Already known for his environmental charity work, Johnson, 37, is amping up his philanthropic game when it comes to promoting organic food and GMO labeling. (This November, California voters will decide on the Prop 37 Right to Know ballet initiative that would require food containing genetically engineered ingredients to be labeled.) “I’m definitely behind Prop 37 and the idea that we are what we eat, so we should know what we’re eating,” he says. “We all have the right to know what’s in our food. When you look at the fact that the European Union has completely banned GMOs, I think we have the right to at least know if we’re eating GMOs.” He and his wife also are involved with the Kokua Hawaii Foundation, a nonprofit that helps educate children about growing their own food in sustainable ways. “In Hawaii, 80 to 90% of our food is shipped in,” he explains. “Why are we shipping in so much food when we could be growing it here?” Johnson also recently joined the likes of Willie Nelson, Dave Matthews, and Neil Young and donated his time to play a set during Farm Aid, an organization aimed at saving small family farms in America. Afterwards, he sat down with us to talk gardening. He even sang us a song! Prevention: Do you have an organic garden? Jack Johnson: It’s all organic. It’s not real impressive, just a little garden outside of our house. It grows, though; I even add little beds to it. When I do go on tour, sometimes I’m able to get a friend to housesit; other times it just goes to weed and I have to start over, which is kind of fun, too. Jack Johnson sings about his organic garden backstage at Farm Aid 2012!
What are your favorite things to grow? I grow something we call kalo in Hawaii; it’s known as taro worldwide. I also grow kale, Swiss chard, collards, spinach, tomato plants, lettuce, bok choy. I have a lot of friends who are organic farmers in Hawaii—they give me a lot of starters. Do you eat a lot of raw food from your garden? All different ways, but I do eat a lot raw. The kids like to pick it right there in the garden and eat it. I always have to tell them, “Make sure there’s not slug trails on it.” Are you a vegetarian? My theory is I try to eat vegetarian whenever I can—sometimes I’d be in Germany or Barcelona and invited to dinner. I tend to eat whatever’s served, and then my wife and I shop vegetarian the rest of the time. How do you eat organic and local on the road? Willie Nelson and Neil Young both used Dega before; they let me know about it. It’s a catering company that goes on the road with you. The staff wakes up early, shops at farmer’s markets, and gets everything for lunch and dinner that day. You can set boundaries; last tour everything was sourced within 30 miles or so of the venue. Besides knowing that you’re eating healthier, it’s also a lot of fun being able to try the local food of the area you’re at that day.
