Down to Earth: The Planet to Plate Podcast

Anthropologist Ashanté Reese's new book explores Black community gatherings—and the nourishment, fellowship, and strength they cultivate. Reese is an anthropologist, author, and Associate Professor of African and African Diaspora Studies at the University of Texas at Austin, where she teaches and writes about food studies and food justice. Her new book is called: Gather: Black Food, Nourishment, and the Art of Togetherness. Reese looks at Black church gardens, family reunions, funerals, and activist spaces—in all of which food plays a powerful role. She shines a light on how food can play a role in everything from nourishing body and soul to building power and food sovereignty.

Six college students are bicycling from Washington State to Washington, DC, stopping at farms, restaurants, truck stops, and classrooms along the way, and asking, "What is the future of food?" In this podcast we talk two of them, Augusta Halle and Molly Moore. Their plans are to make a portrait series and short documentary based on what they find.

In today's podcast, we talk to Jennifer Sahn, editor of High Country News, and writers Rick Bass and Laureli Ivanoff, about HCN's September issue, a collaboration with the Food & Environment Reporting Network (FERN). The issue covers a wide range of topics on Food and Power in the American West. TIMELINE 1'57 High Country News and FERN collaboration on "Food and Power in the West" issue 3'17 stories in the issue including meat packing and pecan growing 6'10 the Indigenous Food Sovereignty Lab at Cal Poly, Humboldt 7'52 what is the Food & Environment Reporting Network 10'12 RICK BASS 10'57 the definition of sustainability and why it's not 100% attainable 12'41 forest service is part of the department of agriculture but really shouldn't be 12'59 old growth forests are a huge carbon sink and guard against climate change 13'48 the cooling effect of forests 15'49 art inspired by old growth forests 18'07 the role of old growth forests in not only climate defense but also global security 20'43 the paradigm shift from seeing the forest as a set of commodities to seeing it as a complex ecosystem—and that saving it is actually better for people than the industrial perspective 21'49 art to help people feel more deeply 22'48 the Yaak Valley Forest Council and the campaign to save it 23'38 defending the forest with love rather than litigation 24'48 trying to reach climate champions in power 25'22 Bass has been living in the forest for nearly 40 years, where he has worked as both a writer and an activist 26'10 trying to have the area dedicated as a climate refuge and a series of climate refuges in the northern forests 27'13 no extinctions since the last ice age 29'04 being a hunter in Montana looking for deer and elk 30'27 preserving the Black Ram forest, see montanaproject.org for art and yaakvalley.org for science 31'22 the importance of contacting elected representatives 31'48 LORELI IVANOFF 32'27 The Joyful Responsibility of Cutting Fish 38'46 the deeper meaning of "subsistence" 41'22 overharvest eventually results in collapse 43'07 the problem with thinking of the earth as possessions, rather than gifts 44'31 you don't take more than you need 45'47 the sense of belonging and community 49'55 the need to talk about community when community is threatened 50'55 how the climate has changed since she started cutting fish 51'41 it's hard to dry fish now because of wetter summer weather, and other climate problems 55'27 the difficulty of trying to live close to nature when you're in the city

In 1996, media mogul Ted Turner bought a New Mexico ranch that's bigger than many national parks. A new film, Preserved, details its history, conservation projects, and influence. Previously owned by Pennzoil, the ranch was badly degraded from overgrazing, forest clearcutting, coal mines, fossil fuel extraction, railroads, and a long-term lack of environmental stewardship. Turner's goal was to restore the land and its wildlife, while keeping the ranch profitable through livestock and tourism businesses. The film Preserved explores the history and conservation activities of Vermejo Park Ranch, including preservation of bison, mountain lions, cutthroat trout, and many other species. Lesli Allison, Executive Director of the Western Landowners Alliance, is one of the speakers in the film, and on this podcast we talk about the ranch, its place in the larger ecosystem, and its influence on agriculture and conservation. TIMELINE 3'46 conservation projects on Vermejo Park Ranch 6'13 land badly degraded, but bounced back through stewardship 7'12 protecting land as an ecosystem and living community rather than species by species 9'43 the field of "sensory ecology" 12'08 learning from mistakes, trial and error 14'54 tried to introduce black footed ferrets but failed 15'50 Bison production at the ranch 18'02 migration of wildlife in the larger landscape 20'45 relationships with neighbors 21'37 the boom-bust model of economics 22'42 the benefits of staying in one place and working on it 24'09 we need economic support for the care of land, not just extraction from it 26'21 habitat leasing rather than reductionist systems like carbon credits 27'51 "land is a living community to which we belong" Aldo Leopold...thinking about ourselves as good for nature 30'57 is it the environment vs industry? 32'53 looking at the system rather than villainizing people 34'55 the problem of inequality 35'21 many landowners inspired by Vermejo Park Ranch 36'54 land conservation for the rest of us 40'14 the limiting factor of time 40'48 what's happening at Western Landowners Alliance 41'37 the role of private lands in conservation 42'37 taking care of the land needs to be compensated and become part of our economic system 44'03 the importance of stewardship in restoring land...the land doesn't restore itself 45'41 the next generation of land stewards

What is "good meat"? Michele Thorne has a lot to say on the subject. She is executive director of The Good Meat Project, a non-profit whose mission is to foster a healthy and humane meat system that centers local production instead of industrial monopolies that damage ecosystems and consolidate wealth. With the core value of transparency, they offer free services to butchers, ranchers, eaters, and chefs, and produce journals and that feature stories about people across the good meat universe. TIMELINE 3'51 what is good meat? 4'52 soil stewardship 5'12 the core value of transparency 5'55 the importance of consumer trust 7'32 there's a reason big food companies are not transparent 8'33 the connection between food and health outcomes 9'50 hard to know how much of the country's meat industry is "good" 12'42 "Product of the US" labeling issues 14'52 greenwashing and humane-washing 15'20 Farm Forward study on greenwashing 17'21 the benefits of buying local 20'36 how the Good Meat Project serves producers, chefs, butchers, consumers 21'43 free marketing courses for meat producers 22'26 "features" vs "benefits" 25'05 BACON program—Butcher and Chefs Opportunity Network 25'46 butchers and chefs are important links to the community 27'00 more Good Meat Project resources...goodmeatproject.org 29'43 Olympia Provisions 31'48 educating consumers on the nuances of meat--industrial ag vs small producers 32'53 the risks of taking livestock off the land 34'37 meat substitute brands spend big bucks to message that meat is bad 36'23 Game Theory and how it can be used in the good meat movement 38'35 thinking about tradeoffs 46'52 trusting in healthy meat even if you can't measure the outcome

Gilles Stockton is author of the new book, Feeding a Divided America: Reflections of a Western Rancher in the Era of Climate Change, published by University of New Mexico Press. A third generation cattle rancher, he raises beef cattle and sheep on a 5000-acre ranch in Grass Range, Montana. He's also an international agriculture development specialist and an advocate for ranching and farming communities. The new book imparts a lifetime of wisdom and analysis of what happened to our agriculture system, why, and how we can create a system that gives power back to the farmers who are actually growing our food. 3'01 the book is an extension of his op-ed pieces 4'24 multi-generation ranch background 6'30 raises cattle and sheep, as well as hay 7'14 how Western ranching improves the land 7'46 overgrazing damaged the land; it developed from the collapse of homesteading 9'47 ranching the only sustainable model of large scale agriculture in the US 10'48 the decline of his town early 20th century, and the decline of farms in general 11'57 overproduction led first to subsidies, then to the elimination of small farms 13'37 200,000 farms produce 80% of our food. The rest are trying to survive in an industrial agriculture economic model that doesn't really want them 14'48 how megafarms came into being in the 1980s–the decision not to enforce antitrust laws, leading to monopolies/cartels 16'57 the problem of externalities 18'11 the difference between competitive capitalism (free enterprise where buyer and seller have equal power) and cartel capitalism–which is more like old-style communism 20'33 cartels can raise prices indiscriminately 21'14 not enough slaughterhouses–system is too centralized 21'52 agriculture has never had a golden age–it's always been difficult 22'48 farmer gets 15.9¢ out of consumer dollar 23'22 the system steals from the farmer and farm labor 24'25 the "illusion of economies of scale" 24'45 smaller farmers are better farmers 25'20 the role of the farmer has been squeezed out in the name of "efficiency"…then there's no advocate for the land and animals 26'24 what's lost when you don't have the farmer on the ground…the land, the workers, the animals 27'20 corporate boards instead of farmers are making decisions about things they know nothing about 28'23 why monocrops systems are so un-resilient, especially during climate instability 29'39 the problem of the super wealthy buying farm land–looks like colonialism 30'11 the wealthy neighbors don't understand how their elk sanctuary affects their ranching neighbors 32'02 rural people hate environmentalists more than they hate the corporations that are ruining them 32'36 the sense that their vote doesn't count 33'32 "they don't ask our opinion" 35'16 policy for the last 50 years has been anti-rural. Rural voters vote red, but they don't do anything for rural people. But blue doesn't either. 36'15 climate change is making things existential 36'46 there's a movement for anti-trust enforcement, which is encouraging 37'54 we need to decentralize in order to have a healthier food system — what that could look like 38'35 about 1/3 of food in France is sold locally, unlike the US where it's more like 3% 39'16 the US imports more food than it exports. So much for "feed the world" 39'47 the need for auction markets for all food commodities (instead of contract work) 40'46 we don't need new anti-trust laws, just enforcement of the existing ones 43'04 Citizens United decision of 2010 was a huge gain for the wealthy and corporate power 44'15 revitalizing rural communities = revitalizing democracy 45'05 the importance of being organized around an idea and staying with it 47'04 the local foods movement is extremely important. But it's very libertarian in its politics, which means that they don't deal with the globalized competition, they just do their own thing and stay a part of the 3% of local food 48'33 the Farm Bill isn't so much a farm bill as an ag business bill. The orgs doing good work need to organize with each other more 49'42 what gives him hope 50'35 what happens after Gilles, what is the plan for the next generation

Doctor and professor of public health Wendy Johnson saw in her medical practice people who thrived against all odds, and those who suffered grave challenges due to environmental factors like toxicity, poverty, stress, loneliness, and isolation. Her new book, Kinship Medicine, explores the reality that 80% of our health is determined by factors outside of us—which are largely ignored by our industrialized medical system. What's missing is ecological thinking, and understanding ourselves as part of an environment—from our microbiome to our community, to our ecosystem.