Will Allen: Chemicals, Cotton and CAFOs in California

#207: Taken from an interview done in 2021, Dave gets the whole adventurous story from California-turned-Vermont farmer Will Allen about his life filled with activism, teaching, and learning, which included founding the Sustainable Cotton Project in 1990 to help farmers grow organic cotton and to convince big brands like Patagonia, Esprit, Levis, and Nike to use organic cotton to make their clothes.

Will Allen is a longtime organic farmer, activist and author who grew up and started farming in southern California. After many years of farming in the west and teaching at universities,  Will founded the Sustainable Cotton Project (SCP) in 1990 to help farmers learn how to grow organic cotton, convince garment makers to use organic fibers, and to reduce farmworker pesticide injuries. Will eventually landed at Cedar Circle Farm in East Thetford VT and is the author of The War on Bugs. 

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

https://realorganicproject.org/will-allen-california-chemicals-cotton-cafos-episode-207

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).

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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.

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