The Food Chain

When exploring the islands of Tahiti with Captain James Cook, botanist Sir Joseph Banks identified a carbohydrate-rich tropical fruit that, when cooked over an open fire, tasted like freshly-baked bread. Banks recommended that King George III adopt this energy-rich breadfruit as a food staple for the English plantations of the Caribbean. During a subsequent voyage to transport breadfruit trees fro...

Along the Food Chain with Michael Olson and ... Mandy Harper, Founder, CEO & Executive Chef, Wholesome Bakery  /// At the Natural Products Expo its easy to see what is the latest trend in food. The last time I attended the Expo, which was a few years ago, the dominant trend among the 4,000 vendors was soy.  It seemed like most every vendor of natural foods was infusing their natural foods with...

Along the Food Chain with Michael Olson and...  Sabrina Servais,  Farmer, Hamburg Hills Farm, Stoddard, WI, Member, Organic Vallely Farm Coopertive & Elizabeth McMullen, PR Program Manager, Organic Valley Farm Cooperative When farming alone for a distant market, farmers tend to be price takers. But when cooperating with other farmers, they may gain enough clout to become price makers.  And so...

Along the Food Chain with Michael Olson and...  Sally Fallon Morell, Founding President, Weston A Price Foundation and Editor & Co-Author  of Nourishing Traditions: The Cookbook that Challenges Politically Correct Nutrition and the Diet Dictocrats The food trend is obvious to anyone who attended the recent Natural Products Expo in Anaheim.  Just add protein!  This trend in natural foods leads...

One of the most effective ways to get rid of pesky competitors is to establish laws and regulations that make it very difficult for competitors to operate.  That leads us to ask: How did farmers regain the right to sell food directly to consumers?  The 1417th edition of the Food Chain Radio Podcast with Michael Olson hosts David Sanford, Commissioner, Santa Cruz California Department of Agricultur...

A FOOD CHAIN RELEASE FROM MICHAEL OLSON  Those on both sides of the political spectrum look at what has become of the great State of California and wonder: ‘What happened?’  This leads us to ask: Did California eat too much nonsense? The 1415th edition of the Food Chain Radio Podcast with Michael Olson hosts Elaine Culloti, California’s “Lipstick Farmer,” for a conversation about food, trains, and...

In her novel The Good Earth, Pearl Buck wrote, “If roots are to bear fruit, they must be kept well in the soil of land.”  Her thought leads us to ask:    Which farmland is best for bearing one’s fruit?    We have been hearing a lot about farmland recently.  We’ve been hearing how very wealthy people like Jeff Bezos and Bill Gates have been using the millions and billions pouring into and out of th...

Michael Olson hosts Danielle Flint - Danny the Nanny You would think a hungry child would want eat just about anything, but a lot of hungry children only eat what they want to eat.  And so we ask:  How do you get an obstinate child to eat what you want them to eat? The 1413th edition of the Food Chain Radio Podcast with Michael Olson hosts Danielle Flint, Maryland’s Danny the Nanny, for a conversa...

No kidding!  It's true.  Having had to catch a plane and fly away, we missed kiddentine in California's great Central Valley.   Our loss leads us to ask: Have you had the opportunity to play with the kids?  The 1412th edition of the Food Chain Radio Podcast with Michael Olson hosts Margie Weber, Co-Owner, Rocky Oaks Goat Creamery, for a conversation about raising goats in a vertically integrated d...

Along the Food Chain with Michael Olson…   #1411 The Snack Chips Man Jake Stenton, President Natural Bridges Company     You stand in front of the grocer’s selection of snack chips and think, ‘A penny’s worth of potato in a bag that costs a buck!’    We Americans eat about $50 billion dollars worth of snack chips every year.  That pencils out to about $167 per person per year.  And the price of th...

China Now, 26.1.29, Hour 1 Gang of Two Nan Su & Michael Olson CCP Coup Attempt at Zhongnanhai / A Trap is Sprung

China Now 26.1.29 Hour 2 Gang of Two:  Michael Olson & Nan Su CCP Coup Attempt at Zhanganhai, Xi gets away!

The 1410th edition of the Food Chain Radio Podcast with Michael Olson Guest:  Matt Mulica, Senior Project Director, Keystone Policy Center  Imagine being in a business that loses 55 percent of its business in one year, and nearly that much in the previous year. Such is the state of the North American beekeeper.  And so we ask:    Is there a strategy to save the honey bee and its keepers? The 1410t...

Nan Su & Michael Olson President Donald Trump invades Davos and conquers Greenland.

Michael Olson & Nan Su Which will Xi Jinping invade first:  Taiwan or Siberia?

Michael Olson with Dr. Jeff Lester, Director, Trilogy Medical Center for Integrative Medicine Best laid plans!  When the government threw its food plate out the door and turned its food pyramid upside down, I called my doctor for his opinion on how the new food recommendations will affect our health. Instead, Dr. Jeff Lester took me on a fascinating tour of healing with homeopathy.  And so I asked...

*. Arrest of Trump changes Taiwan invasion plans * China stands to lose Billions on Venezuela *. What is next for Cuba, Venezuela, Iran, Russia and China

There are approximately 12.35 million people employed in the restaurant and food service industry.  Chances are good most of them, at one time or another, dreamed of owning a successful restaurant. This “Restaurateur Dream” leads us to ask:      Which is most important in determining the long-term viability of a restaurant:  food, service or location? The 1408th edition of the Food Chain Radio Pod...

  When the daughter’s pet dog passed on after many years of friendship, she became very sad and teared up.  Hoping to ease her pain at the passing of her good friend, I said, “Honey, life is a succession of good dogs!”      Not too much longer, the daughter started pestering for a new dog.  After an extended search, we were presented with a choice between two Cocker Spaniel puppies.  One was black...

The label on the meat package reads, “Product of USA.” But the meat in the package could have come from Australia, Brazil or China, and be from one animal or hundreds of animals.  This leads us to ask:    Should government be forced to accommodate local food farms?   The 1406th edition of the Food Chain Radio Podcast with Michael Olson features Judith McGeary, Founder and CEO, Farm and Ranch Freed...

A recent review of U.S. special education data revealed a three-fold increase in autism and a four-fold increase in delayed development among public school children.  That leads us to ask: Can bad food make good genes go bad? The 1405th edition of the Food Chain Radio Podcast with Michael Olson features Dr. Renee Dufault, Executive Director and Principal Investigator, Food Ingredient & Health...

On August 10, 2018, a California jury awarded Benecia public school landscaper Dewayne Lee Johnson $289 million for the non-Hodgkin lymphoma he claimed was caused by exposure to Monsanto’s Roundup weedkiller.  That award leads us to ask:   Should manufacturers be held accountable for the consequences of their pesticides?   The 1404the edition of the Food Chain Radio Podcast with Michael Olson feat...

Michael Olson hoss Professor Catherine Keske, Ag Economist, University of California, Merced & Author, “Fast Food is Comforting, But…,” It does not take long for weeds to take over one’s garden.  The same can be said for how quickly fast food can displace good food in one’s diet.  And so we ask:   How does fast food displace good food? Topics include the extent to which poor communities, like...

Guest: Mark Cushing, CEO of Animal Policy Group and author of Pet Nation Twenty years ago, Duke the Dog lived out in the backyard.  Now he lives in the house and sleeps in a bed.  And so we ask: How did the United States become  a Pet Nation? Topics include a look at how animals became pets that fly on planes with us; how the transformation from working animals to pets was made; and how pets are n...

A decade-long study of baby food released by Healthy Babies – Bright Futures claims that 95% of commercial baby food contains heavy metals that can result in autism spectrum and attention-deficit disorders.  And so we ask…   Should grocers be allowed to sell baby foods that contain toxic heavy metals? Topics include how heavy metals like arsenic, cadmium, lead and mercury pollute 95% of the nation...