Farm To Table Talk

New technologies will play an important role in the future of farming for every size, shape, climate and geographic location. The ideas are popping up fast and increasingly affordable for the full spectrum of global farming systems. Francesco Arlia is the founder and CEO of  one of these emerging pioneers, Harvest Harmonics.  With dime-sized micro-transmitters the natural vibrations and optimum fr...

Climate smart agriculture will make a difference to farmers, citizens and life on earth.  Karen Ross, the Secretary of Food And Agriculture for the California Department of Agriculture is on the front line of meeting the climate challenge as chief administrator of food and agriculture programs for the 5th largest economy in the World.  Secretary Ross has a perspective beyond California boundaries...

  Clubhouse is a drop-in audio chat network that now includes conversations about the food system, on Farm To Table Talk.  The Center for Good Food Purchasing uses the power of procurement to create a transparent and equitable food system that prioritizes the health and well-being of people, animals, and the environment. Paula Daniels is the Co-founder and chair of the Center,  developing nat...

It\’s become popular to bash livestock production and meat consumption for extreme green house gas emissions.  What if the data is wrong? In the UK where carbon neutral agriculture is to be accomplished by 2050, new research has found that the \’carbon\’ case against pig farming is not right.  The study conducted by the Institute for Global Food Security found that the carbon foo...

The Nobel Prize Committee has just recognized the scientists who discovered CRISPR—genetic scissors that are a tool for rewriting the code of life and potentially a tool in limiting global warming. New science, technology and a range of farming systems from conventional to agroecology, regenerative and organic have roles to play. Science writer Andrew Porterfield is investigating and writing about...

Do omnivores face a dilemma as Michael Pollan famously proposed in his popular book over a decade ago or is the dilemma a delusion? Farmer Blake Hurst who just completed 10 years as President of the Missouri Farm Bureau has practiced what he’s preached about farmer\’s need to communicate. A dozen years ago when the Omnivore’s Dilemma brought global attention to modern farming methods, Blake...

COVID-19 has exacerbated food insecurity and laid bare  systemic inequalities  that contribute to hunger.  One in six Americans—54 million— are food insecure, with the largest increases seen in communities of color. For a country that wastes  30-40 percent of its food supply , how can we understand this rate of food insecurity? Katie Martin is Executive Director of the Foodshare Institute for Hung...

It might be appealing to imagine all food going straight from \’Old McDonald\’s Farm\” to our tables, but it\’s not realistic.  Because of seasons, climates, soils, water (quality and availabilty) research and grower education, most harvested crops need to be cleaned, cooked, canned, frozen or dried to move on up the food chain to tables around the world. In California alon...

A lot of people want to farm and some farmers want to change the way they farm.  Emily Newman is helping those folks in her role as Program Manager for Rodale Institute\’s Organic Crop Consulting Service. They provide  one-on-one mentorship and assistance to farmers looking to transition to organic. Consultants meet farmers where they are—each plan is individualized for best outcome for that...

  Sisters JoBeth Evans and Maggie Davidson have been farming since they were old enough to feed the cows but just recently  (officially) went in business with their parents to form Williams Angus Beef. The girls grew up, graduated from college, got jobs, married farmers, had two kids each and are now reconnecting with their parents. They are practicing a basic premise of  sustainability:  kee...

Food fraud and political tensions have heavily impacted Australian farmers exporting products to international markets. Traceability and provenance are essential to fighting food fraud and opening new export markets for  farmers, producers, processors and consumers who deserve to know they’re getting exactly what they purchased. Fourth generation Black Angus beef farmer, Rob Mackenzie , has been g...

  Consumers, Restaurants, Supermarkets and Farmers are finding common ground on animal production and marketing animal products. Here it can be argued that \”the egg came first.\” Josh Balk leads the Humane Society of the United States’ work in shifting the egg industry from predominantly cage production to cage-free housing instead. He’s successfully worked with virtually every m...

  Scientific advances are credited (or blamed) for food system progress (or problems) depending on food philosophies and perspectives.  Yet new knowledge  that comes from new scientific findings can lead to more sustainable systems that reduce waste, limit production of green house gases and feed more hungry people world wide.  Some of the necessary research for these advances will come from...

  From farms to citizens of the world of the world inflammation causes disease and makes health impossible. Global transformation will need recognition that farming is medicine for the health of all life and of earth itself.  That\’s a theme for a KeyNote presentation at EcoFarm by Dr. Rupa Marya: physician, writer, musician, mother, farmer\’s wife and Associate Professor of Medic...

Every five years the US Government develops and publishes \”Dietary Guidelines For Americans\”.  The Guidelines for 2020 – 20225 have now been  released by the two responsible agencies, USDA and HHS.  New approaches have been taken to identify diet patterns for various life stages.  The report follows the recommendations of the Dietary Guidelines Committee of experts, except for...

\”To make a living is not to make a killing. It\’s to have enough.\” says Wendell Berry  in many ways, in scores of books over the years. As we consider the future of the world we need to reflect on the counsel of Wendell Berry who reminds us that the world will take care of us if we take care of it; knowing and loving it. If there was a poet laureate for agriculture, it should b...

  Covid pandemic demonstrated enormous problems in the food system with food being destroyed while people were going hungry.  If we want to revitalize the food system and rural America we have to bring people back. And to do that we need to have work that people can do.  @MarionNestle says it can be done and the new team taking shape at the USDA must take the lead in making it happen.

  Some of the world\’s largest protests are taking place in support of farmers in India.  Whether in Delhi, San Francisco or Paris people have gone to the streets to show solidarity with the small farmers in India who are losing essential government support. To generate global awareness of the farmers\’ fate,  Sikhs in California have brought tractors, trucks, friends and their vo...

  When once again safe to travel through farm country, the bounty of the food system  will be evident.  So are the perils resulting from misdirected political power.  Tom Philpott, author, podcaster and Mother Jones reporter wrote Perilous Bounty to draw attention to the promise and the peril of farm policy and practices that are often not good for farms or consumers. However an encouraging s...

  Masked or not, face to face marketing can\’t be beat; because  wherever you are in the food chain it is best to have direct contact with customers.  Erin Sastre and Tyler Towne are literally doing that for Planters Peanuts as they drive a giant peanut thousands of miles back and forth across the country. On a bright Fall morning we find them in front of the Zoo where families come to...

  The story of a place has to include the story of it\’s food: what was grown and what they ate. Taking that to heart, the owner Chef of Bulrush Restaurant in St. Louis, Rob Connoly, is finding a delicious way to share the story of a special place with special food traditions from the Ozarks.  Rob is establishing the Ozark foodway by resurrecting ingredients, practices and recipes of th...

  Climate change effects will go way beyond receding coasts and shrinking farm  regions to to include the quality of air that plants need to produce nutritious foods. When carbon levels in the air increase, the nutrition from foods will decline by up to 30%, severely impacting human health.  Dr. Kristie Ebi  is the Founding Director of CHanGe, the Center for Health and The Global Environment...

  Well educated young women who could do anything are choosing to farm, and to lead.  Equal gender opportunities do abound in agriculture, including the opportunity to give leadership to controversial issues like climate change. Krysten  Mensonides and Lynne Wheeler both graduated from universities and had career choices before they decided farming was their future. Now that future includes j...

For better or worse there has been substantial deregulation happening in the US Capitol, now including genetic engineering (GMO/GE).  Greg Jaffe is the Biotech Director for the Center for Science in the Public Interest (CSPI). They believe that GE products deemed safe through an independent science-based assessment have a place in our food system and have long advocated for USDA to revise its regu...

      Agriculture may be 10,000 years old but it\’s a new world. Farmers and Ranchers are facing the new challenges  with new technologies and new philosophies, enpowering the big and the small. This comes at a time when consumer interest in how their food is produced has never been higher–a fact not missed by food manufacturers, retailers and chefs. Deborah Wilson and K...