Episode 2: Response to Corporate Ag

Corporate pressure on U.S. farm policy has devastated rural communities as small and medium-sized farms get pushed off the land. Today some farmers find ways to re-build their local economies through co-operative business aimed at sustainable, local food production.“I mean, you can’t ignore, you can’t treat rural America like a sacrifice zone or a third world country forever and expect the people to be, what? Grateful? To make enlightened choices at the voting box? I don’t think so.”                             Mary Berry, Executive Director of The Berry Center Speakers:Doug Genens: Oral Historian with The State Historical Society of Missouri.John Ikerd: Author and Professor Emeritus of Agricultural Economics at University of Missouri, Columbia, MO.Mary Berry: Executive Director of The Berry Center, New Castle, KY.Josh Pyles: Farmer and member of Our Home Place Meat grass-fed beef cooperative, Henry County, KY.George Siemon: Co-founder and first CEO of CROPP/Organic Valley Cooperative.Katie Nixon: President of The Kansas City Food Hub.Since the mid-20th century, U.S. agricultural policy has favored corporate agribusiness over small to medium-sized farms. Devastation of rural economies has been the result. This episode traces the history of that move toward industrial agriculture and the response of farmers who are forming co-operatives to build sustainable, local food economies.Music Break: 32:33 - 33:27 [:54]Original songs “Spring Fork Creek” and “Portent” by The Lonesome Companions, available on their 2026 release “One More Round”.Additional music is from Blue Dot sessions: “Again in the Spring-Sour Mash”, “Uncertain Ground”-Duck Lake, “Dolly and Pad”-Piano Mover, “Daylight Earned”-Illinois and Maco.Resources:https://www.johnikerd.com/https://berrycenter.org/https://berrycenter.org/initiatives/agrarian-culture-center/https://thekcfoodhub.com/The Unsettling of America by Wendell Berry - or anything by Wendell Berry.https://www.berrycenterbookstore.com/product/the-unsettling-of-america/1321?cp=true&sa=true&sbp=false&q=falseSmall Farms Are Real Farms by John Ikerd - or anything by John Ikerd.https://www.amazon.ca/Small-Farms-Are-Real-Agriculture-ebook/dp/B00V7AVMQ8Owning Our Future by Marjorie Kelly - or anything by Marjorie Kelly.https://marjoriekelly.org/books Thank you for taking a few moments to fill out a brief survey here: https://forms.gle/Rjp5K9erKnHjSTBD7If you enjoyed We Are the Ones, please consider giving the series a five- star review and share it with others. Thanks!KOPN is sponsoring this program in partnership with the Missouri Humanities and with support from the Missouri Humanities Trust Fund.For information on KOPN go to: https://www.kopn.org/