#007: Real Organic farmer Emily Oakley shares her experiences serving on the National Organic Standards Board during the infamous and shocking vote to allow Hydroponics into USDA organic in 2017. She also shares what it's like living next to a chicken CAFO (confined animal feeding operation) in Oklahoma, whether to buy or grow fertility on farms, and how she believes that farmers like her desperately need the solidarity and support of the Real Organic Project to stay in business.

Emily Oakley farms with her husband Mike Appel at Three Springs Farm in Oklahoma. She is a former National Organic Standards Board member and currently served in the Real Organic Project's Advisory Board.

To watch a video version of this podcast with access to the full transcript and links relevant to our conversation, please visit:

https://www.realorganicproject.org/emily-oakley-living-next-to-a-cafo-while-serving-on-the-nosb

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 Fans!

https://www.realorganicproject.org/1000-real-fans/

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/