What Doesn't Kill You

Eminent agricultural expert Fred Kirschenman describes the end of this era of agricultural activity and what must be adopted going forward. In his view we have reached the end of the line in our extractive exploitative and environmentally disastrous style of growing food and must move forward now into a more intergrated and holistic system. Recorded at the Niman Ranch Hog Farmers Appreciation Dinn...

Coastal Florida has seen a disastrous season of harmful algae blooms, unprecedented in scale, duration, and severity. Mayor John Holic of Venice Florida, and Dr. Larry Brand from the University of Miami explain the impacts on the community and why this is happening. What Doesn't Kill You is powered by Simplecast See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https...

Ferd Hoefner launched NSAC over 30 years ago, and has seen a few Farm Bills. In this discussion we talk about the most important funding demands to foster a robust agricultural sector and revitalizing rural communities. What Doesn't Kill You is powered by Simplecast See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info .

Kristin Lawless has written a highly provocative book that assigns the blame for many of society's ills on a food industry run amok. Whether its how we feed our young, the impact of chemicals on our bodies, the incidence of chronic disease, and the economic, gender, and racial disparities, a surprising number of connections can be made between big food and social injustice. Its a fascinating and s...

In a wide ranging discussion with one of America's foremost thinkers, activists, and academics on food systems, we discuss Patel's forthcoming book on the chicken industry, the food system, and politics. What Doesn't Kill You is powered by Simplecast See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info .

In order to support their local farming community, an entire town drinks bottled water. Their groundwater is polluted by agricultural runoff, but the townspeople don't want to penalize their farmers by forcing a costly fix, so they suck it up...from a bottle. What Doesn't Kill You is powered by Simplecast See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art1...

Iowa, like many states has major water quality issues thanks to Big Ag. Francis Thicke is an organic dairy farmer, soil scientist and leader in the organic food movement. He is also an expert in water quality issues and how the Iowa corn belt is wreaking havoc on the states water supply. Is there a solution? What Doesn't Kill You is powered by Simplecast See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/pri...

Many a suit has been brought against the big guns in Animal Agriculture to force them to clean up their stinking poisonous manure pits. Until now, not one has prevailed. Liz Crampton, a reporter for Morning Ag at Politico, had a ringside seat at the trial. What Doesn't Kill You is powered by Simplecast See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.c...

Michael Stumo, CEO of Coalition for a Prosperous America explains why he sees President Trumps efforts to realign trade agreements and impose tariffs as a much needed correction to long abuses of American industry and agriculture. While unable to exactly reassure that the imposition of massive tariffs on our trading partners, especially the Chinese, along with rewriting NAFTA , won't have an negat...

Diana Moss is the President of the American Antitrust Institute, an organization that investigates issues of market concentration and monopoly and litigates on behalf the of the American consumer to break up monopolies and further fair competition. Moss is an expert in agricultural monopoly and in this episode, we discuss the impacts of agri-chemical and seed companies on farmers and on consumers....

Mike Weaver is the president of the Organization for Competitive Markets, a group that supports small and medium size farms and meat producers in the face of the consolidation of American agriculture. In this episode he describes the difficulty of competing with mega agribusiness; key changes for the upcoming negotiations to the farm bill, and the failure of legislators to support small and medium...

Understanding what really needs to be fixed to revive american agriculture seems to be more about policy than what we grow and how we grow it. Anti trust legislation, agricultural reform, and a better farm bill would go a long way toward addressing the many issues that face american agriculture. I am trying to make sense of all the things I have learned in the past decade. What Doesn't Kill You is...

Board member and lobbyist for the National Dairy Producers Organization, Gary Genske threads the needle on why the industry is falling apart and how Dairy Farmers of America and the USDA are presiding over a colossal industry failure that puts small and medium size dairy farmers at risk for economic losses and more, including a record number of suicides. What Doesn't Kill You is powered by Simplec...

Gary Hirshberg is a pioneer in developing a national market for an organic commodity, milk. His company began producing yogurt in 1985, after being a farming school for a few years. What is the future of organic dairy, and how did they achieve the immense success that has made the company a national bestseller. What can current dairy farmers learn from Stonyfield. What Doesn't Kill You is powered...

Professor Andy Novakovic takes listeners through the economics of the dairy industry and why milk prices have fallen below the price of production. What can small to medium size dairy farms do to survive under these circumstances? What Doesn't Kill You is powered by Simplecast See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-...

How did milk become the dietary and nutritional staple it is? Dr. Willett explains the history of the marketing campaign that has encouraged Americans to consume massive quantities of milk, and then debunks some of the nutritional claims made by the industry to justify that consumption. Is it really a super food? Willett's research has shown otherwise, but we continue to promote milk around the wo...

Alex LaPrise explains how a small group of Rhode Island dairy farmers banded together to call their own shots. the challenges and the pitfalls of competing with the dairy industry as a small producer. What Doesn't Kill You is powered by Simplecast See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info .

Professor Peter Carstensen has made anti trust law his specialty, particularly as it pertains to the American Dairy Industry. He explains how a co-op model initiated decades ago to help dairy farmers bargain collectively has become the major impediment to their financial success. Consolidation and monopolization in dairy are very similar to the meat industry. The impacts of that consolidation are...

In the first episode of 2018, What Doesn’t Kill You launches a multipart series diving into the dairy industry. Today’s guest is a dairy farmer and environmental attorney in Herkimer County N.Y., Lorraine Lewandrowski. The lively discussion goes from a day in the life of a dairy farmer to rural development, and from milk prices to consumer education. What Doesn't Kill You is powered by Simplecast...

Is plant-based meat really the meal of the future? Alison Rabschnuk, Director of Corporate Engagement for the Good Food Institute explains how this organization is supporting companies making huge strides in the field of research and development for meat substitutes for the future. It isn't just companies such as Impossible Burger who are developing this alternative, but even the big players such...

In the 1930's President Roosevelt responded to the tragedy of the dustbowl by planting millions of trees in what he called "shelterbelts". The trees were meant to hold water, as well as protect the plains from the effects of over planting and loss of topsoil. Over the last few decades, many of those all important shelterbelts have been destroyed as agriculture has planted fencerow to fencerow. Cou...

As the farming population wanes, its essential to train up new ones, or we will be buying everything we eat from other countries. Juli Obudzinski is co-author on a new report about the Beginning Farmer and Rancher Development Program. Juli describes how this program works, and who is benefitting. Training up new farmers is essential to our food security in the future and this program leads the way...

Trump's administration is taking aim at SNAP benefits, WIC benefits, watering down school lunch standards, and implementing draconian immigration policies. A distinguished panel led by Food and Environmental Reporting Network, and CUESA, Center for Urban Education About Sustainable Agriculture held a panel discussion to look for community based solutions to these problems. Sam Fromartz moderated t...

Veteran agricultural reporter Helena Bottemiller Evich delves into an obscure but highly impactful aspect of climate change; the loss of nutrients from plant life. As temperatures rise, the nutritional content of the plants we eat including staples such as rice or wheat are declining in proteins and minerals. This could have devastating consequences for human health in future decades particularly...

Indonesia is home to a wealth of species, and a vast rainforest that is rapidly disappearing through the untrammeled sale of land to internal and external forces intent on becoming the largest producers of palm oil in the world. The land grabbers are mostly Indonesian but they sell their product to companies around the world at the expense of the indigenous population. Philip Jacobson covers Indon...