Linley Dixon is co-host of The Real Organic Podcast, the weekly Anthem Award-winning ‘Best Sustainability, Environment and Climate Podcast’, recently also named one of the ‘best climate podcasts’ by Earth.org. That pod is produced by The Real Organic Project, that Linley co-directs with Vermont organic farmer Dave Chapman, a farmer-led movement, and add-on food label, dedicated to preserving the integrity of organic food. 

Right now, Linley sees the same patterns that have beset organics, coming for the regenerative movement. And in response to a challenge from Paul Hawken, and inspiration from so many pioneers, including some Aussies, Linley argues it’s time to join forces. 

Linley is a power of knowledge and experience in all this, with an incredible story to tell. Having started with nothing, her family did the hard yards and made a go of farming, but in the face of industrialised headwinds almost had to give it up, before a legacy moment occurred. But then, a horror contamination event. It was gutting. And it transformed Linley’s life. Along with so many others now, in turn.

Perhaps inevitably, as a fellow podcaster, Linley interviews me at times here too! So it’s a kind of 2-in-1. We compare all sorts of notes, including of our respective journeys across the States and Australia, speaking to people of all kinds, politics and other beliefs. Again, you guessed it, painting a picture you don’t commonly see on the TV, and mapping out the successful stuff we can build on. And again, it all culminates in an incredible exchange stemming from the music question! Before we go out with a subscriber voicemail.

This conversation was recorded just before the article I published on Substack last week on Trump’s Executive Order apparently advancing regenerative farming, said to be in part some MAHA triage. But we explore all its contexts here, including MAHA, its promise, and signs of divergence from Trump. 

We also look for what actually works: alliances across labels, cooperative models, food-as-medicine programs, directories and online marketplaces that connect eaters directly to trustworthy farms, and the cultural fuel it takes to keep pushing when the system is designed for consolidation. 

So ultimately, this episode feels perfectly timed this week. It really felt like we’d settled in on the porch at the farm too. I hope you enjoy the Summer evening hang with us.

Chapter markers & transcript.

Recorded 2 July 2026.

If you care about regenerative farming, organic integrity, soil biodiversity, pesticide contamination, and building a food system that earns trust, this one is for you. Subscribe, share it with a friend who buys groceries, and leave a review with the most important standard you think “regenerative” should require.

You can hear our visit to Churchtown Dairy, with Judith Schwartz and company, in episode 221: Restoring Dairy Farming with Family, Food & Festival. And the first listener mailbag went out from there too, in ep 219.

And the Grounded Festival podcast that features the session on Food as Medicine, with Steven Chen MD, and me hosting, is here.

Music: 

Organic Reflections, by Roie Shpigler (sourced from Artlist).

Regeneration, by Amelia Barden.

Send us a voicemail

Apply now to join us for Confluence 2027, a week-long canoe journey on the spectacular Murray River, Australia.

Music: Heartland Rebel, by Steven Beddall (sourced from Artlist).

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