Alan Lewis: Corruption and Anticompetitiveness in Dairy

Real Organic Podcast

#068: Policy expert and organic advocate Alan Lewis of Natural Grocers is back, this time to discuss the ways that Big Dairy, including conventional co-ops and processors, is able to control the pricing and availability of organic dairy products in stores.
Alan Lewis is the VP of Government Affairs, Stakeholder Relations, and Organic Compliance at Natural Grocers. His 2019 talk at the first annual Real Organic Symposium blew a lot of minds, as he described the massive consolidation in the natural foods industry, which has been boiled down to two distributors. In addition to his roles with IFOAM North America, the Non-GMO Project, and the Organic + Natural Health Association, Alan serves on the Real Organic 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/alan-lewis-corruption-anticompetitive-big-dairy-episode-sixty-eight
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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