what does organic mean? with linley dixon of the real organic project

WHEN YOU SHOP for food—whether produce or meat or eggs—and see a label that says “organic,” what do you think that means? At its most fundamental level, I guess I always thought it meant vegetables grown on the fields of an organic farm—like, in the soil, or animals raised in its pastures.

But increasingly, as hydroponics have become more widespread, soil isn’t always part of the organic food-raising equation.

Today’s guest is Linley Dixon, a Colorado-based organic farmer who is also co-director of the Real Organic Project, an advocacy organization of farmers who grow in the soil and together seek to protect the integrity of the organic label’s meaning on food. Real Organic Project is holding a daylong conference Oct.14 in Hudson, N.Y., with a great lineup of presenters from the organic community, and we’ll hear about that, too. 

Read along as you listen to the Oct. 2, 2023 edition of my public-radio show and podcast using the player below. You can subscribe to all future editions on Apple Podcasts (iTunes) or Spotify or Stitcher (and browse my archive of podcasts here).

the real organic project, with linley dixon

Margaret Roach: Hi, Linley, thanks for coming in from the greenhouses and the fields to help and talk to me about this. Thank you.

Linley Dixon: Hi, Margaret. I’ve been a long time fan of the podcast and your writings.

Margaret: Yeah. So again, you’d think I would know these things. Having been a vegetarian most of my life and having been a consumer of organic products forever and ever and so forth, you’d think I would certainly be alerted. But until talking to you over recent years, I really didn’t understand the distinctions. And this is something that’s not just for vegetables and herbs and so forth, but