#164: Author and journalist Austin Frerick joins Linley to discuss his brand new book, Barons: Money, Power, and the Corruption of America's Food Industry. His research on the men shaping our food system through their desire for personal greed reveals a shocking level of immorality.
Austin's views were a great addition to our annual virtual symposium, which is available for instant access here:
https://realorganicproject.org/symposium-2024/
Austin Frerick is a 7th generation Iowan who, after watching his home state be transformed through agricultural policy to the detriment of the family farmer, became an expert on agriculture and antitrust policy and now serves the Co-Chair of the Biden campaign’s Agriculture Antitrust Policy Committee. He is the author of Barons: Money, Power, and the Corruption of America's Food Industry.
https://www.austinfrerick.com/https://www.austinfrerick.com/
To watch a video version of this podcast with access to the full transcript and links relevant to our conversation, please visit:
https://realorganicproject.org/austin-frerick-modern-day-robber-barons-rule-our-food-episode-one-hundred-sixty-four
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/
Tim Bowles Part 1: Digging Into The Rhizosphere
Reginaldo Haslett-Marroquin: The Need For A Real Regenerative Movement
Patrick Holden: Organic Needs Top Down, Bottom Up, And In-The-Middle Action
Francis Thicke: A Journey To Real Organic
Alan Lewis: Food System Betrayal
Ben Dobson: The Politics Of Farming For Climate
Dave Chapman and Eliot Coleman: We Did It Before, We Can Do It Again
Karl Hammer: Imagining A Photosynthetic Food System
Zephyr Teachout at Churchtown: Break'em Up
Kristin Kimball: The Small Farm Revolution Needs Activist Eaters
Linley Dixon: Saving Organic: The First Five Years of The Farmer-Led Real Organic Project
Iriel Edwards: Why Is Race In This? USDA Discrimination, Land Access, And Collective Liberation
Dan Barber: The Power Of Deliciousness
Hugh Kent | Breaking Their Own Laws: Hydroponics And The Farce Of USDA Organic integrity
Joan Gussow: Last 50 Years Brought More Foods And Less Choice
Glenn Elzinga: Why Cattle Are Ruining Our Public Lands In Spite Of A Better Way
Tom Willey Part 2: Working Towards A Permanent Agriculture
Tom Willey: Merging Chemical-Regenerative With Organic
Dennesse Willey: When Organic Was Easy To Sell
Bryan O'Hara: Organic No-Till Vegetable Farming
Create your
podcast in
minutes
It is Free
Plant People
The Great Simplification with Nate Hagens
Regenerative Agriculture Podcast
MinuteEarth
Climate One