Agroecology Uprooted

Coming October 2 from the Campaign for Family Farms and the Environment, a new four-part podcast series about factory farms, and the farmers and rural organizers fighting to end them: How to Fight a Factory Farm.

How to Fight a Factory Farm is produced by the Institute for Agriculture and Trade Policy, a member of the Campaign for Family Farms and the Environment. Thank you to our intern, Anna Karns, for her assistance producing this series, and to Noah Earle for the use of his song “Fry an Egg” for our theme music. Learn more about the Campaign for Family Farms and the Environment at fightfactoryfarms.org.

Eight months after the original deadline, there’s been some movement on the new Farm Bill – but political conflicts and agribusiness influence present a challenge. Learn about how the policy process works and hear from IATP’s Michael Happ and Ben Lilliston about the House Farm Bill draft and what comes next. 

In Episode Six of the Farm Bill Uprooted, hear from experts from across the food system on what changes are needed in the 2023 Farm Bill and beyond. From nutrition access to fair markets to climate resilience, a better food system is possible; it’s up to us to demand it. 

References and Further Reading: 

• Closing the Meal Gap Act 

The Farm Bill shapes our food and farm system in the U.S., and, through the Nutrition Title, helps millions of Americans afford food. But with nutrition assistance programs like SNAP vulnerable to cuts, and rural food access weakened by decades of corporate consolidation, how well is the Farm Bill really serving eaters? In Episode Five of the Farm Bill Uprooted, hear from IATP's Erin McKee VanSlooten, Kate Hansen of the Center for Rural Affairs and Marcus Grignon of the Rural Coalition, on what's needed to rebuild community-based food systems and create a Farm Bill that's by and for the people.

References and Further Reading:

• Food Research and Action Center (FRAC) Farm Bill priorities

Over the past few decades, the landscape of the food and farm system has become more concentrated, less diverse and less resilient. In Episode Four of the Farm Bill Uprooted, hear from Campaign for Family Farms and the Environment’s (CFFE) Patty Lovera and Iowa Interfaith Power and Light’s (IIPL) Elston Tortuga about how corporate consolidation in the food system has impacted farmers and rural communities, and how Farm Bill reforms can help.

How does credit access shape our food and agriculture system? In Episode Three of the Farm Bill Uprooted, hear from IATP’s Dr. Steve Suppan, along with Margaret Krome-Lukens and Ray Jeffers of RAFI-USA, about how the Farm Bill Credit Title both undermines climate resilience by propping up the industrial model of production and reinforces a history of racism in American agriculture.

Learn more about RAFI-USA, NFFC and the Fair Credit for Farmers Act.

After decades of Farm Bill policy incentivizing the overproduction of commodity crops, conventional agriculture in the U.S. has taken an increasing toll on water, soil and the climate — and on farmers’ own ability to withstand extreme weather and climate disruptions. Episode Two of the Farm Bill Uprooted features IATP’s Michael Happ and the University of Iowa’s Dr. Silvia Secchi on industrial agriculture’s environmental impacts and the Conservation Title programs meant to address them. 

How do we ensure fair prices for farmers and consumers while building climate resilience, protecting the environment and sustaining rural communities? And what happens when Farm Bill policies incentivize the opposite approach? Hear from IATP’s Ben Lilliston and Karen Hansen-Kuhn in Episode One of the Farm Bill Uprooted, which dives into Farm Bill basics, and how it’s shaped a food and farm system dominated by commodity production and overgrown corporate agribusiness interests.

References and further reading:

• USDA ERS, Food Access Research Atlas

The Farm Bill sets the course for our food and agriculture system in the U.S. – and right now, there's a lot that's not working. How did we get here? And how can we fix it? Coming soon from the Institute for Agriculture and Trade Policy, a new 6-part podcast series: The Farm Bill Uprooted. Episode One premieres July 12.

Featuring:

• Dr. Silvia Secchi, University of Iowa

After an extended negotiation, COP27 concluded on November 20th, 2022 with, for the most part, a disappointing outcome. Despite the hopeful decision to create a dedicated Loss and Damage fund for countries most impacted by climate disasters, COP27's final agreement fell short of what we need to keep the planet under 1.5 C degrees of warming. In our final episode of the series, we discuss how the conference played out, and what's next in the fight for real climate action. 

Find more information and an episode transcript on our website.