Uprooted

Josh and Executive Director, Juliette Majot, talk about what happened in 2017, what is coming up in 2018, and what IATP's role is, was, and will be.

In late November, IATP and our partners published a report on the global industrial meat complex in Brazil. Currently, Brazilian beef exports are banned in the United States. IATP Senior Policy Analyst, Steve Suppan, was in Washington DC this week for meetings on food safety inspection, specifically making the case to the Food Safety Inspection Service that the ban on Brazilian beef should stay in place. In this episode, we talk about the Brazilian case and food safety inspection in the meat industry more broadly.

The 11th World Trade Organization Ministerial begins on December 10th, in Buenos Aires, Argentina. Already the event has come under fire as the Argentine government has pressured the WTO to revoke the credentials of 63 civil society experts. On this week's podcast, Josh is joined by IATP Senior Advisor, and former staff member, Sophia Murphy, from Vancouver B.C.

IATP, FASE, and The Heinrich Boell Foundation recently released a report on the industrial meat complex in Brazil. Besides the massive government corruption and environmental destruction, the human rights abuses in the supply chain are both well-documented and abundant. In this episode, Shefali Sharma interviews André Campos of Repórter Brasil about their research to document slavery in Brazil's industrial meat sector.

A few of us were in New York this week, so we decided to do a podcast about our rural work. Juliette Majot and Anna Claussen join Josh to talk about the Rural Climate Dialogues. A unique program run by IATP and the Jefferson Center that empowers rural communities to create solutions to climate change in a way that puts their perspective at the forefront in driving policies and practices.

IATP, GRAIN, and the Heinrich Boell Foundation released an infographic this week that tracks the climate footprints of the largest meat and dairy corporations. The infographic, along with an accompanying op-ed in the Guardian, has attracted a lot of attention as the Bonn Climate Summit (COP23) is underway.

A multitude of alternatives to industrial agriculture are emerging, and small-scale farmers have been the pioneers of one such alternative, known as agroecology. As an integrative interdisciplinary science, agroecology offers techniques for producing healthy food and restoring ecosystems. Rooted in ecological and human rights-based values, agroecology could be integral to a transition from our current food system to one that is equitable and sustainable.

The Farm Bill is a massive piece of legislation that affects everyone – and Congress is writing it now. It’s not surprising that, as such a wide-reaching bill, the Farm Bill has big implications for climate change. It is the largest investment in working lands and the primary method for addressing the environmental impacts of farms and ranches.

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. 

IATP hosted its annual board meeting from June 24-26. Three members of the IATP Board of Directors, Becky Glass, Sivan Kartha and Board Chair Pamela Saunders, joined Josh Wise to discuss how they got involved with IATP, the challenges facing the institute today and what gives them hope in today's world.