Adam Nordell + Johanna Davis: PFAS Contamination + Organic

Sep 21, 2025

Johanna Davis and Adam Nordell, co-founders of Songbird Farm, discuss the harrowing impact of PFAS contamination on their land and family. They reveal how decades-old sewage sludge was mistakenly marketed as fertilizer, leading to shocking PFAS levels in their water and soil. The duo shares their advocacy work, highlighting legal actions against PFAS manufacturers and community support during their relocation. With heartfelt reflections on health uncertainties, they stress the urgent need for protective policies to safeguard organic farms and communities.

Ask episode

AI Snips

Chapters

Transcript

Episode notes

ANECDOTE

Building Songbird Farm From Scratch

Johanna and Adam built Songbird Farm, certified organic, growing vegetables and grains sold via CSA and wholesalers.
They focused on heritage grains, a stone mill, and strong community ties through on-farm events and products.

ANECDOTE

How They First Learned About PFAS

A customer found a DEP map showing sludge application across from their land and alerted Johanna and Adam to potential PFAS risk.
They tested well water and soil after learning the nearby fields had been spread with sewage sludge decades earlier.

INSIGHT

Biosolids As Misleading Language

"Biosolids" is a euphemism that masks the dangerous, mixed contents of wastewater treatment residuals.
Adam warns that biosolids can include industrial wastes from any drain, making land application risky.

Get the Snipd Podcast app to discover more snips from this episode

Get the app

#241: Johanna Davis and Adam Nordell built their farm from scratch, growing vegetables and grains while weaving their community together through food and place. But after more than a decade of farming, they discovered their land, water, and bodies were poisoned by PFAS chemicals - “forever chemicals” spread decades earlier as sewage sludge billed as fertilizer. Their journey reveals the devastating impact of toxic contamination on farms and the urgent need to protect soil, farmers, and communities from systemic chemical pollution.

https://realorganicproject.org/adam-nordell-johanna-davis-pfas-organic-maine

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).

To find a Real Organic farm near you, please visit:

https://www.realorganicproject.org/directory

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.

If you like what you hear and are feeling inspired, we would love for you to join our movement by becoming one of our 1,000 Real Friends:

https://www.realorganicproject.org/real-organic-friends/

To read our weekly newsletter (which might just be the most forwarded newsletter on the internet!) and get firsthand news about what's happening with organic food, farming and policy, please subscribe here:

https://www.realorganicproject.org/email/