The Produce Industry Podcast w/ Patrick Kelly

How did a shipping clerk in Antwerp discover one of the greatest crimes of the nineteenth century simply by paying attention to which ships were carrying what — and why did it take a decade of missionary photographs, a British consul's report, and Mark Twain's pen to force the world to look? Why did the invention of the pneumatic tyre turn a wild Congo rubber vine into the engine of an atrocity that halved the population of an entire country? And what made Leopold II's Congo Free State different from every other colonial horror?Join John and Patrick as they tell the story of the Democratic Republic of Congo — King Leopold's rubber state, the severed hands, the missionaries with cameras, and the first international human rights movement that finally forced the world to look...----------In Sponsorship with J&K Fresh.The customs broker who is your fruit and veggies’ personal bodyguard. Learn more here!-----------Join the History of Fresh Produce Club for ad-free listening, bonus episodes, book discounts and access to an exclusive chatroom community.Support us!Share this episode with your friendsGive a 5-star ratingWrite a review-----------Subscribe to our biweekly newsletter here for extra stories related to recent episodes, book recommendations, a sneak peek of upcoming episodes and more.-----------Instagram, TikTok, Threads:@historyoffreshproduceEmail: historyoffreshproduce@gmail.com

Join the Global Fresh Series as we follow the journey of apples across continents and discover how growers, importers, and retailers work together to ensure European consumers continue to enjoy premium apples long after the local season ends. We discuss the outlook for the overseas apple program, changing trade flows, growing demand for premium varieties such as Pink Lady® and Rosy Glow, and how retailers are navigating a balanced market with stable pricing and consistent quality. The episode also examines the increasing importance of global sourcing, supply chain coordination, and year-round availability in today's fresh produce industry.#freshappleimports #Europefreshapples #consumersapples #appleexpots

Why does the word "paradise" — as used in every European language, in Arabic, in Urdu — simply mean "walled garden" in Old Persian, and what does that tell us about the civilisation that turned a horticultural achievement into humanity's vision of the afterlife? How did Cyrus the Great build a garden in the middle of one of Earth's most extreme deserts using a 3,000-year-old technology that is still working today? And why does the Taj Mahal, visited by millions who have never heard of the chahar bagh, turn out to be the most famous Persian garden on Earth?Join John and Patrick as they tell the story of Iran and the paradise garden — the qanats, the four rivers of the Quran, and the walled enclosure that became heaven...----------In Sponsorship with J&K Fresh.The customs broker who is your fruit and veggies’ personal bodyguard. Learn more here!-----------Join the History of Fresh Produce Club for ad-free listening, bonus episodes, book discounts and access to an exclusive chatroom community.Support us!Share this episode with your friendsGive a 5-star ratingWrite a review-----------Subscribe to our biweekly newsletter here for extra stories related to recent episodes, book recommendations, a sneak peek of upcoming episodes and more.-----------Instagram, TikTok, Threads:@historyoffreshproduceEmail: historyoffreshproduce@gmail.com

Join Patrick Kelly and special guest GT Paris, Vice President of Sales and Marketing at Seal Suite, as they dive into the dynamic world of South African summer citrus. Discover how growers and supply chain experts are overcoming challenges like tariffs and weather to deliver consistent, high-quality citrus to U.S. retailers. This episode offers insider perspectives on the season's outlook, the fruit basket variety, and the positive impact South African growers have on their communities – a must-listen for anyone passionate about fresh produce and global trade.

Why did the Khoisan people of South Africa spend nine years in legal negotiations to receive 1.5 percent of an industry built entirely on knowledge they had held for three centuries — and what does that tell us about who owns a plant? How did a Russian-Jewish immigrant with a mule cart, a country doctor with a germination problem, and a mother with an allergic infant between them turn a mountain bush into a global health product? And what happens when one of the world's largest food corporations files patents on traditional medicine it didn't discover?Join John and Patrick as they tell the story of South Africa and rooibos — the biopiracy battle, the benefit-sharing agreement, and the red bush that grows nowhere else on Earth...----------In Sponsorship with J&K Fresh.The customs broker who is your fruit and veggies’ personal bodyguard. Learn more here!-----------Join the History of Fresh Produce Club for ad-free listening, bonus episodes, book discounts and access to an exclusive chatroom community.Support us!Share this episode with your friendsGive a 5-star ratingWrite a review-----------Subscribe to our biweekly newsletter here for extra stories related to recent episodes, book recommendations, a sneak peek of upcoming episodes and more.-----------Instagram, TikTok, Threads:@historyoffreshproduceEmail: historyoffreshproduce@gmail.com

Why did a monk in a Moravian monastery spend eight years counting 30,000 pea plants — and how did the number three to one unlock the secret of heredity that Charles Darwin couldn't solve? Why did Gregor Mendel publish one of the greatest scientific discoveries of the nineteenth century to almost complete silence, only for his paper to be rediscovered thirty-four years later by three scientists who had all independently reached the same conclusion? And how did the statistician who accused him of fraud turn out to have made the statistical error himself?Join John and Patrick as they tell the story of Czechia and the pea — the monastery garden, the number that changed biology, and the 145-year arc from Mendel's first cross-pollination to the Human Genome Project...----------In Sponsorship with J&K Fresh.The customs broker who is your fruit and veggies’ personal bodyguard. Learn more here!-----------Join the History of Fresh Produce Club for ad-free listening, bonus episodes, book discounts and access to an exclusive chatroom community.Support us!Share this episode with your friendsGive a 5-star ratingWrite a review-----------Subscribe to our biweekly newsletter here for extra stories related to recent episodes, book recommendations, a sneak peek of upcoming episodes and more.-----------Instagram, TikTok, Threads:@historyoffreshproduceEmail: historyoffreshproduce@gmail.com

Why did the Visigoths demand three thousand pounds of black pepper as the ransom for Rome — and what does that tell us about a climbing vine in Kerala that reshaped the entire history of the western world? How did a country of one million people on the edge of Europe come to control half the pepper reaching the continent, and build the Jerónimos Monastery to celebrate a voyage driven by spice? And what happens to an empire built entirely on a markup when someone finally figures out how to remove the middleman?Join John and Patrick as they tell the story of Portugal and pepper — Vasco da Gama's ninety-three days at sea, the dismantling of the Venetian spice monopoly, and the Torre de Belém, still standing on the Lisbon waterfront, paid for by a vine in India...----------In Sponsorship with Cornell University: Dyson Cornell SC Johnson College of Business-----------Join the History of Fresh Produce Club for ad-free listening, bonus episodes, book discounts and access to an exclusive chatroom community.Support us!Share this episode with your friendsGive a 5-star ratingWrite a review-----------Subscribe to our biweekly newsletter here for extra stories related to recent episodes, book recommendations, a sneak peek of upcoming episodes and more.-----------Instagram, TikTok, Threads:@historyoffreshproduceEmail: historyoffreshproduce@gmail.com

Why does a town of 20,000 people in central Tunisia contain the third largest Roman amphitheatre ever built - and what does a structure that seated 35,000 people tell us about what olive oil money could buy? How did a Phoenician agricultural manual become the only document the Roman Senate preserved when they burned Carthage to the ground? And why do archaeologists now believe Tunisia was not just the breadbasket of Rome, but its main oil supplier too?Join John and Patrick as they tell the story of Tunisia and the olive - the Carthaginian farmers, the 2,500-year-old tree still bearing fruit in Cap Bon, and two and a half thousand years of unbroken continuity in an arid landscape that has outlasted every empire that ever claimed it...----------In Sponsorship with Cornell University: Dyson Cornell SC Johnson College of Business-----------Join the History of Fresh Produce Club for ad-free listening, bonus episodes, book discounts and access to an exclusive chatroom community.Support us!Share this episode with your friendsGive a 5-star ratingWrite a review-----------Subscribe to our biweekly newsletter here for extra stories related to recent episodes, book recommendations, a sneak peek of upcoming episodes and more.-----------Instagram, TikTok, Threads:@historyoffreshproduceEmail: historyoffreshproduce@gmail.com

This week on Fresh From The Field Fridays, Dan The Produce Man brings another helping of produce knowledge, seasonal insights, and practical tips you can use the next time you shop.On the produce table are Dulcinea Tuscan cantaloupes and one of the great fruit debates: What's the difference between Royal apricots, Blenheim apricots, and Royal Blenheim apricots? Are they one and the same, or are they different varieties? Dan explains the history behind these legendary apricots and clears up the confusion.You'll also learn how to improve your chances of choosing an avocado with a smaller pit, why some stone fruit develop split pits, and why nutrient-rich sunflower sprouts deserve a place in your diet.It's another fun and informative episode of Fresh From The Field Fridays from the Produce Industry Network, powered by AgLife Media.Learn more at aglifemedia.com.

How did twenty-four rabbits released by one man for a "spot of hunting" in 1859 colonise an entire continent within thirty-five years — and why did a three-thousand-kilometre fence, a campaign of poisoning, and even the deliberate introduction of foxes all fail to stop them? Who was Dame Jean Macnamara, the doctor who had already helped defeat polio and then spent twenty years fighting institutional resistance to unleash a virus on 600 million rabbits? And what happened when that virus escaped from its island quarantine before it was officially approved?Join John and Patrick as they tell the story of Australia's great rabbit catastrophe — the Victorian acclimatisation societies, the biological arms race, and the invasion that still isn't over...----------In Sponsorship with Cornell University: Dyson Cornell SC Johnson College of Business-----------Join the History of Fresh Produce Club for ad-free listening, bonus episodes, book discounts and access to an exclusive chatroom community.Support us!Share this episode with your friendsGive a 5-star ratingWrite a review-----------Subscribe to our biweekly newsletter here for extra stories related to recent episodes, book recommendations, a sneak peek of upcoming episodes and more.-----------Instagram, TikTok, Threads:@historyoffreshproduceEmail: historyoffreshproduce@gmail.com

In this episode of the Global Fresh Series Podcast, we explore how Europe’s potato industry — especially Belgium’s iconic frozen fry sector — was hit by a massive agricultural and economic crisis in 2026. Beyond potatoes, the episode is a broader story about globalization, supply chains, farming economics, and the uncertainty facing the next generation of agricultural producers.At its heart, The Fry Crisis is a deeply human story — one about farmers confronting shrinking margins, changing markets, and the fear that the “good years are over.”The story centers on Belgian farmer who was forced to dump thousands of tons of unsold potatoes back into his fields after prices collapsed to zero. The surplus, estimated at five million metric tons across Europe, was driven by a combination of record harvests, shrinking global demand, rising production costs, geopolitical instability, and changing consumer habits.#Belgiumpotatoes # potato exports #frenchfries #glp-1