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# ORGANIC DEBATE: Cornucopia’s Kastel Goes Toe-to-Toe with Mischa Popoff
- URL: https://www.foodconsumer.org/organic_debate_0611130617/
- Published: 2013-06-11T19:17:00.000Z
- Updated: 2026-09-22T18:42:05.000Z
- Description: After listeners objected to Mischa Popoff's scheduled appearance, Food Chain Radio host Michael Olson invited Cornucopia Institute's Mark Kastel to join him. Kastel challenged Popoff's credibility and his plan to replace organic certification with wholesale testing.
- Author: Food Consumer
- Tags: Politics, #vivvo-import

[http://www.cornucopia.org/2013/06/organic-debate-cornucopias-kastel-goes-toe-to-toe-with-mischa-popoff/](http://app.streamsend.com/c/18811887/14328/DsqKt8a/9pOA?redirect%5Fto=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.cornucopia.org%2F2013%2F06%2Forganic-debate-cornucopias-kastel-goes-toe-to-toe-with-mischa-popoff%2F&ref=foodconsumer.org)

| *Mischa Popoff* After hearing from scores of concerned organic stakeholders about his scheduled show with Mischa Popoff, radio host Michael Olson of the syndicated show *Food Chain Radio* asked Mark Kastel to join Popoff in the interest of providing balance. The result was an impromptu debate challenging Popoff’s credibility and his scheme for replacing certification with wholesale testing. [Mischa Popoff](http://app.streamsend.com/c/18811887/14330/DsqKt8a/9pOA?redirect%5Fto=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.cornucopia.org%2F2011%2F06%2Fwho-is-mischa-popoff%2F&ref=foodconsumer.org) is a self-published author and ideologue who has spent the last few years attempting to undermine the credibility of the organic label.                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                      |
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| *Mark Kastel* Kastel is the Codirector and Senior Farm Policy Analyst at The Cornucopia Institute. The national organization, based in Wisconsin, acts as a corporate and governmental watchdog in the organic industry. Michael Olson’s hour-long show, *Food Chain Radio*, airs live and is syndicated on a number of commercial stations nationwide. A podcast, just over a half hour long without most of the advertising, is available at [http://metrofarm.com/mf\_Food\_Chain\_Radio.php](http://app.streamsend.com/c/18811887/14332/DsqKt8a/9pOA?redirect%5Fto=http%3A%2F%2Fmetrofarm.com%2Fmf%5FFood%5FChain%5FRadio.php&ref=foodconsumer.org). For many years, The Cornucopia Institute has monitored and responded to attacks on organics by a handful of “think tanks” that have received funding from corporate agribusiness and biotechnology (Monsanto, DuPont and others). These groups include the Hudson Institute, the Competitive Enterprise Institute, the Hoover Institution and the Heartland Institute, which Mr. Popoff is presently affiliated with. *The Cornucopia Institute is engaged in research and educational activities supporting the ecological principles and economic wisdom underlying sustainable and organic agriculture. Through research and investigations on agricultural and food issues, The Cornucopia Institute provides needed information to family farmers, consumers, stakeholders involved in the good food movement and the media.* *The Cornucopia Institute P.O. Box 126 Cornucopia, WI 54827[www.cornucopia.org](http://app.streamsend.com/c/18811887/14334/DsqKt8a/9pOA?redirect%5Fto=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.cornucopia.org&ref=foodconsumer.org)* |