Heartland Stories Radio

Tammi Jonas is an agroecologist, farmer, mindful meatsmith, agrarian activist, author and academic with a focus on ethical, ecologically sound and socially-just food system. Tammi is the President of the Australian Food Sovereignty Alliance and the founder and owner of Jonai Farms and Meatsmiths, a 69 acre farm in Eganstown (Australia), where together with her husband, she pasture raises happy, tasty, heritage-breed Large Black pigs. Tune in to learn more about:

• The story of how as a vegetarian she decided to start a farm and raise Large Black pigs;
• Capitalistic industrial agriculture vs. ethical small family farms;
• Why rebuilding the local food system within communities can revitalize local economies;
• Australia's efforts to use less herbicides in comparison to the US;
• Female leadership in agriculture;
• The grassroots work and programs of the Australian Food Sovereignty Alliance.

To learn more about Tammi's work go to http://www.tammijonas.com.

Chef Michel Nischan is the founder and Executive Chairman of Wholesome Wave, the founder of Wholesome Crave, and co-founder of the James Beard Foundation's Chefs Action Network. Michel is a four-time James Beard Award winning chef with over 30 years of leadership advocating for a more healthy and sustainable food system. Tune in to learn more about:

• Michel's memories of working on his grandfather's farm;
• How a climbing accident pushed him to finally found the non-profit organization Wholesome Wave;
• The mission of Wholesome Wave to address diet-related diseases by helping low-income Americans buy and eat healthy fruits and vegetables;
• The lack of affordability for healthy food and the disastrous consequences for the chronically ill;
• The Gus Schumacher Nutrition Incentive Program (GusNIP), a program that brings together stakeholders from various parts of the food and healthcare systems;
• About Wholesome Crave, a company that creates flavorful, nutritious soups;
• How health care institutions are trying to improve the quality of their food and how UC Davis Medical Center partnered with Wholesome Crave to offer their soups in their cafes.

To learn more about Chef Michel Nischan go to https://www.chefnischan.com.

Elena Terry is the Executive Chef/Founder of Wild Bearies, a non-profit community outreach catering organization that supports participants to overcome alcohol and other drug abuse issues or emotional traumas. One of her goals has been to develop mentorship programs that help build stronger communities within the Indigenous Food Sovereignty movement. Developing the Native American Food Sovereignty Association's Food and Culinary mentorship program in 2020, Elena emphasizes the healing nature of working with traditional indigenous ingredients while building community. Tune in to learn more about:

• Wild Bearies and their mission to heal through real food and bringing communities together;
• The power of how ancestral knowledge of food and animals is being passed from one generation to the next;
• The cooperation with the Indigenous Seed Savers Network as well as Dream of Wild Health in continuing the stewardship of ancestral seeds;
• The story of the bean seed that came back to the tribe;
• The memories of her great-grandmother cooking over on open fire and the stories that were shared;
• Learning how to butcher from her own grandmother;
• What decolonized food is;
• Elena's philosophy that while food is medicine, the real medicine is in the creation and the relationships we build around food.

To learn more about Elena and her work go to https://wildbearies.org.

Together with his wife Sandra Belin, Larry Jacobs founded Jacobs Farm, a successful northern California organic farming operation specializing in fresh culinary herbs in 1980. In 1986, they launched Del Cabo, a collective with a unique vision for social change and sustainability. Sandra and Larry were awarded the prestigious Organic Trade Association's (OTA) 2007 Organic Farming Leadership Award for "innovation in organic farming practices, their extensive work to educate farmers on organic conversion, and for being pioneers in their fields". Tune in to learn more about:

• The story on how Larry and Sandra started their organic farm;
• The epiphany that sparked Del Cabo;
• The increase in pests in Baja California, the challenges they pose to organic farmers, and the solutions that are being sought to mitigate them;
• About the ClimateLab, which preserves farmers' livelihoods and the future of organic produce in the face of global climate change;
• His hope for young people coming back to the land and changing the food system.

To learn more about Larry and Jacobs Farm go to https://www.jacobsfarmdelcabo.com.

Sarah Nelson is the Executive Director for the organization 18 Reasons, a non-profit cooking school in the San Francisco area, with the mission to empower the community with the confidence and creativity to buy, cook and eat good food every day. Tune in to learn more about:

• Why and when we stopped cooking and the negatives effects it had/has on our health;
• About 18 Reasons and why flavor and deliciousness needs to be incorporated into nutrition;
• How home cooking can be sustainable while it incorporates budget and shopping planning;
• About Bi-Rite Family of Businesses' desire to create a space where community members could deepen their relationships with food and with each other;
• How sharing food, recipes and the experience of cooking can benefit a community on an emotional, psychological and social level.

To learn more about Sarah's work go to https://18reasons.org.

Dr. Ricardo Salvador is a senior scientist and director of the Food and Environment Program at the Union of Concerned Scientists. He has over four decades of experience working with citizens, scientists, economists, and politicians to transition our current food system into one that grows healthy foods while employing sustainable and socially equitable practices. Tune in to learn more about:

• About the Union of Concerned Scientists and their mission to fight back when powerful corporations mislead the public on science;
• How the pandemic demonstrated that most of the food industry values profits over the health and well-being of their workers;
• The political and economical power of the food industry;
• How the current food system exploits people and the environment;
• The issues with corporate research, their studies and their powerful message to the public;
• The power of policies in food and farm.

To learn more about Dr. Salvador and The Union of Concerned Scientists, go to https://www.ucsusa.org.

Michelle Horovitz is co-founder and Vice President of Innovation at Appetite For Change (AFC), a nonprofit social enterprise organization in Minneapolis, MN, which is dedicated to using food as a tool to build health, wealth and social change. AFC works with residents to build strong families and healthy, equitable communities around food. Tune in to learn more about:

• The different reasons for starting Appetite For Change;
• The racism of cities in the Heartland;
• Why food is a tool to build health, wealth and social change;
• How food chains are set up differently with products in lower income areas;
• About North Market, a full-service grocery store and wellness center in North Minneapolis;
• About Community Cooks, a major program of AFC where people come together to cook, eat and learn;
• The involvement of youth and how they shape the programs and bring in new ideas incorporating music, art and poetry - check out their music video Grow Food;
• How COVID changed and shaped new programs for the organization.

To learn more about Michelle's work and Appetite For Change go to https://appetiteforchangemn.org.

Jeanette Burlingame is the Program Manager at the Community Hunger Solutions in Viroqua, Wisconsin. Community Hunger Solutions is dedicated to connecting healthy, locally produced food with community members who face barriers to access. Tune in to learn more about:

• Jeanette's story;
• About Community Hunger Solutions and their programs;
• How food pantries are still filled with processed food and how solutions on filling them with organic and nutritious food are being sought;
• The work they do with their distribution partners;
• How to best reach people that are food insecure;
• Why education (early childhood and in schools) can be part of the solution.

To learn more about Jeanette's work go to https://www.community-hunger-solutions.org.

Originally from New York, Alicia Kennedy is an accomplished food writer based in San Juan, Puerto Rico. Her weekly newsletter "From the Desk of Alicia Kennedy" delves into the topics of food culture, politics and media and has over 17,000 subscribers. She also contributed a recipe to the 50th anniversary of Frances Moore Lappé's "Diet for a Small Planet". Tune in to learn more about:

• Alicia's story on becoming a food writer;
• Her weekly newsletter "From the Desk of Alicia Kennedy";
• How she became first vegan and then vegetarian;
• What is really wrong with the industrial meat industry;
• Why good and sustainable choices are not accessible to everyone;
• Why your food choices are influenced by how much money you earn, how many jobs you have, and also the healthcare you receive;
• The collective and individual nature of food;
• The true cost of food.

To learn more about Alicia, go to https://alicia-kennedy.com/.

Dr. Robert Kremer is an adjunct professor of soil science in both the Division of Plant Science and the School of Natural Resources at the University of Missouri. Dr. Kremer served as a research microbiologist for 32 years with the Cropping Systems and Water Quality research unit in Columbia, MO. Tune in to learn more about:

• The job of a microbiologist;
• The billions of microorganisms found in a teaspoon of soil;
• Why glyphosate will stay and built up in the soil for several years and harm beneficial microorganisms including those that act as biological controls of pathogens;
• The discovery that Roundup ready soybeans and regular soybeans sprayed with glyphosate became overly infested with soil fungi during the dying process from the effects of glyphosate;
• How glyphosate is taking out important nutrients from the plant, like manganese, iron and copper;
• Why glyphosate is patented as an antibiotic;
• About the project on the Mitigation of Potential Adverse Effects of Transgenic Crop Production for Long-Term Improvement of Soil Health;

To learn more about Dr. Kremer's work, go to https://cafnrfaculty.missouri.edu/rkremersoilhealth/.