Uprooted

This week's episode was going to be on meat, but schedules change and we adjust!

Instead, this is another back to basics episode. In our first podcast, Johan explored how trade works. Now we're doing the same for agriculture. Ben Lilliston joins Josh to talk about the difference between farms, agriculture, and agribusiness. How all of those things relate, who has power in the system, and what we are doing to shift that balance.

But first, Josh gets an update on the latest round of NAFTA negotiations from Karen Hansen-Kuhn.

It's Global Fertilizer Day (who knew?)! And to celebrate, we are joined by Steve Suppan whose paper on the use of nanotechnology in the fertilizer industry was released yesterday. This is a special episode of Uprooted, and our normal podcast schedule will continue next week.

You can read Steve's new blog on nanofertilizer here.

It's Farm to School Month! Erin McKee and Katie Costello talk about IATP's Farm to Institution program. Then Ben Lilliston joins the podcast to talk about the Local FARMS act that was just introduced in Congress.

Josh Wise talks with Sharon Treat, IATP's Senior Attorney, who was at the last round of NAFTA talks in Ottawa. Sharon gives an update what has been happening at the talks, how trade talks are supposed to work, and offers an analysis on the reckless speed and nature of the negotiations so far. Listen to the first 3 episodes here.

In episode 3 of Uprooted, the final episode in our series on NAFTA, Johan looks at how the beer industry has used NAFTA to move production and how it's import and export statistics are being manipulated to call it a win for Mexican agriculture. Johan interviews Michael McCollough, William Bostwick, and Tim Wise. Enjoy Border Brews:

IATP produces mountains of research and analysis every year. It's hard to keep up with, even for us on staff! Fortunately, we had a great intern, Johan Cavert, over the summer who helped us relaunch our podcast, under the title Uprooted. Johan did a great job creating a compelling, but light-hearted narrative look at the very complex topic of international trade. 

In the first episode of Uprooted, Johan is joined by Josh Wise, IATP's Director of Development and Communications and former Executive Director of the Minnesota Fair Trade Coalition to discuss the basics of trade.