The True (and Untrue) Story of Food: Part 1

An extreme amount of work, thought and scrutiny goes into the production of food. Yet nearly half of the U.S. food supply — or 80 billion pounds — is wasted each year. A lot of this waste is the result of Mother Nature and production restrictions placed on growers by grocers, vendors and companies to have the picture-perfect tomato or right-size potato. This combined with consumers who overbuy at the grocery store have created a perfect storm of discarded food. 

Episode Breakdown: 

• Why are these standards of perfection placed on farmers in the first place?
• How are companies and other advocates looking at the whole production process — from farm to table — differently?
• How can perfectly good food be prevented from going to waste?

To learn more about Steve Alameda and Topflavor Farms, visit: http://topflavor.com/. To learn more about Mark Mason and Nature’s Reward, visit: www.naturesreward.com. To learn more about Tim Glenn and Corteva Agriscience’s sustainability efforts, visit: www.corteva.com/sustainability. 

In Part 1 of our Alt-Foods series, we learned about the amazing, sometimes fantastical, future of food. Now let’s come back to the present food revolution: The plant-based food movement is booming. Grocery sales of plant-based foods have jumped 29% in the past two years, topping $5 billion in 2020. Meanwhile, the traditional food industry is responding to this revolution and evolving rapidly on its own. 

Episode Breakdown

• What new foods are plant-based pioneers creating?
• How do you develop a plant-based egg?
• How is traditional agriculture responding to plant-based alternatives?
• What new innovations can traditional agriculture offer?
• Will the plant-based industry and traditional agriculture be able to work together and play nice?

To learn more about Josh Tetrick and JUST Foods, visit: www.ju.st. To learn more about Emily Metz and the American Egg Board, visit: https://www.incredibleegg.org/. 

In Part 1 of our Alt-Foods series, we dive into the amazing science and technology that’s powering the future of food. Meat grown in a lab. Meals 3D-printed at your kitchen table. And a Nobel Prize-winning technology that edits genes — and our perception of food itself.

In Part 2, we’ll bring you to the present, on the front lines of the food-science debate, exploring how two very different industry leaders envision alternative foods.

Episode Breakdown: What scientific innovations are changing our food? | How do you grow a cell-based hamburger? | How can genetics and CRISPR technology lead to innovative food changes? | How do we reduce the costs of making lab-based food? | As technology evolves, what responsibility do scientists have to protect the integrity of our food?

To learn more about Rodolphe Barrangou, visit: https://cals.ncsu.edu/food-bioprocessing-and-nutrition-sciences/people/rbarran/. To learn more about Vitor Santo and JUST Foods, visit: https://www.ju.st/ and https://www.ju.st/stories/good-meat.

We’ve all heard stories of the kid who left the family farm for the comforts of the big city, but the truth is an entirely different story. More and more young people are returning to agriculture after years spent away. Who are these new ag revolutionaries? Moreover, why are they coming back? Are the economic prospects of farming improving? Is there a reignited passion to return and work the land? Or is there a growing sense that, for young minds, new opportunities are just around the corner?

Episode Breakdown: Why are young people returning to farming? | What innovations have they brought with them? | What do they value? | What’s it like to be a young farmer starting a family? | How do young farmers ensure the profits and legacies of generations past?

To learn more about Hannah Esch and Oak Barn Beef, visit: www.oakbarnbeef.com.

Big farms are a force today. They’re a source of food for billions of people, and also a source of controversy. In 2018, only about 3% of U.S. farms were large-scale farms, yet they accounted for 46% of agriculture production. But some consumers are skeptical of large farms — even labeling them as factories. In reality, most farms, including large-scale farms, are family run. So, what’s it like to run a large-scale farm? Where do these consumer perceptions come from? And what does the story of the large-scale farmer, the producer tasked with feeding the world, really look like?

Episode Breakdown: What’s it like to run a large-scale farm? | How and why did these farms come about? | What resources do these operations require? | Where do consumer perceptions of big ag come from?

To learn more about Jeremy Jack and Silent Shade Planting Company, visit: https://www.silent-shade.com/. To learn more about Dr. Keith Coble of Mississippi State University, visit: https://www.agecon.msstate.edu/associate.php?id=12.

“One meat product per customer.” “Eggs: limit one carton.” “2 gallons of milk only.” COVID-19 showed just how fragile and inflexible the US food supply system is. Despite this, some farmers and food suppliers got creative and adapted their businesses while introducing new ideas to our food system. What have we learned since the pandemic began to prepare for the next crisis? What obstacles still remain?

Episode Breakdown:
What was it like on the front lines when the food system collapsed? | How did farmers adapt? | How did government agencies limit the flexibility of our food supply? | What new ideas have emerged that will forever change our food system?

To learn more about Jennie Schutte and Pilaroc Farms, visit: https://www.rocktotable.com/. To learn more about Lucas Sjostrom and Redhead Creamery, visit: https://www.redheadcreamery.com/. To learn more about Peter Friedman and the Agriculture Transportation Coalition, visit: https://agtrans.org/.

Near the North Pole is an underground vault holding over a million seeds in case our food supply is threatened. From dodging Indonesian storms to smuggling seeds out of Syria, how far will scientists go to protect something as small as a seed? Who owns the seeds, and who gets to withdraw them when we need them? With just 30 crops providing 95% of the world’s food, will we need them sooner than we think? From dodging storms in Indonesia to smuggling seeds out of Syria, how far will scientists go to protect something as small as a seed?

Episode Breakdown: What is the vault like? | Who has access? | Who owns the seeds in the Svalbard Global Seed Vault? | How does the vault protect biodiversity around the world | What are ag companies doing to ensure food security? | What can we do?

To learn more about Asmund Asdal, Stefan Schmitz and the Svalbard Global Seed Vault, visit The Crop Trust at: https://www.croptrust.org/. To learn more about the story of the Syrian gene bank, visit: https://www.resilience.org/stories/2019-07-25/how-a-syrian-genebank-secured-over-100000-seeds-during-wartime-maybe-saving-the-future-of-wheat/. Learn more about the Food Forever Champions for biodiversity at https://www.food4ever.org/champion/.

Grocery prices are predicted to increase approximately 1% in 2020 — the fifth year in a row with lower-than-average price inflation. Episode nine of The Growing Debate explores the many factors that determine grocery prices. Who’s benefiting from more affordable food? More important, who isn’t?

Episode breakdown: How much money are farmers investing in inputs yearly? | How is food priced in the United States? | Can farmers choose the price of their product? | What is the consumers’ role in food prices? | Who is suffering at the expense of the food supply chain? | How much more are other, less-developed nations paying for food?

Learn more about Jayson Lusk and Nick Emanuel via Jayson Lusk's website at www.jaysonlusk.com/about or the CropMetrics website at www.cropmetrics.com.

In the U.S., the suicide rate in rural areas is 45% greater than in urban areas. What’s behind this disturbing trend? Is it an indicator of a growing problem in our society? Episode eight of The Growing Debate travels to a dairy farm to uncover all the financial, personal and community pressures experienced by today’s farmers. What is being done to help?

Episode Breakdown: What are the many pressures farmers face? | Why do farmers on multigenerational farms suffer more? | How does isolation magnify these mental health problems? | How are these mental health issues reflected in other professions? | Is it a sign of things to come for urbanites? | Why are online resources more effective than person to person?

To learn more about Patty, Mike and suicide resources for farmers, visit Front Page Holsteins at https://www.facebook.com/Front-Page-Holsteins-1585722158331379/, The National Farmers Union at https://nfu.org, Farm Crisis Center at https://farmcrisis.nfu.org/, and Do More Ag at www.domore.ag.

The average farmer is white and male, but the 2017 census data shows the number of women and minority farmers are on the rise. The numbers show progress — but is that the reality? Episode seven of The Growing Debate explores what defines equality in agriculture — along with dairy producer Laura Daniels and row crop farmer Christi Bland — and asks if equality is just a set of numbers matching up.

Episode breakdown: What advantages do women have in running a dairy operation? | How did Laura end up as a dairy farm owner? | What challenges do minorities face in agriculture? | How do minorities get their start in farming? | How did black farmers acquire land post Civil War? | Is wealth and land ownership dividing farmers more than race and gender?

Learn more about Laura Daniels at https://dairygirlnetwork.com/, and learn more about Christi Bland and the National Black Growers Council here: https://nationalblackgrowerscouncil.com/.