The Checkout

1:00 – How did you end up writing about food and farming?9:15 - On food safety and it’s larger implications in food systems.17:30 - On-farm food safety issues.23:00 - On the roots of inequity and colonialism in the food system.30:00 - On conventional food production and policy intersections.37:30 - On the development of rural demographics.48:15 - On Wendell Berry57:00 - Critiques of the Good Food Movement.1:05 - On farm viability.1:13 - Book Recommendations!The Dictator’s HandbookTerror Management Theory

The Checkout speak with Noemi Barrera, a union organizer with Local 338, and Rodolfo Mendez, a farmworker at Pindar Vineyards who recently joined RWDSU’s first farmworker union in New York State.

1:00 – Can you tell us a bit about what it’s like to farm in India?4:00 – How is farming different and similar to farming in the US?6:00 – What in India is farming concentrated?10:30 – What are the socioeconomic policies being pushed in India government right now, and how does it impact farmers?12:45 – How are these policies related to the 70’s Green Revolution?19:00 – How have farmers resisted these laws and policies?22:00 – What policies need to change in India?24:00 – What can we do to support? 26:00 – Book Recommendations!Keep Moving On - The Migration of a Punjabi Sikh Family, Amred SinghThe Paradox of India’s Bread Basket, Malika Core

1:00 – What got you interested in organizing foodworkers in meat processing?5:00 – What is it like to work in a meat processing plant?8:00 – How are meat processor workers treated by their employers?10:30 – How has COVID impacted the lives and work of workers in meat processing plants?14:30 – What role should OSHA play in regulating working conditions?16:15 – How have workers responded to poor working conditions during COVID?20:00 – How has COVID impacted the families and communities of their workers?22:00 – What should the government do to balance meat processor power?24:30 – What is your vision for organizing?29:00 – What does a fair and just food system look like to you?31:00 – How to support and additional resources.

The Checkout speaks with Cristina Lujan, an employee and union member with BCTGM Local 37 about their working conditions and demands.

1:00 – What motivated you to build a compendium of agroecogology?5:00 – What was discussed at the UN Food Summit you attended?7:00 – Can agroecology feed the world?11:00 – Is agroecology scalable?15:30 – Can agroecology provide meaningful livlihoods?18:00 – Can agroecology help solve climate change?24:00 – How can agroecology be molded with the current framework for the globalized food system? 28:30 – What is agroecology, exactly? 31:30 – How do we prevent agroecology from being gentrified and commodified?37:00 – What are the next steps for furthering agroecology?39:00 – Closing thoughts.

Episode #97 Notes1:00 - What motivated you to start Saffron Road?4:15 - What does halal mean? And what are the standards and certifiers around it?8:00 - What was the path to market for your company?11:20 - What were your biggest challenges getting to market in the first few years?13:15 - How do you handle naysayers in the halal space?21:00 - On Saffron Road’s certifications and sustainability standards.24:00 - What lessons have you learned that you’d share with us?28:00 - How have you managed through COVID?32:45 - Tell us about your social impact through the purchases you make?43:00 - Book Recommendations!Green Deen, Ibrahim Abdul-Matin, Keith EllisonMarketing to the New Majority, David BurgosHalal Branding, Dr. Jonathan Wilson

The Kellogg’s strike is over and workers have a new contract. The Checkout recently spoke with rank and file Kellogg’s worker Victor Francia, a member of BCTGM Local 50G in Omaha, Nebraska.

Episode #95 Notes:30 How did you get interested in immigration and agriculture?5:00 What is the premise of Fruits of Labor?9:30 The political-economic context of farm work in the US.15:00 What other parts of the food sector do you explore in this film?23:30 On the experience of women in farm work.36:30 What can we do to support your work?

Episode #94 Notes:30 The political-economic context for farm workers in the US, and its exclusion from labor laws.3:00 How does immigration policy related to farm worker rights?6:00 Where do a lot of farm workers come from in the US?8:30 On agriculture in the Skagit Valley in Washington State.12:30 On recent farm worker labor unrest and organizing in Washington State.20:00 How have farm workers been treated during COVID?27:00 How has climate change and extreme heat impacted farm workers?33:00 How are farm workers organizing around food soverignty?40:00 Closing thoughts.

Episode #93 Notes:30 Why did you make “They’re Trying to Kill Us”?2:00 On growing up in Ferguson, Missouri influence you?5:00 On food related health outcomes.7:30 On Racial Capitalism and defining Food Deserts.13:00 Industrial animal food product and chronic disease in black communities.17:00 Interconnectivity between large corporate interests. 20:00 Harnessing the power and motivation of Black Lives Matter and other movements around the country.22:00 What are the benefits of a plant-based diet?28:00 Goals and hopes for folks who watch this film.30:45 Closing thoughts.

Episode #92 Notes:30 Introduction to Agroecology 7:05 Areas of research 9:50 What is Agroecology 12:15 Research strategies 15:40 Agroecology and Regenerative Ag18:00 Agroecology and GMOs23:00 Agroecology, Justice and Farmers29:20 Local food systems 39:50 A Just transition 48:50 Further Reading

Episode #90 NotesJessica Choy, Campaign Director of Unite Here1:00 - What is Unite Here? And why is Unite Here organizing against Hello Fresh?4:15 - What was it like working in a Hello Fresh facility during COVID-19?8:45 - What spurred this campaign at Hello Fresh?10:30 - What are workers hoping to achieve through organizing at Hello Fresh?12:00 - Where do you see the labor movement going in the US?14:00 - Why would you encourage someone to organize?John Youngston, Shipping Department at Hello Fresh18:45 - Tell us about what you do at Hello Fresh.19:30 - What’s it been like working at Hello Fresh during COVID-19?21:00 - What got you interested in forming a union at Hello Fresh?22:15 - What are the benefits of forming a union?23:15 - Why is there so much labor unrest in the last few months in the food industry?25:15 - How has Hello Fresh reacted to the labor organizing efforts?26:15 - What should we know about how we should improve the food system?28:00 - How can we support your campaign?

The Checkout does a deep dive on E.U.’s expansive Farm To Fork framework and where the USDA has gone wrong in their approach to food systems. This one’s for you, Secretary Vilsack.

Episode #89 Notes1:00 - What is your motivation?2:30 - Why did you start the Plant Based Foods Association (PBFA)?5:00 - What are some of your proudest accomplishments at PBFA?8:00 - Since you’ve left PBFA, what thoughts and concerns do you have for plant based foods?11:30 - Why won’t ‘the marketplace’ fix the food system?15:30 - On plant based food’s company advocacy.19:00 - On greenwashing and cellular agriculture.26:30 - On food tech and experiments gone awry.35:30 - What happened to health as a core value in veganism?43:00 - Book Recommendations!Winners Take All, Anand GiridharadasBillion Dollar Burger, Chase PurdyA Foodie’s Guide To Capitalism, Eric Holt-Gimenez

Episode #88 Notes0:45 - Alan’s issues of synthetic biology and GMO.9:15 - On gene editing, CRISPR, and defining synthetic biology.22:00 - How these technologies work and how they’re deployed in food production.27:00 - Who is funding these technologies in food production?38:00 - The Commons as a response to consolidated agricultural land ownership.42:00 - On GMO’s in Africa.Book RecommendationThe Great Transformation, Karl Polanyi

Episode #87 Notes1:00 - What makes Dr. Bronner’s supply chain so unique?4:30 - How did the supply chain come about and develop?14:00 - What are the typical conditions of farmers and supply chain workers?21:40 - How have workers and owners in the Dr. Bronner’s supply chain benefited from their relationship with y’all?27:00 - How have customers reacted to your developments in supply chain? And is it replicable?35:00 - How is Dr. Bronner’s approach creating a more fair and just food system?40:00 - Book Recommendations!Honor They Label, Gero LesonThe Carbon Farming Solution, Eric ToensmeierEntangled Lives: How fungi make our worlds, change our minds, and shape our future, Merlin SheldrakeAgroecology: Science and Politics, Rosset and Altieri

How do we understand incoming food technologies? The Checkout does a deep dive on the science and political economy of synthetic biology, microbial fermentation and New GMOs. Plus, two inspiring examples of worker-led victories in the food system.