WEBVTT - Food Is Politics: A Primer 0:00:00.160 --> 0:00:03.200 So, Hi, I'm Tom Collichio, and I'm sure that some 0:00:03.200 --> 0:00:05.600 of you know me from Top Chef, where I play 0:00:05.680 --> 0:00:08.920 that that strict, stern judge and you know, from rolling 0:00:08.920 --> 0:00:12.120 my eyes and kind of making people nervous. But I'm 0:00:12.160 --> 0:00:15.200 also a chef and restaurateur. I've been cooking for well 0:00:15.240 --> 0:00:18.760 over forty years now. Also, I'm a co founder of 0:00:18.760 --> 0:00:22.440 Food Policy Action and so but I guess my, my, 0:00:22.440 --> 0:00:25.000 my hold on a second. I didn't like where I 0:00:25.040 --> 0:00:43.519 was going with this. Try this again. Hey, I'm Tom Collikio. 0:00:44.159 --> 0:00:46.880 This is my podcast Citizen Chef. You know, I am 0:00:46.880 --> 0:00:50.200 a working chef. I have seven restaurants and some in Manhattan, 0:00:50.840 --> 0:00:54.280 Los Angeles, and Las Vegas. I also have another side 0:00:54.280 --> 0:00:57.520 of me. I am a food activist. And what does 0:00:57.520 --> 0:00:59.800 that mean. I'm on a conference call every morning with 0:01:00.040 --> 0:01:03.160 a hundred chefs across the country. Again, the Family First program, 0:01:03.320 --> 0:01:06.360 the SNAP program is actually has expanded. We got rid 0:01:06.400 --> 0:01:08.720 of all the restrictstions to receive We got to talk 0:01:08.760 --> 0:01:11.800 about not just the economics here. Cafeteria workers. They are 0:01:12.080 --> 0:01:13.880 first spenders at this point and they need to be 0:01:13.920 --> 0:01:16.520 treated that way. They are doing They're doing God's work 0:01:16.600 --> 0:01:19.400 right now. From our next Senator from Pennsylvania. So you're 0:01:19.440 --> 0:01:22.440 asking yourself, why the chef? Why is he up here 0:01:22.520 --> 0:01:25.600 right now? Let me tell you. I'm just a regular guy. 0:01:25.920 --> 0:01:29.600 I was the first food correspondent on MSNBC, and UM, 0:01:29.640 --> 0:01:31.640 you know that that that was a pretty good gig 0:01:31.640 --> 0:01:34.200 for a while until the election three years ago, and 0:01:34.240 --> 0:01:38.280 that kind of knocked food off the table. So I 0:01:38.319 --> 0:01:41.160 decided to turn this into a podcast, and um, this 0:01:41.240 --> 0:01:43.279 podcast is is really going to tell a story about 0:01:43.400 --> 0:01:45.800 food through the news of the day. You know, everywhere 0:01:45.800 --> 0:01:48.000 I look when I see a news story, I immediately 0:01:48.040 --> 0:01:50.760 link it to the food system. You know, whether it's immigration, 0:01:51.000 --> 0:01:55.120 military preparedness, healthcare, and even the economy. Every single one 0:01:55.120 --> 0:01:57.360 of these issues is touched by food and the food 0:01:57.360 --> 0:01:59.520 that we eat. We're gonna interview experts and people at 0:01:59.440 --> 0:02:01.960 a response well for our food policy as well as 0:02:02.000 --> 0:02:04.800 farmers and food producers all through this country. We're gonna 0:02:04.800 --> 0:02:06.600 see if we can make our food system a more 0:02:06.640 --> 0:02:16.240 equable one for all. I can came to food politics 0:02:16.280 --> 0:02:19.480 in a very interesting way. My wife is a filmmaker 0:02:19.560 --> 0:02:22.320 and she co directed a film called A Place to Table, 0:02:22.800 --> 0:02:25.840 and it looked at hunger in America. We Uh, figured 0:02:25.880 --> 0:02:27.880 out pretty quickly when we started doing research on the 0:02:27.880 --> 0:02:30.800 film that people in this country are not hungry because 0:02:31.000 --> 0:02:33.960 of famine, are because of war, because of drought. People 0:02:33.960 --> 0:02:36.560 are hungry in this country because they often don't have 0:02:36.560 --> 0:02:38.840 the dollars to feed themselves, and we don't have the 0:02:38.880 --> 0:02:41.920 political will to make sure everyone is well nourished here. Well, 0:02:42.160 --> 0:02:45.000 every single president since Reagan has gone on record saying 0:02:45.000 --> 0:02:46.880 that one, if one person is hunger in this country, 0:02:46.919 --> 0:02:49.240 we failed, and yet nothing seems to happen about it. 0:02:49.360 --> 0:02:51.919 And this is both Republicans and Democrats, and nothing seems 0:02:51.919 --> 0:02:55.200 to happen about it. And so hopefully, um with this film, 0:02:55.200 --> 0:02:56.640 we can shine a light on this and hopefully that 0:02:56.680 --> 0:03:02.760 will start a public discourse. And so after my wife's 0:03:02.800 --> 0:03:04.720 film came out, it really gave me a platform, especially 0:03:04.720 --> 0:03:06.919 to talk about hunger food issues in a very different 0:03:06.960 --> 0:03:10.040 context that put me right in the crosshairs of a 0:03:10.080 --> 0:03:14.400 political conversation. And very soon after founding Member of Food Policy, 0:03:14.760 --> 0:03:17.440 I co founded an organization called Food Policy Action Jeff, 0:03:19.440 --> 0:03:24.360 Thank you, Ken, Thanks Happy Food Date, a DC based 0:03:24.400 --> 0:03:27.440 group that worked on various food policies and whether we're 0:03:27.480 --> 0:03:29.919 issues of hunger and farming and transparency in the food 0:03:29.919 --> 0:03:32.240 system or fishing. We produced a score card and we 0:03:32.280 --> 0:03:34.680 grad a congress on how they voted on various food issues. 0:03:34.800 --> 0:03:38.880 About about values. So if you value how your food 0:03:38.960 --> 0:03:41.640 iss made, if you value where your food comes from, 0:03:41.640 --> 0:03:45.320 if you value uh farm communities? So, how how did 0:03:45.360 --> 0:03:47.119 I get here? How did I go from being a 0:03:47.440 --> 0:03:52.200 chef and TV personality to activists? I guess we should 0:03:52.280 --> 0:03:54.200 we should take you through a brief journey of how 0:03:54.240 --> 0:03:57.080 I got here, back to uh, you know, growing up. 0:03:59.120 --> 0:04:01.160 You know, I grew up at with New Jersey, grew 0:04:01.200 --> 0:04:02.640 up in a kind of family where we had to 0:04:02.640 --> 0:04:04.640 be home every single night for dinner. And I saw 0:04:04.640 --> 0:04:06.960 how important food was, and not only in terms of 0:04:07.280 --> 0:04:09.680 nourishing us and keeping us healthy, but how it brought 0:04:09.720 --> 0:04:15.280 people around the table and created those conversations. My dad 0:04:15.400 --> 0:04:20.120 was a union organizer and he helped on some local campaigns, 0:04:20.360 --> 0:04:23.800 and my mother ran a school cafeteria, And you know, 0:04:23.800 --> 0:04:26.280 I didn't really think much of that. It happens every 0:04:26.279 --> 0:04:30.360 noon for the pupil who takes advantage of the lunch program. 0:04:30.360 --> 0:04:33.920 This noontime lunch maybe the only real food some of 0:04:33.920 --> 0:04:39.080 these children see all day long. Miss school and miss lunch, 0:04:39.839 --> 0:04:43.560 So it's important they sit here with someone to care 0:04:43.640 --> 0:04:46.880 for you. I never really thought much about it in 0:04:47.000 --> 0:04:51.480 terms of giving back to a community. Later on, I 0:04:51.800 --> 0:05:00.920 learned how important that job actually was one the issue 0:05:01.560 --> 0:05:05.080 that has really made a difference generally. I think it's 0:05:05.240 --> 0:05:09.800 very good. It's better school food. May we keep it please? 0:05:11.520 --> 0:05:15.440 I would like to introduce Mary Nestl. We're talking to 0:05:15.440 --> 0:05:18.720 her today because she literally wrote the book on the 0:05:18.760 --> 0:05:21.800 politics of food. I was going to all these meetings 0:05:21.839 --> 0:05:26.200 about childhood obesity in the mid nines, and I would 0:05:26.200 --> 0:05:28.800 go to these meetings of the pain Are you kidding me? 0:05:30.000 --> 0:05:33.599 How come nobody's talking about how the food industry is 0:05:33.680 --> 0:05:38.280 marketing junk food to kids. You know, why aren't they 0:05:38.320 --> 0:05:42.240 talking about the environment in which parents are trying to 0:05:42.279 --> 0:05:46.240 feed their children. I was pretty upset by it, so 0:05:46.279 --> 0:05:50.000 I started writing articles about it, and those articles lead 0:05:50.080 --> 0:05:53.360 to my book Food Politics, which has a chapter on 0:05:53.560 --> 0:05:56.520 feeding kids and exactly that kind of thing. Her books 0:05:56.520 --> 0:05:59.800 have been so helpful to me, and um, she's really 0:06:00.040 --> 0:06:02.640 helped shape my ideas around food policy, and so I 0:06:02.640 --> 0:06:05.560 thought this would be a great place to start. How's 0:06:05.600 --> 0:06:10.840 it going. It's not bad, It's not bad like most people. Marryan, 0:06:11.120 --> 0:06:15.120 UH and I are practicing our social distancing during this pandemic. 0:06:15.200 --> 0:06:18.680 So we uh we spoke via zoom. I'm in the 0:06:18.760 --> 0:06:24.800 highest risk demographic for this thing. Yeah, obviously, so much 0:06:24.839 --> 0:06:27.360 has changed. Um, but I want to sort of start 0:06:27.400 --> 0:06:29.480 off because and part of the reason I wanted to 0:06:29.520 --> 0:06:31.360 talk to you is because if ever I had to 0:06:31.360 --> 0:06:33.280 go to the hill of talk policy usually, UM, I 0:06:33.520 --> 0:06:37.120 called to you first, and uh, just to understand policy 0:06:37.120 --> 0:06:41.680 lit better and understand from someone who knows it inside. Now, UM, 0:06:42.800 --> 0:06:44.560 you kind of wrote the book on food policy. When 0:06:44.560 --> 0:06:46.920 it comes to teaching you, how how did you? How 0:06:46.920 --> 0:06:50.120 did you get how did you you start teaching food policy? Well, 0:06:50.400 --> 0:06:54.640 I have a doctorate in molecular biology. I'm a last 0:06:54.800 --> 0:06:58.440 molecular biologist. On my first teaching job, I was given 0:06:58.440 --> 0:07:02.640 a nutrition course to teach. It was like falling in love. UM. 0:07:02.680 --> 0:07:07.200 I had been teaching selling molecular biology to premit students 0:07:07.360 --> 0:07:11.320 and it was very abstract and difficult for them to understand. 0:07:12.000 --> 0:07:15.160 And when I started teaching nutrition, I could see that 0:07:15.240 --> 0:07:18.760 this was the most wonderful way to teach undergraduate biology 0:07:18.800 --> 0:07:22.600 because everybody got it. Everybody eats everybody's interested in food. 0:07:23.040 --> 0:07:26.160 You could talk about metabolism, you could talk about all 0:07:26.280 --> 0:07:30.760 kinds of serious biological concepts within the context of food, 0:07:31.120 --> 0:07:34.800 and everybody just ate it up mhm as it were. 0:07:35.600 --> 0:07:38.560 When did you first start teaching food policy? That was 0:07:38.640 --> 0:07:44.520 nineteen seventies six, You know, I taught a class in nutrition, 0:07:44.840 --> 0:07:50.120 and in that class, I remember using as readings a 0:07:50.160 --> 0:07:52.520 book that had been written by Center for Science and 0:07:52.560 --> 0:07:55.480 the Public Interests called Food for People Not for Profit, 0:07:56.040 --> 0:08:01.840 that could have been written yesterday. I remember using some 0:08:02.040 --> 0:08:05.840 articles that were in the New York Review of Books 0:08:05.920 --> 0:08:11.320 about sugar policy in that very first class, because I 0:08:11.360 --> 0:08:14.600 had never seen anything like that, and it was an environing, 0:08:14.680 --> 0:08:19.600 serious academic who just couldn't believe that the way that 0:08:19.720 --> 0:08:24.200 sugar subsidies and tariffs, the ent tariff system work was 0:08:24.280 --> 0:08:29.200 to make sugar more expensive in order to protect the 0:08:29.560 --> 0:08:36.240 businesses of sugar growers in Louisiana Nebraska. Is ragging nize 0:08:36.360 --> 0:08:39.160 for one minute. When I first came to Congress in 0:08:39.240 --> 0:08:45.040 nineteen sugar prices were skyroggety. Consumers were furious then, But 0:08:45.160 --> 0:08:49.199 I do not hear consumers complain anymore. Time of the 0:08:49.600 --> 0:08:52.880 gentle lady has expired the gentleman from New York is 0:08:53.679 --> 0:08:58.200 we see displayed before US boxes of cereal and cans 0:08:58.280 --> 0:09:01.679 of soda, And the gestion is made that with the 0:09:01.760 --> 0:09:05.960 thousands of people who compete there, that if we reduce 0:09:06.080 --> 0:09:09.080 one of the raw material prices into that that that 0:09:09.120 --> 0:09:12.960 will not be passed on to the consumer. Nonsense. Time, 0:09:13.120 --> 0:09:16.840 gentleman has expired. Gentleman from Louisiana, Mr Chairman I Yilmar 0:09:17.040 --> 0:09:20.120 remaining time to the Chairman of the Agriculture Committee, Mr. 0:09:20.200 --> 0:09:24.079 Dela cars recognized vote no on the down the amendment. 0:09:24.440 --> 0:09:31.800 It's jobs, USA, Jobs, USA, Jobs, USA, Jobs, USA. You 0:09:32.000 --> 0:09:37.360 can't cut it anymore, you can't hide it anymore. It's jobs, jobs, 0:09:37.640 --> 0:09:42.199 jobs in the U. S A. Vote no on the amendment. 0:09:42.440 --> 0:09:45.080 But the gentleman niel I yield. I'd like the chairman 0:09:45.120 --> 0:09:48.160 for yelling. Let me point out the European supports sugar 0:09:48.240 --> 0:09:51.240 at thirty cents a pound, the United States at eighteen cents. 0:09:51.240 --> 0:09:53.959 Our farmers will compete head up with anyone, but we 0:09:54.040 --> 0:09:59.240 can't compete against the europe with the gentleman. Same time, 0:09:59.280 --> 0:10:04.160 and the gentleman has expired, USA. Um. You know again, 0:10:04.240 --> 0:10:10.079 this was forty years ago and nothing has changed anyway. 0:10:10.200 --> 0:10:13.840 Has it gotten worse before COVID hit. Um. You know, 0:10:13.920 --> 0:10:17.360 the supermarkets have much much better food than they did 0:10:17.480 --> 0:10:23.160 thirty years ago, more farmers markets, more communities supported agriculture. 0:10:23.679 --> 0:10:25.720 But at the same time, the marketers have gotten even 0:10:25.760 --> 0:10:29.960 better at that selling unhealthy food to two people as well. 0:10:30.600 --> 0:10:33.040 And at the same time, if you're rich and educated, 0:10:33.080 --> 0:10:37.160 it's really easy to eat healthfully, or it was before 0:10:37.360 --> 0:10:39.840 COVID hit. So we have we have to talk about 0:10:39.880 --> 0:10:47.360 pre coved and post covered. You know, when I first 0:10:47.360 --> 0:10:49.400 conceived this podcast, I want to talk about food and 0:10:49.720 --> 0:10:51.160 where we eat and why we eat, and how the 0:10:51.160 --> 0:10:53.440 food gets to us and what it means to us, 0:10:53.440 --> 0:10:55.160 how it unites us and brings us around a table. 0:10:57.040 --> 0:10:59.760 This podcast was originally going to expose the fragility of 0:10:59.760 --> 0:11:02.400 our food system through conversations that we hear on the 0:11:02.440 --> 0:11:06.079 news all the time, issues around the economy and healthcare. 0:11:06.240 --> 0:11:08.520 Will you take a hard look at those issues and 0:11:08.520 --> 0:11:11.800 try to improve the quality of healthcare and education for 0:11:11.800 --> 0:11:14.160 the Native American people? Yes, I will, and I take 0:11:14.160 --> 0:11:21.120 it serious. Immigration in the environment, and then COVID happened, 0:11:21.840 --> 0:11:24.960 Various industries are starting to feel the brunt of the virus. 0:11:25.120 --> 0:11:30.160 As the pandemic continues to drastically alter americans daily lives. 0:11:30.400 --> 0:11:33.040 In a matter of weeks, the restaurant industry tank due 0:11:33.080 --> 0:11:37.000 to shelter and place orders. Me processing facilities were compromised 0:11:37.000 --> 0:11:41.320 by the virus. Unemployment skyrocketed, forcing people who would never 0:11:41.400 --> 0:11:44.360 experienced food and security to wait in a mile long 0:11:44.400 --> 0:11:46.800 car lines at food banks. All the while we're seeing 0:11:46.840 --> 0:11:50.200 food that's being thrown out, highlighting exactly how delicate and 0:11:50.240 --> 0:11:55.360 inflexible our food system really is. Let's let our viewers 0:11:55.400 --> 0:11:59.000 take part in this conversation. We'll start with Bill, who's 0:11:59.000 --> 0:12:03.400 calling from North Illinois. Bill, good morning, Good morning. I 0:12:04.640 --> 0:12:08.120 uh so, I saw these images from San Antonio where 0:12:08.800 --> 0:12:14.800 ten thousand cars were lined up at some food banks 0:12:14.920 --> 0:12:18.640 in San Antonio. Not My question is this, I live 0:12:18.920 --> 0:12:23.280 in a relatively affluent area and there's there's a food bank, 0:12:23.480 --> 0:12:29.240 and but how the people that are lined up in 0:12:29.360 --> 0:12:33.800 San Antonio? Are these people that have applied for SNAP 0:12:33.880 --> 0:12:38.640 and not been accepted or I mean, who are these people? 0:12:40.960 --> 0:12:43.400 I think how it has done one really terrific thing, 0:12:43.760 --> 0:12:47.720 and that's to expose how the food system works. In 0:12:47.760 --> 0:12:50.240 this podcast, we'll be looking at that food system. That 0:12:50.240 --> 0:12:52.800 we've relied on few people all over the world, and 0:12:52.840 --> 0:12:59.960 how the pandemic has compromised it in a really visible way. 0:13:08.920 --> 0:13:11.920 If COVID has done anything it's to expose the problems 0:13:12.000 --> 0:13:14.880 with healthcare system. But I think that the food system 0:13:14.960 --> 0:13:17.920 also clary. If you were if you were teaching, what 0:13:18.080 --> 0:13:20.480 is your lesson plan look like post COVID? What has 0:13:20.480 --> 0:13:24.440 it changed for me? COVID is the perfect illustration of 0:13:24.520 --> 0:13:29.200 everything I've been teaching for years, and it just highlights 0:13:29.760 --> 0:13:33.320 the contradictions in our food system and the way that 0:13:33.440 --> 0:13:37.040 a system that is set up for profit, not to 0:13:37.120 --> 0:13:40.400 promote the health of humans or the health of the planet, 0:13:41.000 --> 0:13:45.800 is destructive and vulnerable. And the COVID points out the 0:13:45.880 --> 0:13:49.440 vulnerability of the vulnerability of the system which may not 0:13:49.559 --> 0:13:52.520 have been obvious before. So in a way it makes 0:13:52.640 --> 0:13:56.559 teaching easier. What you want is you want a food 0:13:56.640 --> 0:14:00.240 system that's resilient, that can deal with something like this, 0:14:00.720 --> 0:14:03.440 and that means that it has to be decentralized much 0:14:03.480 --> 0:14:08.600 more than it currently is and focused on much more 0:14:08.720 --> 0:14:13.920 on human welfare then on corporate profits. And boy that 0:14:14.080 --> 0:14:17.040 takes some thinking. The point does the health of the 0:14:17.120 --> 0:14:21.920 planet and the health of individuals. When does that become 0:14:21.960 --> 0:14:26.120 more valuable and where's the profit net? What policies can 0:14:26.160 --> 0:14:29.880 you create, What levers are there you can pull that 0:14:29.920 --> 0:14:32.560 would make healthy food more profitable and make the health 0:14:32.600 --> 0:14:35.960 of the planet more profitable. Well, that has to happen 0:14:36.000 --> 0:14:40.520 through government. There are things that government is really good 0:14:40.520 --> 0:14:43.720 for and this is one of them. And I think 0:14:43.760 --> 0:14:46.840 that it would be possible, with no trouble at all, 0:14:46.920 --> 0:14:50.240 to dream of government regulations that would make for a 0:14:50.320 --> 0:14:53.920 much healthier food system for everybody. Many of our democratic 0:14:53.960 --> 0:14:59.640 colleagues have rushed to embrace the so called grain. The 0:14:59.680 --> 0:15:02.360 Green New Deal that was you know, put up by 0:15:02.440 --> 0:15:06.520 some legislators was a step in that direction, go much further. 0:15:06.880 --> 0:15:08.960 But the Green New Deal would kill our country. The 0:15:09.000 --> 0:15:11.880 deal Green New Deal would have a devastating effect on 0:15:12.880 --> 0:15:15.240 the world and it's not gonna happen anyway, because it's 0:15:15.240 --> 0:15:17.480 impossible for them to do it. If you have a 0:15:17.480 --> 0:15:19.120 look at what they want to do under the Green 0:15:19.160 --> 0:15:22.360 New Deal, it's it's like baby talk. I mean, I'm 0:15:22.400 --> 0:15:25.440 someone who believes that there's a role for government in 0:15:25.480 --> 0:15:28.960 these kinds of things, and that the kinds of food 0:15:29.000 --> 0:15:32.640 regulations that we have now are set up to promote 0:15:32.760 --> 0:15:36.160 corporate profits. That's what they're set up to do. That's 0:15:36.200 --> 0:15:40.240 because we have an electoral system and a lobbying system 0:15:40.360 --> 0:15:44.080 where corporations have the money to make legislators do what 0:15:44.160 --> 0:15:47.240 they want. One of the things that the virus has 0:15:47.400 --> 0:15:52.400 exposed also are the lobbying forces behind some of these 0:15:52.480 --> 0:15:54.240 kinds of rules. But we're going to be taking a 0:15:54.240 --> 0:15:58.520 look at this new trend bioengineered crops and what, if anything, 0:15:58.560 --> 0:16:01.120 the federal government should do about it. Our first call 0:16:01.160 --> 0:16:04.280 for Mr Bettelheim is from Cleveland, Ohio. Good morning, Good morning. 0:16:04.840 --> 0:16:11.440 I think they should be prifably regulated because you're dealing 0:16:11.440 --> 0:16:14.160 with things that most people don't understand and it could 0:16:14.160 --> 0:16:17.800 be harmful. You begin to see how the system works 0:16:17.880 --> 0:16:19.840 in a way that a lot of people may not 0:16:20.040 --> 0:16:25.200 have noticed or don't realize. So you could have regulations 0:16:25.280 --> 0:16:29.240 that set a level playing field for food corporations that 0:16:29.560 --> 0:16:32.560 enabled them to make a profit, just maybe not as 0:16:32.680 --> 0:16:35.840 much of a profit. If you look at where the 0:16:35.880 --> 0:16:39.520 profits go and you look at where the bailout money 0:16:39.600 --> 0:16:43.440 is going. The bailout money is going to corporations that 0:16:43.480 --> 0:16:48.280 are paying their executives very high salaries, that are giving 0:16:48.360 --> 0:16:53.400 stockholder is the dividends that they have been promised and 0:16:53.440 --> 0:16:56.000 that are not paying the workers who are doing the work. 0:16:56.080 --> 0:16:58.720 The National Black Farmers Association, good morning, Thank you for 0:16:58.760 --> 0:17:00.440 being with us. Good mornings. A PLEASU should be here 0:17:00.440 --> 0:17:03.800 with you this morning. A demonstration here in Washington against 0:17:03.840 --> 0:17:07.240 the Agriculture Department in particular and the government in general. 0:17:07.480 --> 0:17:10.199 What's it all about. Well, basically, we've been struggling with 0:17:10.240 --> 0:17:14.000 the United States Department of Aquaculture for about since December 0:17:14.000 --> 0:17:17.600 of nine, and we've made a many trips to Washington, 0:17:17.720 --> 0:17:20.480 d c. And since that time the issue is really 0:17:20.800 --> 0:17:24.159 escalated to where the farmers are at dire stress. Right, 0:17:24.280 --> 0:17:27.160 the equality in the United States has gotten the way 0:17:27.200 --> 0:17:30.480 it was in the nineteen twenties. It's not how people 0:17:30.600 --> 0:17:36.200 survived in the nineteen forties, fifties and sixties and seventies. 0:17:36.240 --> 0:17:40.080 For forty years we had much less inequality in this 0:17:40.280 --> 0:17:43.639 country and the country did very well. But my father 0:17:43.760 --> 0:17:47.800 sold wheat at nineteen forty for for two for almost 0:17:47.800 --> 0:17:50.760 two dollars of bushel and and we just not selling today, 0:17:51.280 --> 0:17:54.119 uh for just about the same price. And at that 0:17:54.240 --> 0:17:56.879 time a loafer bread was a dime, and today is 0:17:56.920 --> 0:17:59.840 almost two dollars. So there's a lot of profitability that's 0:17:59.840 --> 0:18:02.560 going on somewhere, and it's it's not going to farmers. 0:18:02.600 --> 0:18:05.520 Well it's white, a black o, whatever color it. Maybe 0:18:05.720 --> 0:18:10.320 the economy boom, everybody did really well. They just didn't 0:18:10.400 --> 0:18:14.440 make excessive profits. The kinds of money that the upper 0:18:14.440 --> 0:18:19.000 one percent makes now are ridiculous. They couldn't possibly spend 0:18:19.040 --> 0:18:21.800 at all. You need enough money to be able to 0:18:21.840 --> 0:18:25.719 live a decent life. And then beyond that, what are 0:18:25.720 --> 0:18:27.480 you gonna do with it? You know, the system that 0:18:27.600 --> 0:18:30.080 is really there to benefit you know, big egg and 0:18:30.840 --> 0:18:34.520 large producers, it doesn't really take care of of eaters. 0:18:34.560 --> 0:18:36.680 It doesn't take care of small farmers. It doesn't take 0:18:36.680 --> 0:18:40.840 care of branchers and fishermen and people who actually are 0:18:40.920 --> 0:18:44.680 working in that food system to produce food. COVID really 0:18:45.000 --> 0:18:47.159 change the face of food. It's really shown us what 0:18:47.200 --> 0:18:50.479 our food system really is like and how vulnerable it is. 0:18:51.840 --> 0:18:55.200 So again, post coded, what do you want to see 0:18:55.280 --> 0:18:56.720 come out of this? What do you think of table 0:18:56.800 --> 0:18:59.879 right now? Like, for instance, I think right now if 0:18:59.880 --> 0:19:01.879 you had asked me four months ago whether or not 0:19:01.920 --> 0:19:04.960 we could have national health care, our natural national insurance 0:19:04.960 --> 0:19:06.720 for health care. I would say, there's no way you're 0:19:06.720 --> 0:19:08.960 gonna get sixty votes in the Senate. And now I'm 0:19:08.960 --> 0:19:12.400 thinking that possibly there there may be an appe site, 0:19:12.480 --> 0:19:15.760 especially when you look at twenty two million people who 0:19:15.880 --> 0:19:19.560 were laid off, and most cases health care is tied 0:19:19.600 --> 0:19:23.600 to your workplace, so probably sixteen millions of those people 0:19:23.720 --> 0:19:26.080 have no longer have health care. I would imagine someone 0:19:26.160 --> 0:19:29.240 may still have health care. And so it's showing just 0:19:29.240 --> 0:19:32.040 just how our system does not work. It's exposed, and 0:19:32.080 --> 0:19:35.200 so the question is how can you take that exposure 0:19:35.600 --> 0:19:39.080 and turn it into legislation when you are fighting an 0:19:39.119 --> 0:19:43.640 insurance industry and a political party that is completely opposed 0:19:43.680 --> 0:19:46.400 to it. In that political party, happens to the empower Now, 0:19:46.880 --> 0:19:49.760 you know, I think we're really hunger for smart solutions, 0:19:50.440 --> 0:19:53.760 especially now is food in security is growing and people 0:19:53.760 --> 0:19:56.280 are are more vulnerable than ever. So it's it's easy 0:19:56.359 --> 0:19:58.879 to point out how how things are broken. But the 0:19:58.960 --> 0:20:01.440 end of this podcast is to not only point out 0:20:01.480 --> 0:20:03.800 what is wrong with our food system, about to give 0:20:03.800 --> 0:20:07.080 some concrete ideas of how we can solve these problems 0:20:07.119 --> 0:20:11.160 and make sure that we all have a shot at healthy, 0:20:11.240 --> 0:20:13.760 nutritious food. And I don't have the crystal ball on this. 0:20:14.119 --> 0:20:17.119 I can tell you what I'd like to see, universal 0:20:17.119 --> 0:20:21.560 health care. I'd like to see universal school meals. I'd 0:20:21.560 --> 0:20:26.520 like to see a federal subsidy system for agriculture that 0:20:26.640 --> 0:20:32.240 rewards the growers of fruits and vegetables for producing them 0:20:32.280 --> 0:20:36.239 at a price that people can actually afford. I'd like 0:20:36.359 --> 0:20:40.960 to see, I mean, certainly, a minimum livable wage for everybody. 0:20:41.520 --> 0:20:46.679 Corporations that hire large numbers of employees in the food 0:20:46.720 --> 0:20:50.560 system pay the minimum wage, and those employees are on 0:20:50.680 --> 0:20:57.800 food stamps, so that the taxpayers are subsidizing those corporations 0:20:57.880 --> 0:21:00.760 for paying low wages. There's something wrong with that that 0:21:00.760 --> 0:21:02.960 that needs to fix. I don't think that would be 0:21:03.000 --> 0:21:05.800 hard to fix if there were political will. So the 0:21:05.840 --> 0:21:08.160 real question is how do you get the political will. 0:21:08.640 --> 0:21:12.200 It depends on how angry the population gets about what's 0:21:12.240 --> 0:21:19.480 going on right now. There is an element deliberately fostering 0:21:20.119 --> 0:21:24.920 a movement to try to unlock the economy and expose 0:21:25.000 --> 0:21:27.440 lots and lots of people to the virus. But we're 0:21:27.440 --> 0:21:29.879 going to be back and we're opening our country, and 0:21:29.920 --> 0:21:32.639 I hope that the lockdown governors. I don't know why 0:21:32.720 --> 0:21:35.280 they continue to lock down because if you look at Georgia, 0:21:35.280 --> 0:21:37.679 if you look at Florida, if you look at the 0:21:37.680 --> 0:21:41.320 ones that are most energetic about opening, they are doing 0:21:41.359 --> 0:21:44.399 tremendous business. And that this is what these numbers are 0:21:44.440 --> 0:21:47.480 all about. So what if people die? And I've heard 0:21:47.520 --> 0:21:50.760 people say that it just takes my breath away. Yeah, 0:21:51.160 --> 0:21:53.120 I mean, I guess, I guess. My hope is that 0:21:53.280 --> 0:21:57.280 COVID can bring together some sort of cooperation. Wouldn't that 0:21:57.800 --> 0:22:01.720 wouldn't wouldn't be? Would be nice? Well, I think that 0:22:02.160 --> 0:22:05.080 you have to use the political system in the way 0:22:05.760 --> 0:22:09.120 everybody else uses the political system. You get as many 0:22:09.200 --> 0:22:13.600 people together as you possibly can to write letters, to call, 0:22:14.440 --> 0:22:19.760 to zoom their congressional representatives and make their congressional representatives 0:22:19.840 --> 0:22:24.720 know that they want a better food assistant system, they 0:22:24.760 --> 0:22:29.119 want a better healthcare system, they want better school food, 0:22:29.640 --> 0:22:32.240 and they want these things and think that they deserve 0:22:32.359 --> 0:22:36.000 these things and demand these things. I mean, this is 0:22:36.240 --> 0:22:40.159 a time for political action, but it requires large numbers 0:22:40.160 --> 0:22:42.600 of people doing it, and that means they have to 0:22:42.680 --> 0:22:46.680 be organized in some way. But if enough individuals call 0:22:46.800 --> 0:22:51.400 and complain, the congressional representatives will hear them, and they 0:22:51.440 --> 0:22:53.800 won't hear just one person, They have to hear lots 0:22:53.840 --> 0:22:56.439 of people, and I don't know any other way to 0:22:56.520 --> 0:23:00.800 do it. Yeah, I wish, I wish your crystal ball 0:23:00.880 --> 0:23:03.760 actually works, and a lot of the things that as 0:23:03.800 --> 0:23:05.760 you envision that I think would make for a better 0:23:05.960 --> 0:23:08.600 a better country, you know, hopefully, I guess. My my 0:23:08.680 --> 0:23:12.000 hope is that you know, COVID will bring about together, 0:23:12.160 --> 0:23:15.360 you know, some use, some coming together of these issues, 0:23:15.600 --> 0:23:19.639 at least a way to discuss them and move issues forward, 0:23:19.680 --> 0:23:22.000 as opposed to just flat out you know, sides are 0:23:22.080 --> 0:23:26.640 drawn and we're not getting anywhere. But anyway, I'm sure 0:23:26.840 --> 0:23:30.320 I'll see more of you out there, I certainly hope. So, yeah, 0:23:32.480 --> 0:23:34.720 I wanted to marry him to be on the first 0:23:34.760 --> 0:23:38.160 episode because whenever I need help, if I was going 0:23:38.200 --> 0:23:40.440 to the hill and lobbying on or else something, I 0:23:40.760 --> 0:23:42.959 always tried to get married on the phone first because 0:23:43.000 --> 0:23:46.320 she just had great insight not only two food systems, 0:23:46.359 --> 0:23:49.600 but the policies that we need to to change to 0:23:49.640 --> 0:23:53.160 create a board just system. So you know, the American 0:23:53.200 --> 0:23:55.840 food system really is, it's a web. It's complex, and 0:23:55.960 --> 0:23:58.080 once you start pulling on one string, you find that 0:23:58.119 --> 0:24:01.320 it's all connected to others, and so we're going to 0:24:01.400 --> 0:24:03.560 explore all of that, and we're gonna actually take a 0:24:03.560 --> 0:24:05.639 look at how the sausage is made. So to speak. 0:24:05.880 --> 0:24:07.520 I'd like to say I've seen both. I've seen how 0:24:07.560 --> 0:24:10.120 the law is made and so and and how sausage 0:24:10.160 --> 0:24:13.080 is made, and I'll stick to the sausage. No, this 0:24:13.119 --> 0:24:15.480 isn't a story about recipes, and it's not a podcast 0:24:15.480 --> 0:24:18.000 about you know, all the cool things happening in the 0:24:18.040 --> 0:24:20.280 chef Weralda. You know that's all great, and that podcast 0:24:20.320 --> 0:24:22.280