Real Organic Project
Farmers have come together to protect the future of the organic movement.
Front Cover- Lady Moon farm
A grassroots movement of eaters, scientists, authors, journalists, educators, chefs, and environmental activists is quickly building around them.
Together, we are the Real Organic Project.
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Our Work, Our Mission, Is To Protect Organic.
LOOK FOR OUR LABEL TODAY.
The growing failure of the USDA to serve and protect organic farming was the catalyst that united us. The farmers of the Real Organic Project have created an add-on label to USDA organic, to differentiate our nutritious food grown in healthy soils and raised on diverse pastures. This is not a new concept. In the EU, there are respected add-on labels to the European organic program that offer customers greater transparency. Today, countries across the globe are crafting policies to increase organic acreage for the benefit of all. Our world movement is growing and uniting around saving organic.
Industrial hydroponic “Organic” Blueberries
• Plants entirely fed by liquid fertilizers • Soil is compacted, laser leveled, and often treated with herbicides • Obscene plastic use, disposed of every 3 to 4 years
REaL Organic Project certified Blueberries
• Follows organic philosophy of “Feed the Soil, Not the Plant” • Healthy living soils sequester carbon, hold water, and provide wildlife habitat 7
Industrial hydroponic “Organic” Tomatoes
• Hydroponic berries, tomatoes, cucumbers, peppers, greens, and herbs are displacing domestic soil-grown crops • Half of our fruits and vegetables are now imported and are increasingly hydroponic • Synthetic fertilizers are the foundation of the system
REaL Organic Project certified tomatoes
• Organic matter feeds a diverse soil microbial community • Food is more nutritious when grown in healthy soils
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Industrial confinement “Organic” Poultry
Herbruck's Poultry Ranch-Washington Post ©
• Chickens spend entire lives enclosed in a factory • Poultry can even be housed in two story buildings without access to fresh air, soil, and sunshine • Poultry are often fed imported, fraudulent “organic” grain
Real Organic Project Certified Poultry
Alexandre Kids Farm
• Poultry are required to be on pasture • Allows for a more-diverse diet that includes plants, insects, and worms, resulting in more nutritious eggs and meat
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Industrial confinement “Organic” Livestock
Aurora Organic Dairy-Washington Post ©
• Thousands of animals are confined • These CAFOs are expanding in the desert West and are draining aquifers • Manure is concentrated and becomes a pollutant • Milk is nutritionally inferior • Confinement greatly increases greenhouse gas emissions
Real Organic Project Certified livestock
Butterworks Farm
• Cows graze on pasture and enjoy sunshine and fresh air • Healthier animals are not standing in manure and on concrete • Moving animals on pasture improves soil conditions and results in more-nutritious milk and meat • Pasturing animals mitigates climate change
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we have a problem…... And we have a solution, too.
A NEW HOPE:
Attempts at reform of the USDA failed, and so the very founders of the organic movement in America finally said, “Enough!” We created an independent add–on certification to the USDA program to designate that there are still many real organic farms in America. A label that can be trusted for integrity and transparency is needed. Our aim is to supply that label, that voice, that important story, to the eaters.
The Real Organic Project was created in 2018 to protect organic. The organic label had grown so quickly, and much was being lost. As organic succeeded, the same big players in chemical ag became the big players in the organic “industry.” And with this “big tent,” we suddenly found the tent changing. Soon we could barely recognize as “organic” much of what was being sold under our label.
We wish to educate and bring together the real organic movement.
When real organic farms flourish, we ALL flourish. Real Organic Project is committed to providing our services free to all farmers. We believe farmers already carry heavy burdens, and their work serves us all. In Denmark, all organic certification is paid for by the government. The government also offers considerable support and training, research, and market development. We are unable to accomplish that with the USDA. We are reaching out to find generous supporters so that we can do it in America too.
Although the Real Organic Project is farmer-led, it cannot succeed with farmer support alone. We can ONLY succeed with the support of the eaters, authors, chefs, scientists, journalists, teachers, activists, environmentalists, and philanthropists who care. Sane agriculture creates healthy food, healthy air, healthy water, healthy climate, and healthy communities. We humans have become so numerous that our footprints fall heavy upon the land. We must take care of where we step. We know that when the small and mid-scale farms flourish, so do the communities around them.
Please join us. -Dave Chapman & Linley Dixon 15
“It’s time to create a farmer-led movement with a consumer collaboration to blunt the direction that this whole organic industry is going, and bring it back to the original principles on which organic was founded.”
-Paul Muller, Full Belly Farm Real Organic Project Board Member
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I want organic TO mean Organic! - Senator Patrick Leahy at the Thetford rally to Keep the Soil in Organic
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WE CERTIFY TO A HIGHER STANDARD AT NO COST TO FARMERS
Healthy Soils: We do not certify hydroponic/containers as organic. We ensure organic matter in soils is maintained and improved. Animal Welfare: We require all animals to be raised on healthy, diverse pastures and that additional animal welfare requirements are met. Whole Farm certification: All aspects of the farm must be managed organically. Worker Protections: We interview employees and ensure ethical employment.
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There are Over 1,000 Real Organic Project certified farms
We certify farms across the US including Hawaii and Alaska! We also certify farms in Canada.
OUr Reach
300,500+ Acres certified by Real Organic Project Millions of customers reached by real organic Project farms 1,838,000 newsletter opens 170,000 Audio Podcast Downloads * 380,000 Video Podcast Views 100,000 Unique Website Visitors/year
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Sunday letter
Our weekly letters include in-depth stories about farmers and the issues we are facing in the organic movement. Engaged readers include thousands of farmers, journalists, scientists, and movers & shakers who forward the letters to their community and take action.
Subscribe to our weekly newsletter and catch up on previous issues: realorganicproject.org/Email
Jsm Organics
- Allan Savory founder of Holistic Management International episode 165 of the Real Organic PodcasT clearest thinkers I've come across in the whole agricultural movement. “ I think you're some of the
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Real Organic PodcasT
Since its launch in June of 2021, our weekly podcast has climbed up the rankings and earned its place among the top 8% of all podcasts published. We’ve had the honor of interviewing well- known journalists, chefs, authors, politicians, organic thought leaders, and of course, many inspiring farmers.
FIND EPISODES AT: realorganicproject.org/ podcast
Michael Pollan Episode #053: Antitrust and Democracy at Your Dinner Table
Vandana Shiva Episode #158: False Claims Of The Green Revolution Now and Then
Zephyr Teachout Episode #168: Today's Antimonopolist Movement Has Legs
JM Fortier Episode #163: Envisioning A Hyper Local Small Farm Revolution
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virtual symposia Our widespread audience convenes online annually to watch an edited, docu-style presentation and engage in conversation. RealOrganicProject.org/symposia
2024 Break’'em Up! A deep dive into how anti trust and democracy issues are affecting the food system. Past Symposia 2023 Session 1: How Does Regenerative Differ from Organic? Session 2: Is Tillage Evil? 2022 Session 1: Milk & Money Session 2: Protecting Organic 2021 Session 1: What is the Real Organic Project?
Big Ag
Profit
Food System
Money
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Monopsony Big Ag
Supply Management
Oligopoly
Tyson
monopoly Greed
Lack of Enforcement Regulatory Capture Decentralize
Moral Markets
Shelf Space
Food System
Capper Volstead Act
Profit
Money
Oligopoly
Monopsony Money
Big Ag
Profit Kroger
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True Cost Accounting Democracy
monopoly
Lack of Enforcement
Food System
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monopoly Regulatory Capture Monopsony
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Tyson
Decentralize
Money
Sherman Antitrust Act
Shelf Space
Grocery Wars
Big Ag
Session 2: What is Soil Health? Session 3: Farming & Climate Session 4: Health & Nutrition Session 5: What Can We Do?
Profit
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In-person Gatherings
Iriel Edwards speaks at the Saving Real Organic conference at Churchtown Dairy in 2023
Churchtown Hudson, Ny This conference is organized and sponsored by Real Organic Project champion Abby Rockefeller, who
We hold many in-person gatherings at supporting farms, restaurants, community centers and homes. Let us know if you’d like to host an event to raise money and awareness of our movement. Regional Meet-Ups 27
donates the beautiful and historic round barn at Churchtown Dairy for the occasion. Our full day of 20-min Ted-style talks on the main stage has blossomed into a weekend of networking and wonderful conversation.
Leadership Initiative
We equip the next generation with the tools to become future leaders of the organic movement.
REal Organic Project Team Members Meet with Mentor Eliot Coleman at Four Season Farm in Maine
Farmer Ambassador Program
We work with Real Organic farmers to be influential spokespeople for this movement.
Alderspring Ranch
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Retail Market program
We work to increase market share and visibility for Real Organic Project certified products.
Real Organic Project Promotes our Certified Farms
Certified Farmers Promote Real Organic Project
• Relationship building with buyers • Point-of-Purchase labeling and promotional brochures in stores • Helping farmers incorporate the label on their products • Promoting farms and their products in the Real Organic Project Farm Directory • Highlighting farms and their products to the Real Organic Project audience in our communications • Connecting farms with excess product to buyers
• Using the Real Organic Project label in the marketplace • Emailing information or distributing brochures about Real Organic Project to CSA and Farmers Market customers • Speaking about the Real Organic Project at farmer conferences or on podcasts • Acting as ambassadors and helping to recruit more Real Organic farms into the movement • Hosting regional farmer gatherings for policy reform, or farmer to farmer exchange
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Dan Barber Chef at Blue Hill
“What I admire so much about the Real Organic Project is that for so many years, so many people, including myself, have bemoaned the direction that organic has gone; the co-opting, the buying out, the dumbing down, but what do we do about it?” “But what you are doing is really exposing the truth, and I hope that you feel the value of your work. Not just for yourself, but for humanity and for organic farmers. You know, it’s a real blessing.”
Mark Askegarrd Askegaard Organic Farm
“You have to build your own movement. And bring the change that you want to see with you. I think that’s what the Real Organic Project is doing, and has done. The vision, and the change, and the strength of the organic integrity of the label is represented in the Real Organic Project.”
“There has been a tremendous downward pressure on prices due to hydroponics, CAFOs, and fraudulent organic grain being imported. “Will there be any truly organic farmers left in this country after the NOSB and the government has had their way with us? I certainly hope that Real Organic Project can help turn things around.”
Jennifer Taylor Lola's Organic Farm
“What we got was more food on the shelves certified as organic, but we didn’t get more organic farming.”
“Real Organic is truthful agriculture. Food is where most lies have been told. Food and agriculture is where most violence has been perpetrated. But good farming, Real Organic, can be the place where we bring non violence back into the picture, and that non violence then brings truth back into the picture. And for me, Real Organic is farming with truth, for truth, for health, and for life.”
Eliot Coleman Four Season Farm
Vandana Shiva Navdanya
“Frankly, I feel that some people have worked 30-40 years promoting organic, educating people about it, being on the ground and developing not only a business around it but a sense of awareness and consciousness about it. “To have it stolen by big corporations - having regulations that don’t respect the goal of what organic is, for me it’s very shameful and I feel very disturbed by it.” JM Fortier La Ferme des Quatre Temps
“When the Real Organic Project began, we wholeheartedly endorsed it because we have seen a dilution in organic principles.”
Arran Stephens Co-founder, Nature’s Path
Emily Oakley Three Springs Farm
“It's not a question of can, or if, the Real Organic Project will succeed… We already ARE succeeding because farmers want it and they will bring their customers along with them.”
“When organic can actually mean, you know, these huge mega corporations that are draining aquifers, exploiting workers, and torturing animals, then that word doesn’t actually have meaning anymore. And so to reclaim language and infuse it with our deep sense of truth and our ethical compass is crucial.”
Leah Penniman Soul Fire Farm
“A handful of companies are feeding us, and they’re doing it in a way that is brutal to workers, brutal to animals, and they’re hiding from us how our food is produced as best they can...You have to tell a story that organic has been undermined, yet can still be saved."
“Perhaps if we don’t start talking about it and get together on how to save the core values of what organic is, and was at the beginning, we’ll probably lose it. If you look the other way, things change. So you have to be very vigilant and see what’s going on out there. It’s slipping out of our hands.” Javier Zamora JSM Organics
Michael Pollan Author of Ominvore’s Dilemma
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“In case you didn’t know, there are 12,000 lobbyists on the Hill that work for the agriculture and food processing industry. “And they spend about $350 million a year on ‘forming opinions’ in Washington, and that’s more than the defense industry. So don’t underestimate their power!” -Chellie Pingree US Representative and organic farmer, Maine
We did! Five of our Real Organic Certified farms (Full Belly Farm, Swanton Berry Farm, Long Wind Farm, Jacobs Farm, and Durst Organic Growers) joined the Center For Food Safety, OneCert Inc, and the Maine Organic Farmers and Gardeners Association in a lawsuit against the USDA for certifying hydroponics as organic. We are considering additional litigation. Why Don't You Sue the USDA? FAQs
When the majority of crop nutrition comes from liquid fertilizer. How do you define hydroponics?
No, what is divisive is the invasion of organic by non-organic players who have swayed the USDA to support their industrial practices. The entire organic world movement agrees with our concept of organic farming. Only in America are hydroponics and confinement CAFO livestock operations allowed to be certified as organic. Is Real Organic divisive to the organic community?
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“There is not one minute to waste! Honestly, I feel that stronger and stronger everyday, that we just can’t sit back anymore.” “We need to have action today.”
-Dru Rivers Real Organic Farmer & Symposium speaker Full Belly Farm, California
A single teaspoon of fertile soil contains millions of different species. More carbon is stored in the Earth’s soils than in all the life above ground and the atmosphere combined. 37
how to Help
1. Support us financially https://realorganicproject.org/donate
2. Buy
from our farms and encourage new farms to apply for our certification
3. Share
our podcasts, newsletters, events, and website with your community
4. Just Ask your local store for Real Organic
products and if they know which USDA certified products are soil grown and pasture raised
Donate Today!
dave@realorganicproject.org linley@realorganicproject.org
Real Organic Project 82 Wilson Road East Thetford, VT 05043
Liz Graznak Julia Barton Charlie Merinoff Glenn Murer Robert Edmiston executive board
Paul Muller Francis Thicke Dave Chapman Anna Jones-Crabtree
Jesse Buie Hugh Kent
standards board
Doug Crabtree Chris Grigsby Jim Durst Michael Sligh Harriet Behar Liz Graznak Chloe Navarez
Will Brinton Jay Feldman Francis Thicke Dave Chapman Cameron Molberg Linley Dixon Michael Besancon
Advisory board
Lisa Stokke Jim Riddle Davey Miskell Anne Lazor Dan Kittredge Maddie Kempner
Mary Ellen Chadd Zoë Ida Bradbury Ed Maltby Eric Sideman Kris Nichols Stuart Hill Anaïs Beddard Dave Mortensen Alan Lewis
Anne Biklé Marian Blom Paul Hawken Emily Oakley Jeff Moyer Eliot Coleman Joan Dye Gussow
Onika Abraham Jean-Martin Fortier
Leah Penniman Vandana Shiva
Fred Kirschenmann Lynn Ellen Schimoler
Liz Henderson Jim Gerritsen Steve Ela
Alice Waters Dan Barber
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RealOrganicProject.org RealOrganicProject.org
visit our Store store.realorganicproject.org
Original “Protect Organic” T-shirts Black mid-weight unisex t-shirt with full color logo on back. Supplies For Certified Farms Hats Two styles with 5 color choices including the orginal black trucker. Embroidered patch, made with organic cotton and recycled polyester mesh. Labels, twist ties, & signs to help designate your products as Real Organic Project certified.
sWeaTshirTS Black or Pacific Blue. Mid-Weight Organic Zip-Up Hoodie.
Share your commitment to the Real Organic Project Movement store.realorganicproject.org
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