chain If you haven’t watched the previous Real Organic Project symposium speeches, get busy because we have released three more for you! Highly respected, long-time organic farmers came together to tell eaters that the organic marketplace is changing fast. They explained that eaters are losing the …

This week we are releasing three more recordings from the Dartmouth Symposium. Click here to view our interview with Enid Wonnacott. Enid died this winter after serving for many years as the Executive Director of NOFA VT. This was recorded at the NOFA Summer Conference in 2018. Enid was being interviewed by Lisa Stokke for …

Last week some 200 people gathered at Dartmouth College to participate in the Real Organic Project Symposium. A third of them were organic farmers from all over the country. This group included many of the same farmers who traveled to Florida in 2017 to testify to the NOSB (National Organic Standards Board). They demanded that …

“We’ve got this tradition all throughout agricultural history in North America of having to step up at different times to counter these corporate interests that want to take land, take water, take our resources, take our markets… And when needed, farmers come together. And this seems to be one of those times,” begins Real Organic …

I attended my first EcoFarm Conference last week. I was invited to talk about the Real Organic Project. It was a long trip, and I wondered how I would be received. California has been the epicenter of support for certifying hydro as organic. The last time I was in California I was attending the USDA …

This week’s Know Your Farmer video of Howie Prussak at High Meadows Farm explains that when communities support local farms, the small farms often become the foundation of the local economy. However, if small farms struggle, as many are now, a ripple effect is felt throughout the community. Howie farms 12 acres of veggies and …

Watch Mike Brownback of Spiral Path Farm testify passionately to the National Organic Standards Board (NOSB) that organic farming is, and always will be, farming in healthy soils, no matter what the USDA decides! At that fateful NOSB meeting, however, the board voted against the demands from over 40 farmers to keep organic farming rooted …

Steve Ela has one goal: Produce great tasting organic fruit without society subsidizing the costs of his farming operation. Steve Ela, of Ela Family Farms, is a respected member of the National Organic Standards Board. He is also a board member of the Real Organic Project. His Colorado orchard is a Real Organic Project Pilot …

The profound wisdom of organic farmers is to embrace the complexity of natural systems. Organic farmers choose to support these intricate webs of life. They know they can’t possibly replicate the interactions of the soil food web in a feedlot or in a container. Our featured pilot farm this week is Full Belly Farm outside …

A question that we constantly face is whether talking openly about the failures of the National Organic Program will undermine the organic movement? By telling people the truth of what is happening, are we destroying organic or saving it? Would it be better to stay silent and hope that things get better? This strategy of …

The Real Organic Project was formed in January of 2018 to educate, promote, and advocate for traditional biological farming, which has come to be called “Organic Farming.” The Real Organic Project is intended to fill the void left by failures of integrity, transparency, and public process in the USDA National Organic Program (NOP). As the …

Since my last letter to you on February 16, a lot has happened! Here’s a quick update on where we are now, what’s coming up in March, and something you can do now that will help our friends at the Cornucopia Institute. —Dave p.s. if you’re new to these letters: I’m Dave Chapman, organic farmer …

Dear Friends of Organic, I just wanted to let you know that the Real Organic Project has been born. I’d like to review the past and take a look at the future of certified organic farming. If you care about organic, please forward this letter to your friends. The Past It has not been a …

And all the bells were ringing. The Organic Movement: Try. Fail. Fail again. Fail better. A call to action from an organic moderate.     Jacksonville Looking back on the USDA meeting in Jacksonville, I am left with anger, grief, and a sense of urgency that we keep moving forward. The meeting of the National …

Can Real Organic Scale? At the Real Organic Project, we don’t shy away from asking tough questions. To till or not to till? Are “split-farms” (part certified organic, part not certified organic) justified? Can Real Organic be scaled up? These are just a few of the topics heavily debated by our farmers. Scale has been a …