EPISODE · Jun 23, 2026 · 47 MIN
#109 Jim Fullmer: How Farming Can Get Its Soul Back
from Serves You Right · host Andrew Roy
You think you know what's in your glass. You read "organic," you nod, you sell it, you drink it. But "organic wine" legally only means no added sulfites…the grapes underneath can be acidified, sugared, watered, and yeast-engineered into a product that tastes like a winemaker's signature instead of a place. This episode addresses that mismatch. Jim Fullmer, lifelong Oregon farmer, blackberry vinegar producer, and former Executive Director of the Demeter Association, walks through biodynamic agriculture, terroir, Rudolf Steiner's 1924 origins, the difference between conventional input-dependent farming and a self-generating living system, and why authenticity, not marketing, is the only thing that survives a bad vintage. If you work in the beverage industry and you've been confused over the organic-vs-biodynamic conversation, this is the missing framework.Expect to Learn:Why "organic wine" might mean far less than you've been telling guestsThe two Demeter wine categories…and why one of them sparked a twenty-year argumentHow the moon measurably changes what happens inside a grapeWhat "regenerative" actually meant before corporations started redefining itThe reason critics mock biodynamics, then quietly convert their own vineyardsLinks:Hoskins Berry FarmDemeter Association (biodynamic certification) Biodynamic-Farm-Standard-2025Alice Feiring on Serves You Right Service starts now.Follow the show: Spotify, Apple Podcasts, YouTubeI talk to people in and around the service industry space. I'm looking to hear from the people I wish I could have talked to when I was coming up in bars. Said another way: I am trying to make sense of this wild, beautiful mess that can be a life working in bars, and help others that are feeling similarly confused and/or lost. Check out the Podcast Website Here and get in touch with me!Classic Episodes You May Like:Doug Frost MW MSJeffrey MorgenthalerET: Entrepreneur (and creator of Surfer on Acid)Edward Slingerland's Masterful work on IntoxicationAndrew Hurley of Vegas.WineChris Tunstall of A Bar AboveTony Abou-GanimBobby "G" GleasonAs always, I’m just here taking notes, trying to figure out what it all means.Cheers
What this episode covers
You think you know what's in your glass. You read "organic," you nod, you sell it, you drink it. But "organic wine" legally only means no added sulfites…the grapes underneath can be acidified, sugared, watered, and yeast-engineered into a product that tastes like a winemaker's signature instead of a place. This episode addresses that mismatch. Jim Fullmer, lifelong Oregon farmer, blackberry vinegar producer, and former Executive Director of the Demeter Association, walks through biodynamic agriculture, terroir, Rudolf Steiner's 1924 origins, the difference between conventional input-dependent farming and a self-generating living system, and why authenticity, not marketing, is the only thing that survives a bad vintage. If you work in the beverage industry and you've been confused over the organic-vs-biodynamic conversation, this is the missing framework.Expect to Learn:Why "organic wine" might mean far less than you've been telling guestsThe two Demeter wine categories…and why one of them sparked a twenty-year argumentHow the moon measurably changes what happens inside a grapeWhat "regenerative" actually meant before corporations started redefining itThe reason critics mock biodynamics, then quietly convert their own vineyardsLinks:Hoskins Berry FarmDemeter Association (biodynamic certification) Biodynamic-Farm-Standard-2025Alice Feiring on Serves You Right Service starts now.Follow the show: Spotify, Apple Podcasts, YouTubeI talk to people in and around the service industry space. I'm looking to hear from the people I wish I could have talked to when I was coming up in bars. Said another way: I am trying to make sense of this wild, beautiful mess that can be a life working in bars, and help others that are feeling similarly confused and/or lost. Check out the Podcast Website Here and get in touch with me!Classic Episodes You May Like:Doug Frost MW MSJeffrey MorgenthalerET: Entrepreneur (and creator of Surfer on Acid)Edward Slingerland's Masterful work on IntoxicationAndrew Hurley of Vegas.WineChris Tunstall of A Bar AboveTony Abou-GanimBobby "G" GleasonAs always, I’m just here taking notes, trying to figure out what it all means.Cheers
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#109 Jim Fullmer: How Farming Can Get Its Soul Back
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