What Doesn't Kill You

This week on Straight, No Chaser, Katy Keiffer chats with one of our generations great food thinkers, Dr. Marion Nestle. Marion’s latest book, “Why Calories Count”, explores the essential measurement of energy in food and how it affects our nutrition and diets. Find out why food addiction troubles Marion, and how she thinks tackling problems like obesity can be much simpler than it’s made out to be. Learn why portion size is to blame for most weight-related problems and why the days of sensible farming and blue chip stocks are long gone. This program was sponsored by Hearst Ranch. “Calories are involved in the two most important public health problems we face right now – starvation and obesity”. “Nutritionists are not comfortable talking about food as addiction. People talk about food as if its addictive… but we have to eat to live. We can’t live without eating food. The question is, what foods do we choose?” “Food labels were implemented in 1993. Up until that time, the FDA said that food companies could not make health claims about their products. When congress passed the Nutrition Fact Label law, the industry complained if they had to disclose what’s bad about their product, they should be able to advertise what’s healthy about their product.” “Any diet will help you lose weight if it helps you reduce calories.” –Dr. Marion Nestle on Straight, No ChaserSee Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

This week on Straight, No Chaser, host Katy Keiffer discusses the Ag Gag Laws with Amanda Hitt is the Director of the Food Integrity Campaign (FIC) for the Government Accountability Project. Amanda oversees FIC operations and is responsible for ensuring that FIC fulfills its mission of enhancing food integrity by facilitating truth telling. Iowa and Utah have just enacted new Ag Gag Laws, and clearly there is an increased interest in the industry to enact more of this type of legislation. Ag-gag bills remain pending in Minnesota, Missouri, Nebraska, New York and Tennessee. Is transparency a good idea for the livestock and farming industry or will people get the wrong idea with the curtain pulled back? This program was sponsored by S. Wallace Edwards & Sons. “The whole business of agriculture as we know it requires a certain veil of secrecy.” “We need to change our relationship to the industry itself, and how they present themselves with regards to food safety and wholesomeness. More than often that presentation is not grounded in reality.” –Amanda Hitt, Director of the Food Integrity CampaignSee Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

This week on Straight, No Chaser, Katy Keiffer chats with Mark Dunlea about everything current in US Food Policy. Mark is Executive Director of Hunger Action Network of NYS, for which he has worked for 26 years. For the last 11 years he has helped coordinate the Faith and Hunger Network with Bread for the World. He is a co-convener of the NYC Food and Farm Bill group. Tune in to learn more about the Farm Bill and why it is not necessarily helping family farms as advertised. This program was sponsored by S. Wallace Edwards & Sons. “[They] promote things like corn, which gets turned into corn syrup, and soy, that gets turned into fat, rather than provide incentives for fresh foods and vegetables.” “If farmers don’t exist in America, then food prices will be through the roof. We need to create a sustainable food system that provides both an adequate wage to the farmer while providing us healthy food at a reasonable price.” “If one looks at almost any community and sees how much money is being spent on food in that community, it’s often the single largest part of the economy. Everybody, rich or poor, has to eat three times a day.” “Most farmers in America get almost nothing out of the Farm Bill.” “The problem isn’t what people buy with food stamps, the problem is with what American people buy overall.” –Mark Dunlea, Executive Director of Hunger Action NetworkSee Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

This week on Straight, No Chaser, Katy Keiffer sits down to chat with Steve Jenkins of Fairway Market and Michele Buster of Forever Cheese to have an in-depth conversation on the import/export process as it relates to foreign and domestic artisanal cheese. Find out why Steve thinks the government has made it impossible through regulations and restrictions to price domestic artisanal cheese competitively and how some of the product that gets imported to our country is destroyed for reasons as silly as label misprints. Also find out why Steve believes government mandated testing for olive oil is a nightmare. This program was sponsored by Fairway Market. “Meat actually has a sturdier life than cheese does. You have to use kid gloves to bring cheese in [from abroad].” “We’ve always believed that, as a whole, it’s best to promote all cheese, not just imported cheese.” –Michele Buster of Forever Cheese on Straight, No Chaser “The truth is, the stuff that we import is the most precious and unforgettable food items you could possibly want to get your hands on as an American.” “The [FDA] makes us destroy things with simple labeling errors, not because there was anything wrong with the food. Then they charge you to destroy it! It’s big-mamma government just waltzing around, sitting on everybody’s face and I’ve had it up to here with it.” –Steve Jenkins of Fairway Market on Straight, No ChaserSee Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

This week on Straight, No Chaser, Katy Keiffer chats with Jeannette Beranger of the American Livestock Breed Conservancy and Chris Ritthaler of the Farmer Veteran Coalition. Tune in and hear how the ALBC helps set up veterans who are interested in taking up farming after serving for their country. Learn why heritage livestock appeals to these vets and how they adapt to life on the farm even if they have no background in agriculture. Also learn more about the unemployment epidemic that veterans in our country face and why the general public should learn more about what veterans actually did when they served. This program was sponsored by Hearst Ranch.   “There’s been a huge upsurge in interest in traditional breeds over the past few years.” –Jeanette Beranger of the American Livestock Breed Conservancy on Straight, No Chaser “There are a few reasons you’re seeing vets interested in heritage breeds. Because a lot of the vets don’t have a background in agriculture, they are taking a real close look at their situation and financials and realizing they have to be smart. Heritage breeds fit a niche market and don’t require a large level of infrastructure.” “The unemployment rate for veterans is significantly higher than the national average. The unemployment rate for vets in the post 9/11 era is over 10%.” “Less than 10% of the US has ever served in the military. There’s a huge disconnect between the knowledge base of what a veteran does.” –Chris Ritthaler of the Farmer Veteran Coalition on Straight, No ChaserSee Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

This week on Straight, No Chaser, Katy Keiffer chats with Ben Flanner, Anastasia Cole Plakias, Chase Emmons & Michael Meier of Brooklyn Grange, a community oriented commercial organic farm located on New York City rooftops. Hear what the crew has been up to and what plans they have in store for the new rooftop farm at the Brooklyn Navy Yard. Learn more about storm water management, beekeeping, seed saving and the educational components of the farm. This program was sponsored by Fairway Market. Photo by Cyrus Dowlatshahi “We’re living in a city who’s sewer system was built well before a period of rapid development. With all these non-porous surfaces that have been added, there’s a lot more water entering the sewer system. Now people are looking for creative ways to manage storm water, such as green roofs, and a farm like ours can store much more storm water than a normal green roof.” –Anastasia Cole Plakias of Brooklyn Grange “In the new farm at the Navy Yard we will have between 20-30 beehives. Part of that project is genetic-oriented. In three years or so we hope to end up with New York City genetics, bees that are adapted to their environment. We want people to purchase bees from us, not just honey.” –Chase Emmons of Brooklyn Grange on Straight, No ChaserSee Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

There are few topics more important in this country than the health of our children, and this week on Straight, No Chaser host Katy Keiffer chats with Jessica Donze Black, project director for the Kids’ Safe and Healthful Foods Project at the Pew Health Group, The Pew Charitable Trusts. Together they discuss some of the efforts being made to ensure that all of the food choices available to kids at school are healthy choices. Find out how vending machines can be used for good and why standards like snacks and bake sales need to be re-imagined to achieve food safety at our schools. Learn more about healthy school food here. This program was sponsored by Cain Vineyard & Winery. “What we want to do is set minimum standards so that all children have access to healthy food choices. We want parents to be comfortable knowing that ALL of the food choices that their children would have at school would be choices [the parents] would be comfortable with.” “The beverage industry has agreed to stop selling full sugar-sweetened beverages to schools, such as full-sugar soda.” “New York is a place that has made some significant changes in the school environment and in early childhood development. So far the results are really encouraging.” — Jessica Donze Black, project director for the Kids’ Safe and Healthful Foods Project on Straight, No ChaserSee Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

In this very important and very timely episode of Straight No Chaser host Katy Kieffer talks with farmer Jim Gerritsen who is the President of the Organic Seed Growers and Trade Association, which is currently battling the agriculture giant Monsanto in federal court. Learn how this group of farmers is seeking protection from contamination of their crops by Monsanto transgenic (GMO) seeds by litigating in the very complicated the arena of patent law. Find out what exactly is at stake not only for farmers but also the state of U.S. patent law as a whole when the verdict is handed down. This insightful episode is sponsored by S. Wallace Edwards & Sons “What we’re going to the court for is to try and receive court protection from abusive behavior from Monsanto. . should we become contaminated by Monsanto seeds, not only do we suffer harm by the contamination of our crops, but in a perverse situation Monsanto’s view is that we possess that technology through that cont episode and we would be liable for patent infringement.” “Part of our argument will be that transgenic agriculture, or commonly known as GMOS, that these lack ‘social utility’ ” “The expectation of the [organic seed] market is that good quality organic seed is free of GMO content. So if our crops become contaminated by GMO their value becomes extinguished with that contamination and that obviously then threatens our livelihood.” –Jim Gerritsen on Straight, No ChaserSee Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

This week on Straight, No Chaser, Katy Keiffer has an in-depth conversation on raw milk and food borne illness with Bill Marler, the managing partner of the Seattle law firm Marler and Clark, and a nationally recognized expert in food safety. Tune in and learn about some of historical context behind raw milk and some of its inherent risks. Can we find a safe way to distribute raw milk? Is the risk worth the reward? What other problems do we face concerning food borne illness? Find out the answers to these questions and more! This program was sponsored by Fairway Market. “People read studies the way they want to read them. There are some nutritional enzymes that are denatured during pasteurization, but those are things that can be picked up in other food items that don’t carry as high a risk as raw milk.” “The difficulty with food borne illness analysis is that most people don’t report mild illnesses.” “You have to look at raw milk from a historical perspective. The rational for pasteurization was that in the teens and twenties, the major causes of food borne illness and death was consuming raw milk.” “I think you will see a continued development of states dealing with the raw milk issue.” –Food borne illness lawyer Bill Marler on Straight, No ChaserSee Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

Katy Keiffer has a deep discussion about slaughterhouses and transparency with the author of “Every Twelve Seconds: Industrialized Slaughter and the Politics of Sight”, Timothy Pachirat. How do people deal with the routine slaughter of animals? How can we successfully compute and understand the practice of animal processing on a human and emotional level? Tune in and get an insiders perspective on transparency, morality and the many implications of eating meat. Carnivores and vegetarians alike can learn something new from this show. This program was sponsored by S. Wallace Edwards & Sons. “I do think there is something significant to the act of taking life…What happens to the way we think about these practices if we begin to collapse some of the distances that shield us from having to confront the realities that they demand?” “What I really want to get across is that there’s absolutely something that happens in the act of taking another life. The current industrialized meat model allows people to eat meat without confronting that something. I believe that is deeply problematic.” –Author Timothy Pachirat on Straight, No ChaserSee Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.