FOOD | HEALTH | DEMOCRACY
FOOD | HEALTH | DEMOCRACY
David Murphy
Founder / CEO
David Murphy is a leading American policy expert and social entrepreneur dedicated to reforming our global food, agriculture, and public health systems. A 6th generation Iowan, Murphy has over 20 years of experience in political strategy, public policy, and fundraising. His leadership and management of public education, state ballot initiatives, legislative, and political campaigns have significantly impacted the movement to reform food and agriculture in the U.S. and abroad.
During his career, Murphy advised over 7 presidential campaigns on food, agriculture, climate, rural economic policies, and strategies to win over voters. Murphy helped pass more than 2 dozen pieces of legislation and Farm Bill amendments to bring transparency, environmental protections, and fair market access for farmers, shaping public policies at the federal, state, and local levels.
Since 2007, he has met with and briefed elected officials, department heads at the USDA, FDA, and other agencies, members of Congress, and the White House on issues ranging from local school lunch programs, anti-trust enforcement, soil health, climate change, and policies to promote the urgent shift to regenerative and organic farming practices.
In 2008, Murphy founded Food Democracy Now!, a grassroots network of 650,000 farmers and citizens dedicated to reforming food and agriculture. In 2009, Murphy brought Wendell Berry and Wes Jackson to the White House Garden and USDA and Congress to promote soil health and perennial seeds. In 2012, Murphy served as co-chair of Prop 37, California’s historic ballot initiative to label genetically engineered foods and helped write and pass the nation’s first two GMO labeling laws in Connecticut and Maine in 2013.
A global expert on glyphosate and Monsanto’s false safety claims, Murphy designed and authored two major reports, including the first- ever food residue analysis in the U.S. using an FDA-certified lab: “Glyphosate Unsafe on Any Plate”, published in November 2016 and a report in 2022, “Glyphosate Contamination: The Poison in Our Daily Bread.” These reports have been instrumental in raising public awareness about the harms of glyphosate, highlighting the widespread contamination of our food supply and leading to significant change in public opinion.
In 2018, Murphy retired from active campaigning due to chronic health issues and has provided strategic advice to elected officials, family farmers, food companies, non-profits, and AgTech startups.
Murphy is a widely sought-after speaker and has lectured and debated top public policy experts at the USC Marshall School of Business, Yale School of Forestry & Environmental Studies, Tulane University Environmental Law and Policy Summit, Monsanto’s Annual Shareholder Meeting, and Michael Pollan’s class at UC Berkeley Graduate School of Journalism on the need for good food policy reform.
His writing has appeared in The Nation, The Hill, Huffington Post, and the New York Times, and his work was featured prominently in Christopher Leonard’s The Meat Racket: The Secret Takeover of America’s Food Business and Caitlin Shetterly’s Modified: GMOs and the Threat to Our Food, Our Land, Our Future. Murphy studied history and English at Dartmouth College and received an MFA from Columbia University.
