Amanda Starbuck: Corporate Consolidation + Our Food System

Real Organic Podcast

#064: Food and Water Watch Research Director and Policy Analyst Amanda Starbuck shares what it takes to get your products into the supermarket today: a lot of money and plenty of marketplace power. But what does this mean for those of us looking for real, nutritious, and climate-friendly foods?
Amanda Starbuck is a Senior Research Director and Policy Analyst with Food and Water Watch in Washington, DC. She earned her Masters degree in Global Environmental Policy at American University and centers her work on family farms and regional food hubs. Originally from North Dakota, Amanda has farming ties on both sides of her family.
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/amanda-starbuck-corporate-consolidation-our-food-system-episode-sixty-four
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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