Partners

Similar to farmers, Illinois food wholesalers and retailers have been deemed essential and continue to work to keep food and other products moving and shelves replenished. Hear from Rick Siemer who runs an Illinois wheat milling company, and Paul Simon, with Schnucks Markets, which has supermarkets in Illinois and four other states.

How has the global coronavirus pandemic impacted what we wear, how we power our vehicles and what we eat, and how much might it do so in the future? Hear from U.S. Secretary of Agriculture, Sonny Perdue, the president of the American Farm Bureau Federation, Georgia farmer Vincent “Zippy” Duvall, and Ogle County, Illinois farmer Brian Duncan, who serves as vice president of the Illinois Farm Bureau.

After one of the toughest years in memory to farm, how are the people that grow our food and other rural Illinoisans faring as we enter a new growing season? What’s being done to help ensure mental wellness throughout all of Illinois? Hear from Illinois farmers Greg St. Aubin and Drew DeSutter, along with internist Dr. Paul Pedersen, M.D., chief medical officer at OSF St. Joseph Medical Center, and Courtney Cuthbertson, Ph.D., University of Illinois assistant professor and Extension specialist.

Does the recent sunshine and warmer temperatures have you itching to get out and grow? You’re not alone. With the third highest number of farmers markets in the nation – including winter farmers markets – Illinoisans have a healthy appetite for fresh, fruits, vegetables, meat and dairy grown and produced right here in our state. Find out what it means to live local, grow, buy and eat the bounty that is produced here in Illinois with Janie Maxwell, executive director of the Illinois Farmers Market Association, and Raghela Scavuzzo, associate director of food systems development for the Illinois Farm Bureau.

In this episode, listen in on our state’s and country’s future leaders from Arrupe College, Eureka College and the University of Chicago (U of C) as they visit an Illinois farm and discuss farm and food-related topics and issues with some Illinois farmers. It was part of the U of C’s Institute of Politics program entitled, Bridging the Divide. Now in its third year, it strives to foster a deeper understanding between students from rural and urban communities.

Illinois-based MightyVine grows fresh tomatoes 365 days a year. The company recently opened its third, massive greenhouse on 7.5 acres, and will ship vine-ripened tomatoes to Chicagoland grocery stores, restaurants and other points in the Midwest. Listen to company CEO Gary Lazarski, State Rep. Tom Demmer and MightyVine’s Director of Business Development, Danny Murphy, on how, why and where they are growing more than 10-million pounds of Illinois tomatoes each year.

Over its 150 years, the National Weather Service (NWS) has kept an increasingly watchful eye on the sky that has helped protect our food supply, our property, and our lives. In this episode, Chris Miller, the NWS warning coordination meteorologist in central Illinois, discusses what to do before such things as winter storms, lightening, flash floods and tornadoes turn our world’s upside down, technology used to protect us, and what we might expect weather wise for the rest of winter and beyond.

More of the meat, milk and eggs we eat have a good chance coming from right here in Illinois. Tasha Bunting is a mom, raises livestock and oversees Illinois Farm Bureau’s efforts to help the state’s livestock farmers succeed. Hear from Bunting, along with Kay Johnson Smith, president and CEO of the Animal Agriculture Alliance, on topics such as how animal care changes with the seasons, use of antibiotics to help sick animals, nutritional value of alternative proteins and more.

Farmers, Farm Bureau and groups such as The Center for Food Integrity (CFI) can be valuable sources of information when you and others have questions about farming and food and emerging technology about both. Hear from Bill Pauling and Lisa Garrow from the DuPage County Farm Bureau and Roxi Beck, CFI’s director of consumer engagement.

Some Illinois farmers, those in other states, and the chief economist for the nation’s largest organization of farmers share thoughts on the condition of the farm economy, its impact on farmers, and their outlook for 2020. Listen to John Newton, chief economist for the American Farm Bureau Federation, Ben Boyd, Georgia farmer, Blake Hurst, Missouri farmer, and Illinois farmers Drew and Adrienne DeSutter.