The Produce Industry Podcast w/ Patrick Kelly

In this episode of the Global Fresh Series Podcast, we explore how Europe’s potato industry — especially Belgium’s iconic frozen fry sector — was hit by a massive agricultural and economic crisis in 2026. Beyond potatoes, the episode is a broader story about globalization, supply chains, farming economics, and the uncertainty facing the next generation of agricultural producers.

At its heart, The Fry Crisis is a deeply human story — one about farmers confronting shrinking margins, changing markets, and the fear that the “good years are over.”

The story centers on Belgian farmer who was forced to dump thousands of tons of unsold potatoes back into his fields after prices collapsed to zero. The surplus, estimated at five million metric tons across Europe, was driven by a combination of record harvests, shrinking global demand, rising production costs, geopolitical instability, and changing consumer habits.

#Belgiumpotatoes # potato exports #frenchfries #glp-1

How did a city of 30,000 people survive for 450 years between Venice and the Ottoman Empire — and what does the Republic of Ragusa have to do with the cherry on top of your cocktail? Why does the American maraschino cherry share almost nothing with the Croatian original except a name? And how did one man, escaping a burning city in a rowboat in 1944, carry a single cherry sapling across the Adriatic and rebuild an entire industry from it?

Join John and Patrick as they tell the story of Croatia — the merchant republic, the marasca cherry, and the extraordinary stubbornness of small things that refuse to be destroyed...

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In Sponsorship with Cornell University: Dyson Cornell SC Johnson College of Business

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Why did a Valencia orange, abandoned on a tiny arid Caribbean island, transform into a new species that nobody could eat — and how did that inedible fruit end up in cocktail bars on every continent? What made the harbour of Willemstad one of the most consequential trading posts in the Atlantic world, and what does the story of Sephardic refugees, the slave trade, and a language assembled from seven others tell us about how Curaçao became Curaçao? And why does the blue liquid in most bottles labelled "curaçao" contain nothing from the island at all?

Join John and Patrick as they tell the story of the laraha — the accidental species, the Dutch distillers, and the smallest nation ever to qualify for a World Cup...

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In Sponsorship with J&K Fresh.

The customs broker who is your fruit and veggies’ personal bodyguard. Learn more here!

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Why has the argan tree — which grows nowhere else on Earth — survived for 65 million years in the mountains of Morocco, and why are the women who have tended it for centuries now earning two euros sixty for a litre of oil that sells for a hundred in Paris? Who was Zoubida Charrouf, the chemist who gave scientific language to what Amazigh women had always known, and built a cooperative movement that changed thousands of lives — only for the global market to arrive and take almost everything? And what does liquid gold look like from the bottom of the supply chain?

Join John and Patrick as they tell the story of Morocco and the argan tree — the performance goats, the women's cooperatives, and the ancient knowledge that the world monetised without ever properly paying for...

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In Sponsorship with Cornell University: Dyson Cornell SC Johnson College of Business

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Join host Patrick Kelly as he sits down with Antoni Porowski , beloved Queer Eye chef and food storyteller, at the CPMA 2026 Annual Conference.

Discover how Antoni Porowski bridges the produce supply chain and culinary worlds, shares fresh salad inspirations with Fresh Express, and reveals simple yet exciting ways to elevate your meals with produce.

Whether you're a food enthusiast or industry insider, this episode offers fresh perspectives and delicious ideas you won't want to miss!

This week on Fresh from the Field Fridays, Dan the Produce Man welcomes Dr. Joel Fuhrman, board-certified family physician, seven-time New York Times bestselling author, and internationally recognized expert in nutrition and disease prevention.

In this thought-provoking conversation, Dr. Fuhrman explains what it means to be a Nutritarian, the importance of nutrient density, the health benefits of his famous "G-BOMBS" foods, and why fruits and vegetables play such a critical role in longevity and disease prevention. Dan and Dr. Fuhrman also discuss modern eating habits, food addiction, chronic disease, and whether many of today's most common health problems are linked to the foods we choose to eat every day.

Whether you're in the produce industry or simply looking to improve your health, this is a conversation you won't want to miss.

Learn more about Dr. Fuhrman's books, podcast, nutrition programs, and educational resources at DrFuhrman.com.

It's all right here on Fresh from the Field Fridays from the Produce Industry Network, powered by AgLife Media. Visit AgLifeMedia.com to discover more podcasts, videos, industry news, and fresh produce content.

Why did a South American legume become the foundation of French imperial power in West Africa — and what did it cost the people who grew it? Who was Cheikh Amadou Bamba, the Sufi mystic the French exiled twice but could never destroy, whose followers built a religious empire on peanut fields? And how did a single crop simultaneously build the city of Dakar, finance two world wars, and trap an independent nation in a cycle of poverty it is still escaping today?

Join John and Patrick as they tell the story of Senegal and the groundnut — the colonial railways, the Mouride brotherhood, and the tyranny of the peanut...

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In Sponsorship with J&K Fresh.

The customs broker who is your fruit and veggies’ personal bodyguard. Learn more here!

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Why did the cloud forests of Ecuador produce the only cure for a disease that killed popes, hollowed out armies, and blocked European expansion into the tropics — and what did the people whose knowledge made that cure possible pay for sharing it? Who was Manuel Incra Mamani, the man whose botanical expertise created the Dutch quinine monopoly, whose name is on nothing, and who was beaten to death for his trouble? And what does any of this have to do with the gin and tonic?

Join John and Patrick as they tell the story of cinchona bark — the Jesuit smugglers, the Andean monopoly, the pharmaceutical arms race, and the chemical precondition for the European partition of Africa...

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In Sponsorship with Cornell University: Dyson Cornell SC Johnson College of Business

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Why did France's black truffle — once produced in the thousands of tonnes — collapse to near-extinction in a century, and what does its revival reveal about the country's relationship with luxury, landscape, and desire? Who are the truffle thieves stalking the oak groves of the Périgord with poisoned meatballs and stolen dogs? And why does a near-identical Chinese impostor, worth one-seventieth of the price, now threaten the French truffle industry from beneath the soil itself?

Join John and Patrick as they tell the story of the black diamond of the kitchen — the fraud, the cash markets, the criminal underworld, and the invisible biological invasion growing silently beneath the oaks of southern France...

----------

In Sponsorship with J&K Fresh.

The customs broker who is your fruit and veggies’ personal bodyguard. Learn more here!

-----------

Join the History of Fresh Produce Club for ad-free listening, bonus episodes, book discounts and access to an exclusive chatroom community.

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Join me for a fun, reflective, and produce-filled farewell to Greece as I wrap up an unforgettable month abroad—one conversation, one supermarket, and one peach at a time. 🇬🇷🍑🥒

After a month of living and working as a digital nomad in Athens, it’s time for a final stroll through the streets, markets, and produce aisles of Greece. In this episode of the Global Fresh Series, I reflect on the little things that slowly became part of everyday life—from deciphering Greek signs and mastering a few local phrases to navigating the rhythms of a city that feels both ancient and surprisingly modern.

Along the way, I met perfect strangers who somehow led me to a connection with the UK's legendary "Cauliflower King," crossed paths with U.S. Ambassador to Greece Kimberly Guilfoyle, and discovered that some of the best travel stories happen when you least expect them.

#greecefreshproduce. #argosgreece @Σκλαβενίτης. #Δημήτηρ # cauliflower king