Farm To Table Talk

Food innovators, farmers, chefs and foodies have been looking ahead for years, so in this Farm to Table Talk Podcast we go back to a conversation in Coubhoure that was looking ahead to now.  Future episodes will be back to now and looking ahead tomorrow. Food is changing. How will we eat? That’s the question posed in the Farm To Table Talk Clubhouse room to Troy Hooper a multi- business entreprene...

A backyard hobby that started over 40 years ago   has grown into a nationally recognized, family-owned business that produces more than 80,000 quail weekly , raisied responsibly, without antibiotics or hormones, and shipping premium products to chefs, retailers, and home cooks across the country. Manchester Farms is America’s first quail farm, and Brittney Miller is leading its second-generation l...

Steve and Candice MacLean, who grew up in New Jersey but have no farming background, transitioned from urban to rural farming after Steve’s experience as a chef working with a farm. Inspired by sustainable farming practices, they decided to purchase a farm in the northwestern corner of New Jersey. They now focus on organic produce and animal husbandry, embracing the farm-to-table philosophy....

Extreme steps taken to make food look more appealing, last longer and be addictively delicious is detrimental to our health. State Legislatures from West Virginia to California are not waiting for federal solutions. CA Asssembly-member Jesse Gabriel says “our public schools should not be serving students ultra-processed food products filled with chemical additives that can harm their physica...

In addition to wanting to know where their food comes from and where it’s grown, thirty three million Americans have a diagnosed food allergy. Fifty million have an intolerance that is not technically allergic but certain foods disagree with them in some way. For a variety of reasons over seventy million follow life style diets. That means over half of the country needs to know what is in th...

When debates over SNAP funding heat up, it’s worth remembering leaders like Gus  Schumacher —the late USDA Under Secretary who championed farm-to-family connections and bipartisan solutions. This Farm To Table talk episode revisits his insights on SNAP innovation, nutrition incentives and lasting ways to strengthen food access for all. Gus Schumacher, who passed away in 2017, was a respected...

Real rural life today ranges from hope to nostalgic ideals to real world crisis that directly affect farmers and ranchers, their famiies, their communities and ultimately all of us. The rate of suicide in rural communities is 50 % higher than the rate in non-rural communities. And with farmers the rate is 3 times higher than urban. What is going on? Why must we care and how can we help or be helpe...

Hot Springs, Arkansas will soon be known as the Napa Valley of Saké if Matt Bell has his way. Saké rice grown  in Central Arkansas supplies Origami Sake, the fastest growing US saké brand and  the only US brewer to win a Gold Medal at the Tokyo Saké Challenge 2025. Origami is also the largest domestically-owned saké brewery in the USA, 100% powered by solar energy and producing three Saké styles p...

Iowa has been under stress 50 years as the economy changed fundamentally from diverse independent farmers and business and a union to concentrated cooperative agriculture and Walmart, Dollar General and no union. Art Cullen won the 2017 Pulitzer Prize for exposing what corporate agriculture was doing to his Iowa farming ommunity . His new book “Dear Marty, We Crapped in Our Nest” revea...

Animals have been domesticated for 10,000 years and the current outbreak of avian flu is the largest and most complex animal disease outbreak in history, with serious risks beyond poultry. Avian influenza risk especially rises when waterfowl migrate in the fall, Maurice Pitesky, University of California Cooperative Extension poultry specialist has developed the  Waterfowl Alert Network to help far...

How long can a community last if there were no open roads or grocery stores? During the tragic California fire caused mudslides of 2018, the town of Summerland was cut off from the rest of the world and the food supply chain. The devastating effects of the tragedy and the consequences of no grocery stores in Summerland reached a turning point when customers started fighting over stale sandwiches o...

There is a growing rural urban divide and it is effecting our food system locally, globally and nationally, especially in this climate change era. Gilles Stockton is the owner and manager of a sheep and cattle ranch in Montana and an expert in livestock production, livestock marketing, and economic development of pastoral areas, with experience in the Horn of Africa and the Middle East. He pursued...

Sacramento School District’s Central Kitchen is revolutionizing the way to feed over 40,000 students with scratch made, nutritious, local foods. Kelsey Nederveld, is the Director of Nutrition Services at Sacramento City Unified School District,  was instrumental in building and designing the district’s own Central Kitchen, a food processing facility that is focused on scratch made, loc...

The MAHA Commission Report to President Trump, outlines the administration’s strategy to “Make Our Children Healthy Again”.  Professor Jerold Mande, CEO of Nourish Science and Rodger Wasson, host of Farm To Table Talk podcast, review the report and discuss what it is in it and what is missing. www.nourishscience.org

Farm to Table Talk is about good conversations and no one was better at facilitating conversation than Bill Moyers who has passed away at the age of 91. A journalist, minister, Peace Corps and Great Society leader, Bill Moyers also showed his interest and support of farmers, such as his thoughtful interview with the legendary Wendell Berry.  He told Rodger Wasson it was fine with him to have his W...

When vegan chef Mollie Englehart finally became a farmer, she had the big idea to create a farm where nothing had to die. Animals would live out their days munching grass, with no blood on her hands–straight out of her vegan chef playbook. Mollie built her successful LA Vegan restaurants on that ethical stance: compassionate food, no suffering, all love.  in LA, feeding people while saving t...

Climate change, population growth, demand for animal products, pest resistance to traditional treatments and misguided policies lead to food shortages and escalating food prices.  In 2023, 733 million people faced hunger and 2.3 billion were moderately or severely food insecure. Policies to support biofuels, organic agriculture, local foods, and small farms and to oppose genetically modified foods...

Anna Jones is a farmer based in the Welsh uplands who brings a thoughtful and practical perspective on sustainable livestock farming. Although she came into agriculture later in life, Anna grew up on her family’s sheep and beef farm and returned in her mid-20s to help keep it in the family. She now works alongside her father and is gradually introducing more sustainable and data-informed practices...

Natural resources, rural communities and agriculture come together in Siskiyou County where California borders Oregon.  Wolves have been reintroduced, wildfires are a continuous concern, dams have been removed and efficient water sharing requires community engagement. Assisting with these needs is Grace Woodmansee University of California Cooperative Extension Service Livestock and Natural Resourc...

Farmers around the world are resisting industrial monoculture in favor of biodiversity and soil-first practices with practical land stewardship rooted in indigenous knowledge, community building and long-term economic resilience. Regenerating Earth: Farmers Working with Nature to Feed Our Future  by  Kelsey Timmerman (Patagonia Books) provides a global exploration of regenerative agriculture as to...

It is 100% true that small farms can be profitable however small farms increasingly need to do further processing. Just selling vegetables to a Farmers Market may no longer be a sufficient business model. Just a single farmer by themselves faces a very hard farm life. To be the best that it can be a single farmer will be better with a group or a couple people focused on making it happen. Michael K...

Small farms can be profitable farms, especially if they adapt and grow to include adding value to their production. Michael Kilpatrick is a farmer and educator who is passionate about equipping farmers with the tools and systems they need to thrive! He offers educational resources as host of the Thriving Farmer podcast and through his virtual summits and online community Small Farm University. He...

Although it is appealing to go solo, succeeding in the food system today requires working in cooperation with others: family, neighbors, associations, boards, committees, suppliers, or customers. Working out a partnership or agreeing to serve on a board or committee, may not be what you signed up for but good luck trying to go it alone.  Blake Hurst is a farmer in North East Missouri, former Presi...

With a growing population of 1.4 billion people to feed, farmers in India are under constant pressure to increase productivity despite diminishing resources. Nearly half the population and most rural livelihoods rely on agriculture.. With volatile weather patterns and pest infestations, crop diseases and limited natural resources , Dr. Sat Kumar Tomer, Founder and CEO of Satyukt Analytics, sought...

DC Central Kitchen combats hunger and poverty through job training and job creation in Washington DC, providing hands-on culinary training for individuals facing high barriers to employment while creating living wage jobs and bringing nutritious, dignified food where it is most needed.  Social ventures include serving scratch-cooked farm-to-school meals in DC schools, delivering fresh, affordable...