Flipping the Table

Anna Claussen, Ash Hanson and Matt Jorgensen are three innovative social entrepreneurs we met at the Old Salt Festival, who work at the intersection of art, culture and enterprise. They tell their stories of how they are uplifting the creativity of rural people and communities.

A shocking sea change in food and agriculture policy is underway in Washington DC. Policies that were improving human health through better nutrition, rural economies, small and mid-scale growers have been decimated. Trade and immigration policies are harming the largest farms. The future looks bleak to many. But Maine's veteran of the House Ag Committee, Chellie Pingree shares her honest thoughts...

Ali Ghiorse, Christine Caruso and Vetiveah Immanuel, leaders in the in the movement for food justice in Connecticut, share their perspectives on what is working and what is still needed to make healthy affordable food available to all in a state with an incredible wealth gap.

Episode 2 of 4 of Old Salt Festival conversations features Dr. Stephan van Vliet, among the planet's leaders studying the impact of regenerative agriculture on nutrient density in meat. At the festival he shared the latest findings that confirm good ecological stewardship of pastures leads to meat that provides many more phytonutrients than meat from feed lots and animal factories. Phytonutrients...

E1 of 4 features Cate Havstad-Casad, founder of the Range Revolution, the heirloom quality leather goods company, Sheldon Atwood, CEO of Western Ranchlands Corporation and Taylor Ophus, land steward at Mannix Ranch. They were three of the inspiring attendees of the 2025 Old Salt Festival in Montana, a June gathering of nearly 3000 ranchers, artisans, chefs, advocates and musicians dedicated to pro...

Feeding the world without killing it is easily said, but hard to do. Figuring it out is as important as producing energy without fossil fuel. Author Michael Grunwald has his views on how and I have mine. We seek to end the polarized views that dominate the cultural discussion on the challenge and find common ground among the so-called regenerative, organic, and industrial approaches.

GenZ, those in their 20s, are the future of the good food movement. They are clearly critical to the future of food. Flipping the Table's new co-host Coco Sanabria engages 3 of the 4 ROC Summer GenZ Team to explore their values around food and agriculture, their reasons for wanting to work on food systems with Roots of Change and the college food experience.

Stuart Woolf, among California's largest farmers and Executive Chairman of Woolf Farming Company, has a vision for the heart of California's Great Central Valley. And agave, the hearty cousin of the tasty asparagus plant, is central to that vision. We talk of Stuart's interesting journey, his family's regenerative practices and his fascination with and enthusiasm for agave's resilience in a drying...

Six participants from the 20-year dialogue between aggies and enviros, known as the California Roundtable on Ag & Environment describe what it did, how it did it and why is made their lives as leaders and the state better.

After 15 years on the federal food and agriculture policy beat, perhaps no other American of her generation has a better perspective on what might or might not happen under the new Administration. RFK Jr and the MAHA movement are having an impact. What could it all mean?

The author, musician, homestead farmer, and host of the Full Expression podcast Dan Imhoff flips the table on Michael Dimock to explore the origins of Michael's interest in and career path within the good food movement.

Diana Donlon has cultivated, mentored and inspired a growing community of regenerative agriculture activists through her leadership of SoilCentric. She reveals how she remains optimistic despite the challenges ahead.

Are tariffs good for American Agriculture? It is a very important question given the new administration's pledge to add tariffs to imported goods. Hear a large-scale, no-till, commodity soy bean farmer, describe his experience and knowledge about the impact of tariffs on the nation's farmers. A special broadcast provided by Rodger Wasson from his show Farm to Table Talk.

Animal right activists placed the terribly written anti CAFO Measure J on the November 2024 Sonoma County ballot. It threatens the future of this small and mid-scale farming community and others like it across the nation. Professional Ducati motorcycle racer, organic dairy woman and Covergirl model Shelina Moreda is co leading a campaign to stop this misdirected measure while still keeping the dia...

Cole Mannix's family has ranched in the Black Foot Valley of Montana since 1882. Even with thousands of acres and hundreds of cattle, the return on investment is bleak. Learn how his family and four other ranches have come together to create the Old Salt Co-op and beef brand with two restaurants, online sales and an annual ranch event all in order to ensure these agrarian families thrive rather th...

Today Michael talks with Lisa Hamilton, a great chronicler of uncommon agrarians, and the author of the new book, The Hungry Season. Agrarians are those who live from working in agriculture. With only 2.2 million agrarians are less than 1% of the US population. These few feed our nation and much of the world. An even smaller percentage of those few farm or ranch outside the mainstream, the convent...

Nutritionist and leader of the Dairy Council of California, Amy DeLisio, and 6th generation organic dairy farmer from Humboldt County, Cody Nicholson Stratton, dialogue with Michael around the opportunities and challenges related to nutrition and the environment faced by California's gargantuan dairy industry.

If you are hearing the news lately you know the campuses, now educating Gen Z, are rocked by angry students on both sides of the war in Israel. This is an energized group and may indicate a sea change in the level and type of activism in the country in the years ahead. In this episode we'll learn from three members of " Gen Z " if the y believe the passions of their generation could also be felt i...

Tim Johnson CEO of California Rice Commission shares how rice growers are modeling the future of agriculture by delivering a fabulous array of ecosystem services, wealth creation and delicious, healthy food for California and the world.

Alegria De La Cruz has a history of creating spaces and moments for farmworkers and other historically marginalized brown and black people to fairly and wisely engage the powers that be: employers, judges and policy makers.

As 30-year-old Native American rancher, mother and nonprofit leader, Kelsey Ducheneaux-Scott reflects the power of the millennial generation born between 1981 and 1996. Indigenous knowledge, the future of food and her role in the film Common Ground are deeply explored in this episode.

A 5 th generation commodity crop farmer from Indiana, the Heartland of America, Rick Clark had an awakening during a one-inch rain event in 2007 that washed topsoil from his fields. That moment spawned a ten-year journey during which Rick created rich healthy soil that captures carbon and holds water, diversified his crops and increased his profits. This success placed him at the center of the fil...

Farm boy and entrepreneur Jim Kleinschmit started a company called Other Half Processing to ensure that the hides and other byproducts from cattle and bison production are fully utilized. When USDA began its funding campaign to promote regenerative agriculture, he hatched an idea that has bloomed into a $35 million project to build lucrative markets in Europe and beyond for hides and more livestoc...

After decades of economic decline around the Harris family's farm, Will experienced an epiphany that led to a journey to what we now call regenerative agriculture. His story is about a pioneer's perseverance, love for animals, the land and a community. His example could transform rural America.

Josh and Rebecca Tickell produced and directed the newly released film, Common Ground . It is a compelling look at the expanding acceptance of regenerative agriculture as an antidote to many of the challenges faced by farmers, ranchers, consumers and policy makers. Josh and Rebecca share about why they included a powerful diversity of voices and perspectives to compelling convey their hopes for re...