Maria Rodale of Rodale, Inc.

In this episode, Rodale shares her extensive research and family business’s documented history as an organic pioneer, to illustrate why chemical-free farm systems are important to healthy environments and strong economies.

“We’re not deciding for ourselves about the chemicals in our environment and in our bodies, unless we’re choosing organic,” Rodale states.

Understanding the relationship between the health of earth’s soil and people’s health is a part of the company’s rich history. Almost thirty years ago, Rodale’s father started a side-by-side comparison of organic versus chemical agriculture, entitled the Farming Systems Trial, the results of which garnered attention from scientists around the globe.

“Organic farming is more productive, more profitable, more fuel efficient. And the surprise finding {from the Farming Systems Trial} was that organically farmed soil actually sequesters huge amounts of carbon, which means that it actually is one of the primary solutions to global warming.”

Maria Rodale is the CEO and Chairman of Rodale Inc., the world's leading multimedia company with a focus on health, wellness, and the environment, and the largest independent book publisher in the United States. Rodale reaches 70 million people worldwide through brands such as Prevention and Men's Health; through books such as The South Beach Diet and Al Gore's An Inconvenient Truth; and through numerous digital properties. She is founding editor of the company's newest online venture, Rodale.com, which features the latest news and information about healthy living on a healthy planet, as well as her blog, Maria's Farm Country Kitchen.

Rodale is the author of three books. Her most recent work is titled Organic Manifesto: How Organic Farming Can Heal Our Planet, Feed the World, and Keep Us Safe (scheduled to be released in March 2010). Organic Manifesto cuts through the confusion and misinformation to provide an indispensable and highly readable look at why chemical-free farming unquestionably holds the key to better health for our families-and the planet.

Maureen Kedes is CEO and Founder of Vertex Communications, LLC (vertexpr.com) a boutique marketing and public relations firm. Maureen Kedes has held positions as Sr. VP of Public Relations at Fortune Broadcasting (fortunebroadcasting.com) Senior VP of Public Relations at Clean Agency (cleanagency.com). Prior to founding Vertex, Ms. Kedes served as Sr. Account Executive at Pacari Company and as spokesperson for several major corporations including: Toshiba, Yamaha, Sharp Electronics, Con Agra Foods. Ms. Kedes hosts her own weekly internet radio show PRInsider on VoiceAmerica.com. Kedes is a graduate of Barnard College, Columbia University and is a mom to two elementary school boys.