Real Organic Symposium 2022
The Third Annual Real Organic Symposium – Virtual Talks from Organic Visionaries – Jan-Feb, 2022
Did you know that in the last 25 years, more than half of the 125,000 dairy farms in the country have disappeared? That’s more than 75,000 farm families – gone forever from the land.
This year’s THIRD ANNUAL REAL ORGANIC SYMPOSIUM will look at why this has happened and what we can do about it!
After the passage of the Organic Foods Production Act, converting to organic pasture-based dairying became a safe haven for small-scale dairies because organic family farmers were actually paid a fair price for their milk. They were rewarded for farming practices based on pasture, healthy soil, and animal welfare. Between 2000-2012, many organic dairies were thriving and the number of farms was growing.
But once again, industrial production has reared its ugly head. In the last decade, “certified organic” dairies with several thousand cows in the arid West have proliferated. Organic certifiers such as the Colorado Department of Agriculture, QAI, CCOF, the Texas Department of Agriculture, and Oregon Tilth have looked the other way by simply failing to conduct simple unannounced inspections to ensure proper grazing. Family farmers that follow the rules just can’t compete. The result is that small-scale dairies, once again, are going out of business while the mega-dairies expand, but this time, it’s happening under the organic seal.
The 2022 Real Organic Project Symposium is a two-day, one-of-a-kind virtual series of interviews with more than 50 prominent organic farmers, scientists, and climate activists. They come together to discuss the rise and fall of organic small-scale dairying on January 30 in “Milk & Money,” and how we save what we all have built on February 6 in “Protecting Organic.”
(Note: Our Real Organic certified farms and 1000 Real Friend supporters get a free entry – keep an eye on your inbox for tickets. It’s not too late to join.)
The Real Organic Symposium is proud to showcase interviews with:
Michael Pollan, Leah Penniman, Dan Barber, Lindsey Lusher Shute, Paul Hawken, John Tester, Chellie Pingree, Eliot Coleman, Severine Von Tscharner, David Bronner, Dan Barber, Jack Algiere, Doug and Anna Jones Crabtree, Earl Ransom, Helen Kees, Bob Quinn, Dr. Melinda Hemmelgarn, Dr. Francis Thicke, Dru Rivers, Joan Gussow, Paul Muller, Bob Klein, Rosie Burroughs, Scott Park, Kevin Engelbert, Jim Durst, Amanda Starbuck, Ed Maltby, Alan Lewis, Mark Kastel, Amy Klippenstein, Paul Lacinski, Mark McAfee, and much more!Hear from dairy farmers, Real Organic farmers, and experts for two Sunday afternoons in a row. (Pictured, Sidehill Dairy founders Paul Lacinski and Amy Klippenstein 2022 Symposium speakers)
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