What Doesn't Kill You
407 episodes - English - Latest episode: 15 days ago - ★★★★ - 27 ratingsFood production is a curious business; it's nuanced, layered, complex, and political. In What Doesn’t Kill You, host Katy Keiffer endeavors to identify and explain some of the key issues in our food system through interviews with journalists, authors, scientists, activists, and industry experts. Water rights, meat and agricultural production, food waste, labor issues, and new technologies are just some of the topics explored so we can better understand how to feed the future.
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Episodes
Episode 258: Water Water Everywhere and Not a Drop to Drink!
May 14, 2018 16:55 - 45 minutes - 41.9 MBIowa, like many states has major water quality issues thanks to Big Ag. Francis Thicke is an organic dairy farmer, soil scientist and leader in the organic food movement. He is also an expert in water quality issues and how the Iowa corn belt is wreaking havoc on the states water supply. Is there a solution? What Doesn't Kill You is powered by Simplecast
Episode 257: A Groundbreaking Suit Against a Division of Smithfield Brings Justice to a North Carolina Community
May 07, 2018 16:55 - 43 minutes - 39.4 MBMany a suit has been brought against the big guns in Animal Agriculture to force them to clean up their stinking poisonous manure pits. Until now, not one has prevailed. Liz Crampton, a reporter for Morning Ag at Politico, had a ringside seat at the trial. What Doesn't Kill You is powered by Simplecast
Episode 256: Not Everyone Sees the Trade War with China as a Threat to Farmers
April 16, 2018 17:21 - 30 minutes - 27.7 MBMichael Stumo, CEO of Coalition for a Prosperous America explains why he sees President Trumps efforts to realign trade agreements and impose tariffs as a much needed correction to long abuses of American industry and agriculture. While unable to exactly reassure that the imposition of massive tariffs on our trading partners, especially the Chinese, along with rewriting NAFTA , won't have an negative impact on the agricultural sector, he voices opinions that many of Trumps supporters in the ...
Episode 255: Anti-Trust Litigation in an Era of Monopoly
April 09, 2018 16:55 - 44 minutes - 41 MBDiana Moss is the President of the American Antitrust Institute, an organization that investigates issues of market concentration and monopoly and litigates on behalf the of the American consumer to break up monopolies and further fair competition. Moss is an expert in agricultural monopoly and in this episode, we discuss the impacts of agri-chemical and seed companies on farmers and on consumers. What Doesn't Kill You is powered by Simplecast
Episode 254: Mike Weaver and the Organization for Competitive Markets
March 26, 2018 22:18 - 48 minutes - 44.6 MBMike Weaver is the president of the Organization for Competitive Markets, a group that supports small and medium size farms and meat producers in the face of the consolidation of American agriculture. In this episode he describes the difficulty of competing with mega agribusiness; key changes for the upcoming negotiations to the farm bill, and the failure of legislators to support small and medium scale farming. What Doesn't Kill You is powered by Simplecast
Episode 253: Katy Keiffer Ruminates on Agricultural Issues, Including Monopolies, Price Fixing, and Consolidation and its Impacts
March 19, 2018 16:52 - 34 minutes - 31.3 MBUnderstanding what really needs to be fixed to revive american agriculture seems to be more about policy than what we grow and how we grow it. Anti trust legislation, agricultural reform, and a better farm bill would go a long way toward addressing the many issues that face american agriculture. I am trying to make sense of all the things I have learned in the past decade. What Doesn't Kill You is powered by Simplecast
Episode 252: The Alternative to Dairy Farmers of America
March 12, 2018 17:27 - 45 minutes - 41.7 MBBoard member and lobbyist for the National Dairy Producers Organization, Gary Genske threads the needle on why the industry is falling apart and how Dairy Farmers of America and the USDA are presiding over a colossal industry failure that puts small and medium size dairy farmers at risk for economic losses and more, including a record number of suicides. What Doesn't Kill You is powered by Simplecast
Episode 251: Organic Dairy Farming
February 19, 2018 17:56 - 48 minutes - 44.6 MBGary Hirshberg is a pioneer in developing a national market for an organic commodity, milk. His company began producing yogurt in 1985, after being a farming school for a few years. What is the future of organic dairy, and how did they achieve the immense success that has made the company a national bestseller. What can current dairy farmers learn from Stonyfield. What Doesn't Kill You is powered by Simplecast
Episode 250: Just What Are the Economics of the Dairy Industry and Why Have They Gone So Wrong?
February 12, 2018 17:56 - 46 minutes - 42.9 MBProfessor Andy Novakovic takes listeners through the economics of the dairy industry and why milk prices have fallen below the price of production. What can small to medium size dairy farms do to survive under these circumstances? What Doesn't Kill You is powered by Simplecast
Episode 249: Why Did Milk Become a Superfood: A Discussion with Dr. Walter Willett
February 05, 2018 18:11 - 42 minutes - 39.2 MBHow did milk become the dietary and nutritional staple it is? Dr. Willett explains the history of the marketing campaign that has encouraged Americans to consume massive quantities of milk, and then debunks some of the nutritional claims made by the industry to justify that consumption. Is it really a super food? Willett's research has shown otherwise, but we continue to promote milk around the world. What will the dietary consequences be for developing nations? The ins and outs of dairy mar...
Episode 248: Rhody Fresh Dairy Co-Op Forges a New Path for Small Farmers
January 29, 2018 18:11 - 35 minutes - 32.6 MBAlex LaPrise explains how a small group of Rhode Island dairy farmers banded together to call their own shots. the challenges and the pitfalls of competing with the dairy industry as a small producer. What Doesn't Kill You is powered by Simplecast
Episode 247: Why the Dairy Industry is Crushing Dairy Farmers or Killing the Goose
January 22, 2018 18:11 - 49 minutes - 45.6 MBProfessor Peter Carstensen has made anti trust law his specialty, particularly as it pertains to the American Dairy Industry. He explains how a co-op model initiated decades ago to help dairy farmers bargain collectively has become the major impediment to their financial success. Consolidation and monopolization in dairy are very similar to the meat industry. The impacts of that consolidation are examined closely in this episode. What Doesn't Kill You is powered by Simplecast
Episode 246: Lorraine Lewandrowski
January 16, 2018 22:44 - 52 minutes - 48.1 MBIn the first episode of 2018, What Doesn’t Kill You launches a multipart series diving into the dairy industry. Today’s guest is a dairy farmer and environmental attorney in Herkimer County N.Y., Lorraine Lewandrowski. The lively discussion goes from a day in the life of a dairy farmer to rural development, and from milk prices to consumer education. What Doesn't Kill You is powered by Simplecast
Episode 245: The Center of the Plate with Alison Rabschnuk
December 18, 2017 18:03 - 46 minutes - 42.3 MBIs plant-based meat really the meal of the future? Alison Rabschnuk, Director of Corporate Engagement for the Good Food Institute explains how this organization is supporting companies making huge strides in the field of research and development for meat substitutes for the future. It isn't just companies such as Impossible Burger who are developing this alternative, but even the big players such as Tyson are investing. What those products are and how they are formulated to go beyond just a ...
Episode 244: Uprooting FDR's Great Wall of Trees
December 11, 2017 18:27 - 40 minutes - 37 MBIn the 1930's President Roosevelt responded to the tragedy of the dustbowl by planting millions of trees in what he called "shelterbelts". The trees were meant to hold water, as well as protect the plains from the effects of over planting and loss of topsoil. Over the last few decades, many of those all important shelterbelts have been destroyed as agriculture has planted fencerow to fencerow. Could we see a second Dust Bowl scenario as climate change advances? Carson Vaughn explains what is...
Episode 243: Cultivating the Next Generation: An Evaluation of the Beginning Farmer & Rancher Development Program
November 27, 2017 17:56 - 50 minutes - 46.4 MBAs the farming population wanes, its essential to train up new ones, or we will be buying everything we eat from other countries. Juli Obudzinski is co-author on a new report about the Beginning Farmer and Rancher Development Program. Juli describes how this program works, and who is benefitting. Training up new farmers is essential to our food security in the future and this program leads the way. What Doesn't Kill You is powered by Simplecast
Episode 242: Hunger in the Age of Trump
November 20, 2017 19:29 - 46 minutes - 42.1 MBTrump's administration is taking aim at SNAP benefits, WIC benefits, watering down school lunch standards, and implementing draconian immigration policies. A distinguished panel led by Food and Environmental Reporting Network, and CUESA, Center for Urban Education About Sustainable Agriculture held a panel discussion to look for community based solutions to these problems. Sam Fromartz moderated the panel and is interviewed about the discussion and any solutions. What Doesn't Kill You is p...
Episode 241: The Great Nutrient Collapse
November 06, 2017 17:47 - 52 minutes - 47.9 MBVeteran agricultural reporter Helena Bottemiller Evich delves into an obscure but highly impactful aspect of climate change; the loss of nutrients from plant life. As temperatures rise, the nutritional content of the plants we eat including staples such as rice or wheat are declining in proteins and minerals. This could have devastating consequences for human health in future decades particularly as the planet continues to warm. Scientists are only now beginning to investigate this troublin...
Episode 240: Indonesia: Wealth of Species
November 01, 2017 15:47 - 50 minutes - 46.2 MBIndonesia is home to a wealth of species, and a vast rainforest that is rapidly disappearing through the untrammeled sale of land to internal and external forces intent on becoming the largest producers of palm oil in the world. The land grabbers are mostly Indonesian but they sell their product to companies around the world at the expense of the indigenous population. Philip Jacobson covers Indonesia for the environmental news organization Mongabay, which as part of a journalistic collabora...
Episode 239: Whitewash: The Story of a Weed Killer, Cancer, and the Corruption of Science
October 23, 2017 16:28 - 50 minutes - 46.6 MBCarey Gillam has spent over a decade researching and writing about Monsanto and Glyphosate the worlds most popular agro chemical. Her new book WhiteWash describes a perfect storm of collusion between Monsanto, the EPA, USDA and FDA in suppressing negative studies, buying scientists, and discrediting those whose work showed some of the potential dangers of this ubiquitous chemical. Glyphosate is so widely used it now exists in the bodies of virtually every human on the planet. This book tease...
Episode 238: A Foodie's Guide to Capitalism: Understanding the Political Economy of What We Eat
October 16, 2017 18:08 - 43 minutes - 40.2 MBThe roots of our food system can be traced back multiple centuries according to author Eric Holt-Gimenez. In a far ranging discussion, just how intertwined food and capitalism is laid bare. The neo liberal economic model brought forth by Reagan and Thatcher has much to do with the current inequities, but they don't bear all the blame. This is a fascinating episode that proposes a major overhaul to how we view our political, economic, and food systems. What Doesn't Kill You is powered by Sim...
Episode 237: DACA and the Food Chain
October 09, 2017 16:57 - 55 minutes - 50.6 MBImmigrants rights activist Jose Oliva describes the impact of revoking DACA on the American Food Chain. The effects won't be pretty, and we are already seeing them as produce and fruit rot in fields and on trees due to lack of immigrant labor to harvest. What happens when restaurants have to kick out their workers? We will see the effects in grocery stores, fast food and fine dining, and we aren't going to like it. We need Dreamers and they need our support. What Doesn't Kill You is powered...
Episode 236: This Blessed Earth, a new book by journalist Ted Genoways, author of The Chain
October 02, 2017 17:10 - 47 minutes - 43.4 MBTed Genoways spent a year following the day to day life of a farming family in Nebraska. What follows is a close up look at the risks and rewards of medium size farming in an Agri-business world. He shows the extraordinary breadth and depth of knowledge required to farm successfully, along with just the gut instinct and appetite for gambling that are an essential part of the equation.
Episode 235: Big Chicken
September 25, 2017 17:02 - 51 minutes - 46.7 MBThe latest from agro journalist Maryn McKenna, Big Chicken, should be rattling more than a few cages. Her exhaustive work on the rise of antibiotic resistant pathogens, largely thanks to the American methods of producing chicken are examined in detail in this excellent book on the industry. It makes a powerful case for consumers to rear up and demand that agriculture take antibiotics for growth promotion and for disease prevention right out of the equation, and to adopt methods that have bee...
Episode 234: Wasted! The Story of Food Waste with Lydia Tenaglia
September 18, 2017 17:42 - 41 minutes - 37.8 MBOn this week's episode of What Doesn't Kill You, Katy is joined by documentary filmmaker Lydia Tenaglia of Zero Point Zero Production to talk about Lydia's film Wasted! The Story of Food Waste . Through the eyes of chef-heroes like Massimo Bottura, Dan Barber and Danny Bowien, the film shows how the world’s most influential chefs battle food waste — transforming what most people consider garbage, scraps, and rejects into incredible dishes that feed more people, impact the bottom line, and ...
Episode 233: Food and Farm Discussion Lab – A Social Media Experiment
September 11, 2017 16:58 - 51 minutes - 47.1 MBMarc Brazeau started the Food and Farm Discussion Lab several years ago to unite his many interests: agriculture, restaurants, social justice, and culinary education. The group grew to over 6,000 members at its peak. He just shut it down. We are going to talk about what the major themes of discussion were, how they changed, and what ultimately led him to close the forum. What Doesn't Kill You is powered by Simplecast
Episode 232: Chuck Abbott, Ag Insider
July 31, 2017 16:55 - 54 minutes - 50.3 MBChuck Abbott, the Ag Insider, gives up the skinny on Sam Clovis set to head up the Science Department at USDA, along with some opinions on Sonny Perdue and what he is likely to get up to. Plus, he explains why farm incomes are heading down after recent highs five years ago...though it all depends on what kind of farming is in question. What Doesn't Kill You is powered by Simplecast.
Episode 231: Global Food Policy
July 24, 2017 16:52 - 49 minutes - 45.5 MBFormer Special Rapporteur on the Right to Food at the UN, and one of the masterminds behind Plate of the Union, Olivier de Schutter discusses food policy and politics at the global level. What Doesn't Kill You is powered by Simplecast.
Episode 230: Monsanto gets BUSTED!
June 26, 2017 17:16 - 51 minutes - 46.8 MBJournalist Carey Gillam has been rooting around in the glyphosate archives and comes up with some studies from 1985 that show tumors in mice, but those were neatly suppressed. Tune in to hear what else she found out.
Episode 229: The National Farmers Union Talks Farming
June 19, 2017 16:57 - 49 minutes - 45.4 MBTom Driscoll, Director of the NFU Foundation and Conservation Policy describes the biggest challenges facing farmers today. Whether its the 50% reduction in income projected for this year, or the market consolidation in commodities and agriculture, farmers are being squeezed up and down the supply chain. Listen up for a fast paced discussion of the state of American farming and its future.
Episode 228: 20 Questions with Marion Nestle
June 12, 2017 15:55 - 50 minutes - 46.6 MBTwenty Questions with Marion Nestle. We celebrate her ten years of Food Politics, consider the Farm Bill, discuss school food, imagine a food policy, visit probiotics and wind up with an optimistic view of individual states doing the right thing with soda tax, school food, and other promising developments that show that the food movement is unbowed by the Trumpsters, and forging ahead. Its always a joy with Dr. Nestle.
Episode 227: The Mack Daddy of Food Retail, Steve Jenkins
June 05, 2017 16:55 - 50 minutes - 46.2 MBA wide ranging discussion of all things in the world of retail gourmet foods. Steve talks about his new import company, why grocery stores are boring and whose writing he likes the best. Never a dull moment with this one.
Episode 226: Food in America
May 22, 2017 17:01 - 52 minutes - 48.2 MBThis week on What Doesn't Kill You, host Katy Keiffer is joined in the studio by Andrew F. Smith, a writer and lecturer on food and culinary history. His latest book is the three volume set Food In America, which focuses on food controversies related to the environment, nutrition and health, and the economy.
Episode 225: Growing a Revolution: Bringing Our Soil Back to Life
May 15, 2017 16:30 - 40 minutes - 37.2 MBIn his quest to reveal the solutions beneath our feet, David Montgomery introduces us to innovative farmers who practice regenerative agriculture. Montgomery shows that restoring fertility to the land is not an either-or choice between modern technology and time-tested traditions. Ending with a call for action beyond the fields, Growing a Revolution is an inspiring addition to the bookshelf of anyone seriously concerned with the future of food and farming, our relationship with nature, and t...
Episode 224: Good Meat Takes a Bite Out of the Industrial Hide
May 08, 2017 16:55 - 47 minutes - 43.1 MBSchweid & Sons has focused on making great ground beef, and finding the best possible sources for it. As a result, their sales are up by about 12%, while sales of conventional ground beef have only risen by 2%. Why that is and how consumers are voting with their forks is the subject of this conversation.
Episode 223: Land Grabbing
May 01, 2017 15:51 - 38 minutes - 35.3 MBLand Grabbing is a strategy being deployed by many countries to boost their food production, grow crops for manufacturing purposes, or just to hold for investment. Anuradha Mittal explains how this predatory behavior plays out for indigenous populations, their ability to grow food, and the environmental impacts of the practice on its unwitting victims.
Episode 222: Jeff Tripician of Niman Ranch
April 24, 2017 17:03 - 49 minutes - 45.6 MBJeff Tripician, general manager of Niman Ranch, gives a tour of their new line of charcuterie, a natural extension of the Niman commitment to sustainable farming. Along with the new line, Niman is working hard to bring new farmers along for next generation farming with programs that help new farmers get financial and legal assistance as well as mentoring and a new series of how-to videos!
Episode 221: What Will a 21% Cut to the USDA Mean to Young Farmers?
April 17, 2017 16:54 - 49 minutes - 45.8 MBExecutive Director of the National Young Farmers Coalition, Lindsay Lusher Shute explains the impact on young and beginning farmers should the Trump budget prevail. The barriers to entry in farming are formidable, and discretionary spending from the USDA helps fund a multitude of programs that encourage and assist people who are looking to get into farming. Losing that money could mean a lot of younger farms wither on the vine. This has major implications for the future of our food supply as...
Episode 220: Aquaculture, is it the future of a major food source?
April 10, 2017 16:30 - 52 minutes - 48.1 MBJoin Scott Nichols, founder of Food's Future and an expert in aquaculture as he explains the new technologies that will make aquaculture a more environmentally friendly, cost effective source of protein for the future population.
Episode 219: Panhandle Fire Relief
April 03, 2017 16:52 - 41 minutes - 38 MBThis week on What Doesn't Kill You, host Katy Keiffer is joined by Will Carey and Lesha Pierson, volunteers for the 2017 Panhandle Fire Relief organization. On March 6, wildfires swept through an estimated 1.5 million acres in Texas, Kansas, Oklahoma and Colorado. Thousands of cattle were lost, and homes were destroyed, yet this story remains largely underreported in the mainstream news media.
Episode 218: Agricultural Justice and the New Food Economy
March 27, 2017 17:05 - 51 minutes - 47 MBOn this week's What Doesn't Kill You, host Katy Keiffer is joined by Joe Fassler and Sally Lee. Joe Fassler is Senior Editor for New Food Economy, where he covers the politics, economics, and culture of the changing food system His food reporting for TheAtlantic.com has been a finalist for the James Beard Foundation Award in Journalism. Sally Lee works directly with poultry farmers and manages Rural Advancement Foundation International’s Contract Ag Reform program. She has a background in ...
Episode 217: Des Moines Water Works Sued Upriver Counties for Polluting Municipal Water. Here Is What Happened.
March 20, 2017 16:53 - 42 minutes - 39.1 MBThis week on What Doesn't Kill You, host Katy Keiffer is joined by Bill Stowe, CEO of Des Moines Water Works, to discuss an Iowa Supreme Court ruling that the utility cannot win damage payments from drainage districts accused of sending fertilizers and other pollution unchecked into the Raccoon River. The utility hoped to recover damages in its lawsuit to make up for the costs of running its nitrate removal facility. But the court upheld nearly a century of precedent that drainage districts ...
Episode 216: A New Regime
March 06, 2017 17:45 - 55 minutes - 50.9 MBThis week on What Doesn't Kill You, Tom Philpott joins us to talk about the new regime for our agricultural sector: no more earthy crunchy stuff like supporting Know your Farmer, Know your Food. Who is Sonny Perdue and what can the AG sector and the food movement expect from his office in the coming four years? Hint: bye bye to any regs around food safety, pollution, consolidation etc. Whoopee!
Episode 215: Cattle Wars: David and Goliath
February 20, 2017 17:55 - 47 minutes - 43.1 MBThis week on What Doesn't Kill You, host Katy Keiffer is joined by Mike Callicrate, a native of Evergreen, Colorado, who has spent his career as a farmer-rancher, business entrepreneur, and family farm advocate. Frustrated by the monopoly control corporations were exerting over the markets and the “bigger is better” mentality common to agriculture, he began to forge a new path, forming a pasture-to-plate marketing company in 2000 named Ranch Foods Direct. He chose to locate his processing ...
Episode 214: American Fisheries, Challenges and Opportunities
February 13, 2017 17:46 - 43 minutes - 39.5 MBThis week on What Doesn't Kill You, host Katy Keiffer is joined by Tim Fitzgerald, director of the Impact Division of Environmental Defense Fund’s Fishery Solutions Center – leading its global programs on training, seafood markets, supply chain engagement and fisheries finance. Tim also serves on the boards of Ecofish LLC and GulfWild, and is an advisor to Fair Trade USA, the Conservation Alliance for Seafood Solutions.
Episode 213: Algae Is the New Protein!
February 06, 2017 17:57 - 48 minutes - 44.6 MBCEO Andrew Dahl of Zivo BioScience joins Katy to discuss the applications and virtues of microalgae as a feedstuff for livestock and humans. Algae has the potential to take a leading role in animal nutrition, taking the pressure off of arable land to grow corn and soy for feed. Will this be the game changer in meat production we need if we are going to keep up with demand?
Episode 212: The Food Movement Divided
January 30, 2017 17:55 - 56 minutes - 52.1 MBIn a recent article for Forbes magazine, journalist Nancy Huehengarth parses the divides within the progressive food movement between those that want immediate and complete change and those who work within the channels to effect change from within. Later she discusses the incoming administration and the fight for a food policy.
Episode 211: Sari Kamin of HRN's The Morning After
January 23, 2017 23:21 - 40 minutes - 37.5 MBThis week on What Doesn't Kill You, host Katy Keiffer is joined in studio Sari Kamin. Also a host at Heritage Radio Network, today Sari is sitting on the guest's chair as she chats with Katy about election fake news, Donald Trump, Women's March, and more. Don't forget to check out Sari's The Morning After.
Episode 210: Molly Anderson of Middlebury College
January 16, 2017 17:57 - 51 minutes - 47 MBThis week on What Doesn’t Kill You, host Katy Keiffer is joined by Molly Anderson. Anderson is part of the Food Studies program at Middlebury College in Vermont, where she teaches about hunger and food security, fixing food systems, and sustainability. She is especially interested in multi-actor collaborations for sustainable food systems, sustainability metrics and assessment, food system resilience, human rights in the food system, food security and the right to food in the U.S. and other ...
Episode 209: The Chain with Ted Genoways
January 09, 2017 17:55 - 56 minutes - 51.8 MBOn the season premiere of What Doesn't Kill You, host Katy Keiffer is joined by Ted Genoways, award-winning writer and editor, and author of The Chain: Farm, Factory, and the Fate of Our Food, a finalist for the James Beard Foundation Award for Writing and Literature. Tune in to hear them discuss the failings of the media throughout the recent election cycle, the dangers of forcing voter demographics to conform to stereotypes, the proliferation of anti-intellectualism, and the vital importa...