#024: Bill McKibben offers his thoughts on how a big movement can succeed in fighting big power. Beyond the importance of pairing global policy with local, grassroots action, he also speaks to the role of industrial agriculture and the dismantling of the organic brand in the coming climate blows we all face.
Bill McKibben is an environmentalist, journalist, author, and the co-founder and leader of the climate action group 350.org. He is the Schumann Distinguished Scholar at Middlebury College. In addition to writing for the New York Times, The Atlantic, Mother Jones, Harper's, National Geographic and more, he is known for his books about Climate Change, including The End of Nature, Eaarth: Making a Life on a Tough New Planet, and Falter: Has the Human Game Begun to Play Itself Out?
To watch a video version of this podcast please visit:
https://www.realorganicproject.org/bill-mckibben-winning-climate-argument-losing-fight-episode-twenty-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. It also identifies pasture-raised meat, milk, and eggs as compared to 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 the current lack of enforcement of those standards is jeopardizing small farms that follow the law. 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 are still paying a premium price. 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.
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