Professor Peter Carstensen has made anti trust law his specialty, particularly as it pertains to the American Dairy Industry. He explains how a co-op model initiated decades ago to help dairy farmers bargain collectively has become the major impediment to their financial success. Consolidation and monopolization in dairy are very similar to the meat industry. The impacts of that consolidation are examined closely in this episode.

In the first episode of 2018, What Doesn’t Kill You launches a multipart series diving into the dairy industry. Today’s guest is a dairy farmer and environmental attorney in Herkimer County N.Y., Lorraine Lewandrowski. The lively discussion goes from a day in the life of a dairy farmer to rural development, and from milk prices to consumer education.

Is plant-based meat really the meal of the future? Alison Rabschnuk, Director of Corporate Engagement for the Good Food Institute explains how this organization is supporting companies making huge strides in the field of research and development for meat substitutes for the future. It isn't just companies such as Impossible Burger who are developing this alternative, but even the big players such as Tyson are investing. What those products are and how they are formulated to go beyond just a burger substitute are covered in this fascinating discussion about the future of the center of the plate.

In the 1930's President Roosevelt responded to the tragedy of the dustbowl by planting millions of trees in what he called "shelterbelts". The trees were meant to hold water, as well as protect the plains from the effects of over planting and loss of topsoil. Over the last few decades, many of those all important shelterbelts have been destroyed as agriculture has planted fencerow to fencerow. Could we see a second Dust Bowl scenario as climate change advances? Carson Vaughn explains what is at stake and why we can't have too many trees.

As the farming population wanes, its essential to train up new ones, or we will be buying everything we eat from other countries. Juli Obudzinski is co-author on a new report about the Beginning Farmer and Rancher Development Program. Juli describes how this program works, and who is benefitting. Training up new farmers is essential to our food security in the future and this program leads the way.

Trump's administration is taking aim at SNAP benefits, WIC benefits, watering down school lunch standards, and implementing draconian immigration policies. A distinguished panel led by Food and Environmental Reporting Network, and CUESA, Center for Urban Education About Sustainable Agriculture held a panel discussion to look for community based solutions to these problems. Sam Fromartz moderated the panel and is interviewed about the discussion and any solutions.

Veteran agricultural reporter Helena Bottemiller Evich delves into an obscure but highly impactful aspect of climate change; the loss of nutrients from plant life. As temperatures rise, the nutritional content of the plants we eat including staples such as rice or wheat are declining in proteins and minerals. This could have devastating consequences for human health in future decades particularly as the planet continues to warm. Scientists are only now beginning to investigate this troubling trend, and certainly not fast enough to evolve new plant varieties in time to stave off the worst effects.

Indonesia is home to a wealth of species, and a vast rainforest that is rapidly disappearing through the untrammeled sale of land to internal and external forces intent on becoming the largest producers of palm oil in the world. The land grabbers are mostly Indonesian but they sell their product to companies around the world at the expense of the indigenous population. Philip Jacobson covers Indonesia for the environmental news organization Mongabay, which as part of a journalistic collaboration with The Gecko Project has produced a remarkable series of articles and short films showing what happens when profit trumps people. His team has created a compelling narrative that is a template for similar stories throughout the developing world.

Carey Gillam has spent over a decade researching and writing about Monsanto and Glyphosate the worlds most popular agro chemical. Her new book WhiteWash describes a perfect storm of collusion between Monsanto, the EPA, USDA and FDA in suppressing negative studies, buying scientists, and discrediting those whose work showed some of the potential dangers of this ubiquitous chemical. Glyphosate is so widely used it now exists in the bodies of virtually every human on the planet. This book teases out the corporate strategies that circumvent the regulations supposed to protect the population, in the pursuit of profit.

The roots of our food system can be traced back multiple centuries according to author Eric Holt-Gimenez. In a far ranging discussion, just how intertwined food and capitalism is laid bare. The neo liberal economic model brought forth by Reagan and Thatcher has much to do with the current inequities, but they don't bear all the blame. This is a fascinating episode that proposes a major overhaul to how we view our political, economic, and food systems.