505
Downloads
53
Episodes
It’s a fact! 100% of men, women and children eat food, and 97.5% of must buy their food from others who bring it from an average of 2,000 miles away. And so the hungry ask: ”What’s in this tomato? Who planted that broccoli? Is it safe to eat genetically engineered corn? Why are they irradiating meat? Are we running short of water? Why is China growing our apples? What will happen to us if we can no longer farm? How safe is our food chain?” The Food Chain is an audience-interactive syndicated newstalk radio program and podcast broadcasting weekly on radio stations and streaming on demand on the internet. The Food Chain, which has been named the Ag/News Show of the Year by California’s legislature, is hosted by Michael Olson, author of the Ben Franklin Book of the Year award-winning MetroFarm, a 576-page guide to metropolitan agriculture. The Food Chain is available live via GCN Starguide GE 8 and delayed via MP3/FTP. For clearance and/or technical information, please call Michael Olson at 831-566-4209 or email michaelo@metrofarm.com
Episodes
Saturday Aug 03, 2024
Saturday Aug 03, 2024
TOM BROZ, FARMER OF THE YEAR, LIFE EARTH FARM
Community Supported Agriculture
Community is where everybody works together today to ensure that everybody can eat tomorrow. This thought leads us to ask:
How does one farm community?
A while ago, I had a consulting contract on the island nation of Cyprus. The task was to find a crop with an economy sufficient to repopulate an agricultural plateau near the village of Akourdahleia, that had been depopulated by the jobs available in coastal casinos.
As I strolled the plateau with my hosts we came upon a village of Greeks happily harvesting their grapes across the way. Though they were too far away to hear what was being said, we could easily hear their laughter and sense their joy at being engaged at the task at hand. It was a living picture straight out of the Bible! “This,” my host said, “is what we want to bring back to Cyprus.”
I recently heard that same laughter and sensed that same joy while strolling the grounds of Live Earth Farm in Watsonville, California, and have been endeavoring to capture its essence with a three-part Food Chain series on what I call “Contrary Farming.” By contrary, I simply mean in opposition to the convention of the day.
The first show in the series, “Farming Children,” featured Jessica Ridgeway and the Farm Discovery Program, which brings children – many children – to the farm so they can reach down to the earth and harvest a living food.
The second show, “Farming Nature,” featured Jo Ann Baumgartner from Wild Farm Alliance and Sam Earnshaw from Hedgerows Unlimited, who, like modern day Johnny Appleseeds, travel around the countryside to bring nature, and her wildlife, back to the farm.
As you can see, both of these shows feature a contrariness to the industrial model of farming that makes one smile. And both also find a home in today’s show, “Farming Community,” in which we will ask:
How does one farm community?
contact: www.metrofarm.com