The Food Chain
by metrofarm
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
Episodes
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Ep 1431 Cheap Food Isn't
Here are two numbers that illustrate the point: Spending on food is down 6% to 7% percent. Spending on healthcare is up $4.9 trillion dollars. So, eat cheap food and pay for it at the Doctor’s office? Michael Olson Hosts: Kristine Root, Author, “The End of Cheap Food”, Founder & CEO of Socha...
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Ancient Grains for Modern Times
Northern California has an Emerald Triangle that was turned green by the cultivation of cannabis. Montana has a Golden Triangle, that is being turned turned gold by the cultivation of ancient grains. And so we ask: Can ancient grains help cure what ails the modern diet? Having been raised on...
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Ep 1428 Mamdani’s Great Leap Forward Markets
New York City Mayor Zohran Mamdani plans to build 5 government-owned supermarkets for the 5 boroughs of his city, and charge 30% less for food. In the late 1950’s, during China’s Great Leap Forward, the Chinese Communist Party set up free communal canteens across the country. Families, children…
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Ep 1426 Big Cities V Small Farms
Stephanie Rocha, Owner, Nest Box Farm, San Martin, CA It is a fact! Cities grow best, where farms grow best, and that is why some of the nation’s biggest cities are planted on some of the nation’s best farmland. This leads us to ask: Can farms survive their cities? Topics include how cities…
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California's Plunder Coast
Michael Olson hosts Joe Oglivy, Author of Tin Can Coast for a conversation about the commercialization of California's marine life: It is an ocean current that flows south along the coast from Canada to Baja, and it brought to the people who would come to live along this coast unbelievable living...
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Ep 1424 GLP 1s: Too Good to be True?
Michael Olson hosts. Dr. Keith Kantor, Trichologist and Author What Matters Diabetes costs the United States $640 billion a year. What if we could take a pill, lose the weight, then put all that diabetes money into the bank. Topics include how prescription GLP-1s work to help people lose weight;...
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1423 The Oyster Cult
#1423 Michael Olson host Virginia Shaffer, Host of Lady Oyster Blog and Author, Oyster Society: Adventures with the Shellfishly Motivated I remember the moment I was induced to slurp down a freshly-shucked oyster. That so many of us remember that moment leads us to ask: What is it about the…
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Ep 1422 - Beyond Alcohol: Functional Drinking
Function Drinking - Beyond Alcohol Michael Olson with Autumn Shelton, Formulator and CEO of the start-up functional drink company TruBond. Topics include the growing trend of functional foods; the functions targeted in the formulating of TruBond drinks; and the process of taking TruBond from...
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Ep 1422
The idea is to turn away from highly stimulative drinks during the day, and the alcohol that follows at the end of the day, and turn instead to beverages formulated to provide clarity, focus and energy throughout the day. This leads us to ask: Can beverages be formulated to optimize the body’s...
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Ep 1421 Start Up - Bread from Breadfruit?
When exploring the islands of Tahiti with Captain James Cook, botanist Sir Joseph Banks identified a carbohydrate-rich tropical fruit that, when cooked over an open fire, tasted like freshly-baked bread. Banks recommended that King George III adopt this energy-rich breadfruit as a food staple for...
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Ep 1420 Start-up Cookies - From Kitchen to Nation
Along the Food Chain with Michael Olson and ... Mandy Harper, Founder, CEO & Executive Chef, Wholesome Bakery /// At the Natural Products Expo its easy to see what is the latest trend in food. The last time I attended the Expo, which was a few years ago, the dominant trend among the 4,000 vendors...
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Ep 1419 Cooperating to Compete
Along the Food Chain with Michael Olson and... Sabrina Servais, Farmer, Hamburg Hills Farm, Stoddard, WI, Member, Organic Vallely Farm Coopertive & Elizabeth McMullen, PR Program Manager, Organic Valley Farm Cooperative When farming alone for a distant market, farmers tend to be price takers. But...
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Ep 1418 Perils of Protein Powders
Along the Food Chain with Michael Olson and... Sally Fallon Morell, Founding President, Weston A Price Foundation and Editor & Co-Author of Nourishing Traditions: The Cookbook that Challenges Politically Correct Nutrition and the Diet Dictocrats The food trend is obvious to anyone who attended…
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Ep 1417 Guarantors of Farmers Market Authenticity
One of the most effective ways to get rid of pesky competitors is to establish laws and regulations that make it very difficult for competitors to operate. That leads us to ask: How did farmers regain the right to sell food directly to consumers? The 1417th edition of the Food Chain Radio Podcast...
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Ep 1415 The Lipstick Farmer's Food Train to the Governor's Mansion
A FOOD CHAIN RELEASE FROM MICHAEL OLSON Those on both sides of the political spectrum look at what has become of the great State of California and wonder: ‘What happened?’ This leads us to ask: Did California eat too much nonsense? The 1415th edition of the Food Chain Radio Podcast with Michael...
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Appraising Farmland
In her novel The Good Earth, Pearl Buck wrote, “If roots are to bear fruit, they must be kept well in the soil of land.” Her thought leads us to ask: Which farmland is best for bearing one’s fruit? We have been hearing a lot about farmland recently. We’ve been hearing how very wealthy people like...
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Ep 1413 Feeding the Obstinate Child
Michael Olson hosts Danielle Flint - Danny the Nanny You would think a hungry child would want eat just about anything, but a lot of hungry children only eat what they want to eat. And so we ask: How do you get an obstinate child to eat what you want them to eat? The 1413th edition of the Food...
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Ep 1412 Rocky Oaks Goats - Just Kidding!
No kidding! It's true. Having had to catch a plane and fly away, we missed kiddentine in California's great Central Valley. Our loss leads us to ask: Have you had the opportunity to play with the kids? The 1412th edition of the Food Chain Radio Podcast with Michael Olson hosts Margie Weber,...
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Ep 1411 The Snack Chips Man
Along the Food Chain with Michael Olson… #1411 The Snack Chips Man Jake Stenton, President Natural Bridges Company You stand in front of the grocer’s selection of snack chips and think, ‘A penny’s worth of potato in a bag that costs a buck!’ We Americans eat about $50 billion dollars worth of…
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Episode 272 Hour One
China Now, 26.1.29, Hour 1 Gang of Two Nan Su & Michael Olson CCP Coup Attempt at Zhongnanhai / A Trap is Sprung
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Episode 272
China Now 26.1.29 Hour 2 Gang of Two: Michael Olson & Nan Su CCP Coup Attempt at Zhanganhai, Xi gets away!
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The Bee Strategy
The 1410th edition of the Food Chain Radio Podcast with Michael Olson Guest: Matt Mulica, Senior Project Director, Keystone Policy Center Imagine being in a business that loses 55 percent of its business in one year, and nearly that much in the previous year. Such is the state of the North…
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China Now 271 Hour One 25.1.22
Nan Su & Michael Olson President Donald Trump invades Davos and conquers Greenland.
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China Now Hour 2 - 25.1.22
Michael Olson & Nan Su Which will Xi Jinping invade first: Taiwan or Siberia?
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Ep 1409 Healing With Homeopathy
Michael Olson with Dr. Jeff Lester, Director, Trilogy Medical Center for Integrative Medicine Best laid plans! When the government threw its food plate out the door and turned its food pyramid upside down, I called my doctor for his opinion on how the new food recommendations will affect our...
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Ep 270 China Now with Nan Su & Michael Olson
*. Arrest of Trump changes Taiwan invasion plans * China stands to lose Billions on Venezuela *. What is next for Cuba, Venezuela, Iran, Russia and China
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Ep 1408 Living the Restaurateur Dream
There are approximately 12.35 million people employed in the restaurant and food service industry. Chances are good most of them, at one time or another, dreamed of owning a successful restaurant. This “Restaurateur Dream” leads us to ask: Which is most important in determining the long-term...
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Ep 1407 Homes for Homeless Animals
When the daughter’s pet dog passed on after many years of friendship, she became very sad and teared up. Hoping to ease her pain at the passing of her good friend, I said, “Honey, life is a succession of good dogs!” Not too much longer, the daughter started pestering for a new dog. After an...
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Local Foods Act Legislation: Should government be forced to accomodate local food?
The label on the meat package reads, “Product of USA.” But the meat in the package could have come from Australia, Brazil or China, and be from one animal or hundreds of animals. This leads us to ask: Should government be forced to accommodate local food farms? The 1406th edition of the Food…
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Ep 1405: Nutritional Epigenetics & The Decline of Children's Brains
A recent review of U.S. special education data revealed a three-fold increase in autism and a four-fold increase in delayed development among public school children. That leads us to ask: Can bad food make good genes go bad? The 1405th edition of the Food Chain Radio Podcast with Michael Olson...
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Ep 1404 House 453 - Immunity for Pesticide Manufacturers?
On August 10, 2018, a California jury awarded Benecia public school landscaper Dewayne Lee Johnson $289 million for the non-Hodgkin lymphoma he claimed was caused by exposure to Monsanto’s Roundup weedkiller. That award leads us to ask: Should manufacturers be held accountable for the…
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Ep 1244 Fast Food - Weeds of the Food Chain
Michael Olson hoss Professor Catherine Keske, Ag Economist, University of California, Merced & Author, “Fast Food is Comforting, But…,” It does not take long for weeds to take over one’s garden. The same can be said for how quickly fast food can displace good food in one’s diet. And so we ask…
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Ep 1297 Pet Nation
Guest: Mark Cushing, CEO of Animal Policy Group and author of Pet Nation Twenty years ago, Duke the Dog lived out in the backyard. Now he lives in the house and sleeps in a bed. And so we ask: How did the United States become a Pet Nation? Topics include a look at how animals became pets that fly...
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Ep 1403 BABY'S HEAVY METAL FOOD
A decade-long study of baby food released by Healthy Babies – Bright Futures claims that 95% of commercial baby food contains heavy metals that can result in autism spectrum and attention-deficit disorders. And so we ask… Should grocers be allowed to sell baby foods that contain toxic heavy…
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Ep 1304 China: Eating Up America's Farmland?
Michael Olson with Washington State Congressman Dan Newhouse China is buying up America’s farmland… with the money we send it to manufacture stuff for us in their coal-burning factories. Some say this a good deal because we don’t have to work in those factories. Others say it’s a bad deal because...
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EP 1402 LOCALIZING - A GOOD FOOD PROJECT
Food Chain Radio Podcast with Michael Olson features Michele Thorne, Executive Director of The Good Meat Project Given the economies of consolidation, 99% of chickens, 98% of hogs and 70% of cows are now grown and processed on industrial-scaled farms, most all of which use antibiotics, pesticides...
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Ep 1401 Horse: A Genetic Ride Back to the Beginning
Before the horse we walked everywhere, and it was a downright slog to get there. But 4,750 years ago, a mutant gene began working its way through the horse herds of the Eurasian Steppes. Then, about 800 years ago, Genghis Khan raced those horses throughout the World to conquer one and all. And so...
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Ep. 1400 HONEY BEES V. VAMPIRE MITES
The fight is on for one-third of the food we eat. On one side is a ferocious vampire mite, on the other side is human ingenuity. The battleground is Apis mellifera – the Western Honeybee. This fight leads us to ask: Can human ingenuity save the honey bee and our food?
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Ep 1278 Eating out of Mental Dystopia
Michael Olson hosts Bonnie Kaplan, PhD, Co-Author, The Better Brain The Golden State of California appears to be losing its collective mind. You can see evidence of that loss on the streets of San Francisco, and that leads us to ask: Can we eat our way out of mental dystopia? Topics include how…
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Ep 1250
7-11 BEGETS TRADER JOE'S Michael Olson with Benjamin Lorr, Author, The Secret Life of Groceries It is a $700 billion dollar a year business, and Americans spend about 2% of their lives shopping in them. Their story leads us to ask: How did 7-Eleven give rise to Trader Joes? Topics include the...
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Ep 1322 Building a Better Bee
Caroline Yelle, Owner & Queen Bee, Pope Canyon Queens I happened to be watching a honey bee working over a lemon tree blossom on the 19th of July, when I realized that it was the first honey bee I have seen this year. That leads me to ask… Can we breed a bee that can survive us?
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Nutrition for Dystopia
The Golden State of California appears to be losing its collective mind. You can see the evidence of that loss on the streets of San Francisco, and that City-by-the-Bay leads us to ask: Can we eat our way out of dystopia? Bonnie Kaplan, PhD, Co-Author, The Better Brain: Overcome Anxiety, Combat...
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Ep 1398 Food Fight: Large Farms V. Small Farms
The Food Chain Radio Show - Podcast with Michael Olson hosts Richard J. Sexton, Professor Emeritus, Agriculture and Resource Economics, University of California Davis & Author of Food Fight: Misguided Policies, Supply Challenges, and the Impending Struggle to Feed a Hungry World In 1973, U.S....
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Ep. 242 Hr. 1. China Now 25.6.26
China Now: Friend or Foe? War or Peace? Hosts Michael Olson & Nan Su China tells Brazil Xi Jinping Will Miss Brics Summit in Rio Annual reshuffling of PLA Generals Putin will visit Beijing and join Xi Jinping for military marching on 9/3. CCP to curb fentanyl precursors Chinese gangsters arrested...
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Ep. 1397 Eating the Earth?
Michael Olson hosts Michael Grunwald, Author of "We Are Eating The Earth" Some say the big problem is not fossil foods, it’s the food we eat! If what they say is true, we simply must ask: Are we really eating up the earth? Topics include why author Grunwald would say, “We are eating the earth;”…
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Recipe for Restaurateurs
Michael Olson hosts Bob Vergidis, Chief Visionary Officer, PointOfSale.Cloud When, of a sudden, the $10 restaurant burger became a $20 burger, the battle for the remaining burger customers across the land became intense. This leads us to ask: What is today's recipe for restaurateur survival?…
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Ep 1394 Re-Seeding the Taste of City
Guests: Greg Peterson, Founder & CEO, Urban Farm.org & Belle Star, Co-Founder, SeedSchoolOnline In a deed, plant a seed, make a garden grow and transform the taste of city! And so we ask: Where can one obtain seeds to transform the taste of city? The Food Chain Radio Show - Podcast with Michael...
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Staff of Life: Local Grocer V Corporate Giants
Michael Olson with Gary Bascou, Co-Founder, Staff of Life Natural Food Market Staff of Life is a locally-owned grocery store competing for consumer dollars in a market dominated by corporate giants. And so we ask: How does a local grocery store survive in a marketplace of corporate giants? Topics...
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Ep 1393 Regenerating Food & Agriculture with Software
There was a time farmers grew food with shovels, hoes and horses. As technology progressed, they used tractors, fertilizers and pesticides. Today, farmers grow food by stringing together binary digits of “Yes” and “No.” That leads us to ask: Can software sustain and regenerate agriculture? The…
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Ep. 1392 The Magic Kingdom of Specialty Mushrooms
It lives alone, and mostly hidden, in its magic kingdom. Its members are said to include the largest living organism on earth. That so many down-to-earth people become its ardent devotees leads us to ask: What is the magic of mushrooms? The Food Chain Radio Show - Podcast with Michael Olson hosts...
About this show
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
Hosted by
metrofarm