Uprooted

Josh talks with Steve Suppan about meat inspection in the United States and proposed rule change that would allow companies to do self-inspection, potentially leading to higher line speeds and greater safety concerns in an industry that already has a history of unsafe conditions.  

Today, May 17th, is the deadline set by House Speaker, Paul Ryan, to have a NAFTA agreement on paper for Congress to take it up in 2018. Earlier this week, Josh talked with Sharon Treat and Karen Hansen-Kuhn about what the endgame might be for NAFTA and if anyone actually knows what is happening in this incredibly secretive process. 

Josh talks with Tristan Quinn-Thibodeau from Action Aid USA about the two new videos they put out on supply management and factory farming in Iowa. You can see the videos here: https://www.actionaidusa.org/work/agribusiness-family-farmers/

This week, the 9th National Farm to Cafeteria Conference will be held in Cincinnati, Ohio. IATP will be sending three staffers, Director of Development and Communications Josh Wise, Community Food Systems Program Director Erin McKee, and Community Food Systems Program Associate Katie Costello to the event. 

Last week House of Representatives Agriculture Committee chairman, Rep. Mike Conway, released his first draft of the 2018 Farm Bill. The bill did not have the support of the ranking member on the committee, Rep. Colin Peterson. Josh talks with Tara Ritter, IATP Senior Program Associate, to talk about the largely negative impacts that this draft bill would have, including the proposed elimination of the Conservation Stewardship Program. 

IATP launched the first 100% fair trade organic coffee company in 1996. As the company has grown, we realized it was time to set it free to keep growing and doing good work. In this episode, Josh talks with Lee Wallace, longtime CEO of Peace Coffee, who, along with her business partner, Kent Pilakowski, has assumed ownership of the company.

This week we're talking about labeling, and the attempt to ban it, in trade agreements. Josh talks with Sharon Treat about why multinational corporations seek to undermine public health protections through the trade negotiating process, what the history of challenging food labeling has been, and what the heck is going on with NAFTA renegotiation these days.  Here, also, is a link to Sharon's blog on the subject: https://www.iatp.org/blog/lurking-in-trumps-nafta 

Last week, IATP launched the report, From the Ground Up: The State of the States on Climate Adaptation for Agriculture. Josh talks with Lachlan Anathasiou, who interned at IATP in summer 2017 about the research he did on the report and the report's findings.   

IATP often works internationally, but our headquarters is in Minneapolis, Minnesota. In this episode, Josh is joined by Filiberto Nolasco, Editor of the online news site, Workday Minnesota, to talk about what the broader issues of labor, immigrants rights, and social justice are happening in our community. 

The Trump tariffs on steel and aluminum have caused a lot of chatter and speculation. But they exist in a very complicated and interconnected system. Today, Josh talks about the tariffs, the WTO, and the rules based multilateral trading system with IATP Adviser, Sophia Murphy, Director of Trade and Global Governance, Karen Hansen-Kuhn, and IATP Executive Director, Juliette Majot.

Josh talks with Cristina Garcia, Member Mobilization Manager at Alianza Americas about the links between trade and migration. They are talking about how NAFTA and other trade policies have forced people to become economic migrants, why they choose to cross borders what trade policy would look like that respected the mobility of labor. 

The Trump administration recently released their proposed budget as well as an infrastructure plan that falls well short of the President's campaign promises. Ben Lilliston blogged about both proposals and joins Josh to talk about how they are deficient for Ag and Rural communities, and what should be done to increase resiliency for the farm and rural economy.  Ben's Budget Blog

The coal industry is on its way out. But whether coal communities experience a just transition is an open question. Josh is joined by Eric Dixon, Coordinator of Policy and Community Engagement at the Appalachian Citizens' Law Center, to talk about the rural development work that is going on in coal country and how they are working to make sure that miners and their communities have the resources to make a just transition that allows Appalachia to thrive in the 21st Century. 

Josh is joined by Jim Harkness, former IATP President, and current advisor on China. We're talking about what the Chinese agricultural system looks like, what China's growing demand for meat and other foods means on a global scale, and how sustainable farmers in China are organizing to promote better practices in the system.  You can find China Food Watch, which we talk about in the episode, here: www.chinafoodwatch.com

Why is an investment fund buying up cattle from the largest meat company in the world? Steve Suppan joins Josh to talk about commodity markets, financial derivatives of livestock, and other things that might make your head spin. But, we think we broke it down into something understandable, and understanding it is important because financialization of commodities is, like trade, a major way in which corporations make sure farmers can't receive a fair price for what they produce. Your host was in way over his head, but came out feeling very educated.

If you live in Minnesota, shaping the platform of the political parties to pay more attention to good food access and healthy, vibrant farms is something you have the opportunity to do on Tuesday, February 6 at 7pm with your fellow Minnesotans at the caucuses. Josh is joined by Nadja Berneche, chair of the St.

It's been five months since talks began on the re-negotiation of the North American Free Trade Agreement, NAFTA. Josh is joined by Karen Hansen-Kuhn to get an update on where talks stand, what the process has been like, and what the coming months hold for our principles of fair trade in North American Agriculture. 

More and more, farm and hunger advocates are acting in coalition to protect the supply of healthy food that is accessible by all people and beneficial to community development. Josh is joined by IATP's Erin McKee, Marcus Schmit of Second Harvest Heartland, and Eric Sannerud, a farmer and organizer in Central Minnesota, to talk about the coalition that is forming to promote community food systems in Minnesota including in upcoming precinct caucuses on February 6. 

Often, state and local politicians are reluctant to wade into the international trade debate. But that doesn't meant they shouldn't. Around the U.S. and abroad, local elected officials are taking action both to weigh in on trade negotiations and to counter the negative impacts of corporate-led trade agreements. Josh talks with Sharon Treat, IATP Senior Attorney, and former Maine state legislator, about what state and local governments are doing and could be doing in this area. 

As we come up on the first full year of the Trump administration, it's clear that damage has been done to many institutions and policies. Josh is joined by Ben Lilliston to discuss IATP's upcoming scorecard of the first year, and the effect this administration has had on agriculture, rural areas, and trade.