TO THE BEST OF OUR KNOWLEDGE


PROMO FOR   10/4/2009         "Back to the Farm"
*Bright young men and women used to graduate and head for Wall Street or
a top corporate law firm.  Today   more and more of them are heading
back to the land.  After all, which would you rather do   wear a suit
and slave in a cubicle   or spend your days on your own land, growing
food for yourselves and your neighbors.  In this hour of To the Best of
Our Knowledge, America's small farm renaissance.  The lure of the
pastoral life and the vision of a new agrarian culture.


PROGRAM RUNDOWN:    "Back to the Farm"


0:00 - 28:55        SEGMENT 1: (28:55)
            Writer Michael Pollan ("The Omnivore's Dilemma" and "In
            Defense of Food") tells Steve Paulson that a lot of
            what's on supermarket shelves isn't food and that
            Americans have many options if they want to improve the
            quality of their diet.  He recommends going organic,
            shopping at farmer's markets and using CSA's. He says
            healthy food may cost more up front, but it all evens out
            when you factor in the health care costs of eating junk. 
            Also, We visit the Dane County Farmer's Market, just a
            few blocks from our studios, and hear from the farmers
            who sell their crops there. And, Brad Kessler was a
            writer in New York City.  He's still a writer, but now he
            lives on 75 acres in Vermont with a small herd of goats. 
            His book "Goat Song: A Seasonal Life, A short History of
            Herding, and the Art of Making Cheese" talks about what
            it's like to live with the animals that feed you. 
            Kessler tells Jim Fleming about his life, his goats, and
            making chevre.
                         
            Segment One Outcue:  "...PRI - Public Radio
            International."

28:56 - 29:25  LOCAL OPTION with music bed (:29)

29:26 - 39:55       SEGMENT 2: (10:29)
            We hear a bit more from the farmers of the Dane County
            Farmer's Market about what they've brought to market
            today.  Also, writer and cartoonist Lynda Barry ("Ernie
            Pook's Comeek") is an outspoken left-wing intellectual
            with an urban sensibility who now lives off the grid in
            rural Wisconsin.  She tells Steve Paulson how that
            happened. Barry's latest graphic novel is called "What It
            Is."
                         
            Segment Two Outcue:  "...PRI - Public Radio
            International."

39:56 - 40:25       LOCAL OPTION with music bed (:29)

40:26 - 53:00       SEGMENT 3: (12:34)
            Writer Michael Perry is the author of "Truck: A Love
            Story" and "Coop: A Year of Poultry, Pigs and Parenting." 
            He talks with Anne Strainchamps about his life combining
            writing with the new "back to the land" movement, and how
            he reconciles aspects of animal husbandry like butchering
            with raising his small daughters.  
                    
            Segment Three Outcue: PRI Audio Logo


For a copy of this hour, call 1-800-747-7444, and ask for program number
10-4-A.


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