Re-cap of the 2025 Real Organic Conference
I attended the Real Organic Conference at Churchtown Dairy in Hudson, New York last weekend.
When I saw the date and the speaker line-up for the Real Organic Conference, I bought my ticket the same day. With Eliot Coleman, J.M. Fortier, Austin Frerick, and other ag and food industry experts, plus sessions on PFAS contamination, food as medicine, and scaling farms, the topics ranged across my own interests as well as subject matters that impact my clients. And, of course, holding the conference on an organic dairy farm was a bonus.
The main sessions took place in Churchtown Dairy’s signature round barn.
Churchtown Dairy is a member of the Real Organic Project (ROP). The ROP is a non-profit that facilitates a special certification for farms that uphold certain practices beyond what’s required in today’s USDA Certified Organic label. They now have 1,000 farms in their program. You can search for Real Organic Certified farms in your area and filter by those that have online shopping options. As of this writing there are 10 ROP members in North Carolina.
The conference gave shape to things that were in the back of my mind: Can glyphosate-contaminated rainwater impact organic farm production? Yes. With so many ultra-processed, food-like substances and some untraceable ingredients being normal for eaters today, can we test for gene editing? No. Are chemicals that aren’t allowed in organic production potentially in some organic foods? Yes.
The sessions also brought to light things I had not considered before. For instance, while modern grains are obviously bred for higher yields and flours that can sit on grocery store shelves without going rancid, the other outcome of these modern grains is that we get breads with stronger gluten. Stronger gluten (not only related to our country’s rising gluten sensitivity) means that breads hold more air. Ultimately, these breads have a higher air content, which means less flour content. Producers can sell the same size loaf of bread with fewer inputs. It’s akin to shrinkflation in bags of chips and boxes of pasta. Once you open the package, you see that more than a 1/3 of what you purchased is air. (And lab testing can tell you what percentage of what you purchased is glyphosate.)
When it comes to the state of food policy, food labeling, and organic farming today, it’s hard to have a conversation without depressing facts. Here are a few things I learned that brought me down:
Some farms growing with high tunnels in the Midwest have HEPA filters on the tunnels to protect the plants from the outside air, which is too toxic. Iowa has the second highest rates of cancer and the highest rising cancer rates in the country.
Grain fraud is having a ripple effect. Farmers buy imported grain that’s Certified Organic, but when they test it, it’s positive for fungicides and herbicides. The contaminants then enter livestock. When consumers source organic meats, they’re not getting the chemical-free product they expect.
Alan Lewis, vice president of advocacy and governmental affairs of Natural Grocers, shared that a testing program with the Health Research Institute focused on tests of processed vegan products. The lab found 90 unique molecules that had never been studied before. It remains to be seen how these substances impact our microbiome, our long-term health, and the environment as byproducts enter the waste stream.
At the same time, there are good things happening. Some things I learned that help give a little hope:
Several sessions discussed an advocacy for testing food. Organic blueberry test results shared by Hugh Kent of King Grove Organic Farm showed that hydroponically-grown, organic blueberries tested for the highest rates of chemicals. The soil-grown, organic blueberries had the lowest residues. There are considerations attributing the plastic-heavy environments of hydroponics as potentially contaminating the produce. In these systems, the entire growing space is plastic. The ground is covered in plastic, irrigation is done through plastic, and the plants are individually kept in plastic pots.
Another area of farm contamination is through PFAS and other forever chemicals, which can enter farms in different ways. One way these chemicals can be introduced is through contaminated compost. To reduce the risk of tainted inputs, I heard a strong move to on-farm fertility practices: green manure, cover crops, and cycling nutrients produced only on the farm.
⚖ For the first time ever we have an opportunity to influence how the government defines ultra-processed foods. The comment period is open until October 23, 2025. Learn how to submit your comments on ultra-processed food online or by mail.
I’ve only shared the tip of the tip of the iceberg. I have 7 pages of handwritten notes from the conference. With testing as one of the big themes I pulled from the sessions, it’s inspiring me to test my honey and our own food. Speaking of which, next week I’ll share the honey lab test results of my spring honey harvest. I’m researching labs to learn about other tests that I could use for future harvests.
Reminder that you’ll find me in Monroe, North Carolina on Monday, October 20 at 6:30 p.m. ET. I’ll present Permaculture Design in Apiaries and Pollinator Gardens at the Monroe County Beekeepers Club. Free and open to the public.