Real Organic Podcast
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In this heartfelt episode of The Real Organic Podcast, Pulitzer Prize-winning author Barbara Kingsolver reflects on her profound friendship with food systems pioneer Joan Gussow, who passed away at 96. Kingsolver shares how Gussow became a spiritual mother figure, validating her lifelong commitment to sustainable living, gardening, and food sovereignty. The conversation explores the erosion of food culture in the U.S. due to industrialization and corporate profit motives, contrasting it with the deep-rooted food traditions of countries like Italy and France. Kingsolver emphasizes that hope is not a passive feeling but a daily practice and a moral duty—something we must actively choose to combat despair. She discusses the transformative power of fiction in fostering empathy, arguing that stories like her novel *Demon Copperhead* allow readers to inhabit other lives and develop compassion in ways nonfiction cannot. Despite the challenges of a broken food system, she remains hopeful, citing cultural shifts like the rise of the word 'locavore' and growing public awareness of food’s environmental and health impacts. The episode closes with a powerful metaphor: Gussow’s trifoliate orange tree, which survived garden upheavals, symbolizing resilience in the face of climate and political upheaval.
Hope is a daily practice and a moral responsibility—not a feeling you either have or don’t.
Food is not just sustenance; it’s spiritual, cultural, and political, and reconnecting with its source restores meaning.
Fiction has a unique power to build empathy by letting readers live inside another person’s reality.
The loss of food culture in America stems from industrialization, corporatization, and the prioritization of profit over people.
Resilience in the face of crisis—like climate change or political collapse—comes from staying rooted in purpose and action.
…and 3 more takeaways available in PodZeus
Introduction: A Tribute to Joan Gussow
Lindley Dixon introduces the episode with a tribute to Joan Gussow, the late pioneer of nutritional ecology, and explains how Barbara Kingsolver’s friendship with her inspired this special conversation.
The Spiritual and Emotional Bond with Joan Gussow
“She was like a mother to me. She really was and I know that people who know her might laugh about that because she wasn't a real teddy bear kind of person but she got me in a way that no parent ever had.”
The Erosion of Food Culture in America
“You know, imagine French people being forced fed high fructose corn syrup. It would be there would be revolution.”
Hope as a Daily Practice and Moral Duty
“The fundamental tool we have is hope. And that is a duty. It is a job, no choice. You don't get to give it up because when you do, you're abdicating responsibility for the world that the kids are going to have to live in.”
The Power of Fiction to Foster Empathy
“Fiction is the only art form or information form that puts you inside the brain of another human being so that you see the world through somebody else's eyes and their problems become your problems.”
“The fundamental tool we have is hope. And that is a duty. It is a job, no choice. You don't get to give it up because when you do, you're abdicating responsibility for the world that the kids are going to have to live in.”
“You know, imagine French people being forced fed high fructose corn syrup. It would be there would be revolution.”
“I just think of that tree when I think of Joan, because that's the grit she had that we need to keep with us.”
Host
Guest
Barbara Kingsolver
person
Joan Gussow
person
The Real Organic Project
organization
Lindley Dixon
person
Animal Vegetable Miracle
book
Demon Copperhead
book
The Bellwether Prize
other
Michael Pollan
person
Rachel Carson
person
Chelsea Green
organization
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