Farm To Table Talk

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 agricultural economist and former Massachusetts Commissioner of Agriculture. He served as Under Secretary of Agriculture for Farm and Foreign Agricultural Services at the USDA from 1997 to 2001, overseeing the Farm Service Agency, the Foreign Agricultural Service, and the Risk Management Agency.Beyond his government service, Gus helped found the Wholesome Wave Foundation and championed reforms that continue to shape agricultural and food policy today. The USDA’s Gus Schumacher Nutrition Incentive Program proudly bears his name — a lasting tribute to his vision for connecting farmers and families through healthy food.

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 helped? Jim Ennis is the Executive Director of Catholic Rural Life. www.catholicrurallife.org

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 plus a non-alcoholic Sake.  (https://drinkorigami.com/)

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 farmingommunity. His new book "Dear Marty, We Crapped in Our Nest" reveals what's really happening in rural food systems from someone who's lived and reported there for decades. His reporting reveals how corporate agriculture affects the entire food chain, from soil to table. Art exposes how corporate consolidation impacts not just farmers, but entire rural communities, water quality, and the long-term sustainability of our food system. His family-owned newspaper proves that independent food journalism can still hold powerful interests accountable. www.stormlake.com

Support local journalism at westerniowajournalismfoundation.com

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 farmers manage their cattle and poultry’s exposure to migratory birds when they are nearby. If farmers are aware and utilize the network it will reduce risk and prevent birds and cows from getting sick. Maurice holds a veterinary degree and a postgraduate degree in epidemiology. As a faculty member at UC Davis School of Veterinary Medicine, he specializes in poultry health and food safety epidemiology - enhancing food safety and production efficiency. Waterfowl Alert Network (WFAN) helps agricultural producers reduce the spread of avian influenza by showing where migrating waterfowl are in relation to their farms. Using advanced radar modeling and field-tested epidemiological science, it provides daily risk forecasts that help poultry, cattle, and swine farms improve their biosecurity before the next outbreak strikes—giving producers a weather report for bird flu.

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 or snacks left at Liquor stores or gas stations.  These experiences led to the establishment of Sweet Wheel Farms - a community asset to solve the absence of food, to expand farm education to the next generation on chemical-free farming, ecology and food as medicine, bio dynamics in both plants and soil, and eco-utilities. The Santa Barbara Agriculture & Farm Education Foundation established the farm to provide food security, increase awareness and educate how our food is grown and distributed. And to not be vulnerable to whatever disaster nature has in store for them in the future. President/Farmer Leslie Person Ryan shares the lessons learned and how local agriculture is vital.

sbafefoundation.com

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 a dual career, managing and working the family ranch since 1975, and accomplishing numerous assignments in the Horn of Africa and the Middle East for agencies and organizations such as USAID, FAO, European Commission, Save the Children Federation, and the British Red Cross Society. He  shares perspectives on problems and solutions in his book,  "Feeding A Divided America - Reflections of a Western Rancher in the Era of Climate Change."

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, locally sourced ingredients to create wholesome meals, with the support of local chefs and farmers--revolutionizing school lunch. Kelsey will host a panel featuring Alice Waters at Terra Madre panel Cultivating Change: Transforming California School Meals Through Vision and Action www.thecentralkitchen.org

Terra Madre Americas is making its debut in Sacramento! This FREE, first-of-its-kind weekend celebration September 26 - 28 features food and drink tastings, live music, celebrity chef demonstrations, educational panels, artisan vendors, and more, bringing the flavors and traditions of Sacramento, California, and the world together into one unforgettable experience at the SAFE Credit Union Convention Center.

EVENT DETAILS: 

Join us September 27 at Terra Madre!

Panel: Cultivating Change—Transforming CA School Meals

12:30 PM | The Confluence Stage, Sacramento Convention Center (free)

Featuring Alice Waters, Kat Taylor, Chef Ann Cooper & more.

Lunch: Taste the Change + Build a Healthier Future for CA Kids

Immediately after the panel | Ticket required  https://donate.wholesomewave.org/event/taste-the-change/e721582

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 Wendell Berry conversation shared on the Farm To Table Talk podcast so in his honor, at his passing is that conversation. Wendell told Bill , “We don’t have the right to ask whether we are going to succeed or not; the only question we have the right to ask is what’s the right thing to do? What does this Earth require of us if we want to continue to live on it?”  Bill Moyers is a legend himself for matchless, thoughtful interviews such as this interview in October 2013, that was a production of the Schumann Media Center, Inc. and Mannes Productions, Inc.© 2013