Midterm Election Results In Wisconsin, This Week In Congress, Where’s Our Food System Going?

Air Date:
Heard On Central Time

The International Urban and Small Farm Conference in Milwaukee kicks off Wednesday with a conversation between Will Allen and Michael Pollan. We get a preview of this conversation about where our food system is going and the vital role small farms play in our food production network. We also discuss 2014 midterm election results with WPR’s state government reporter and check in on the latest news from Congress.

Featured in this Show

  • Small, Urban Farms Are Increasingly Important, Experts Say

    A United Nations study found that more than 800 million people around the world are chronically undernourished, and it’s likely to get worse.

    But though the situation is dire, there is one bright spot: Small farmers are stepping up by producing roughly 80 percent of the world’s food.

    Small farmers and urban agriculture will be in the spotlight this weekend in Milwaukee at Growing Power’s third annual National-International Urban Agriculture and Small Farm Conference.

    The event will feature two of the leading voices on food politics in America: Will Allen and Michael Pollan. Few know the challenges of the food system better than these two. Allen is a farmer, and is founder and CEO of the Milwaukee-based agriculture organization Growing Power. The former professional basketball player has grown the operation to several sites throughout southeastern Wisconsin and into Chicago. His work earned him a MacArthur Genius Grant.

    Pollan is the best-selling author of “The Omnivores Dilemma,” “In Defense of Food” and “The Botany of Desire.” He teaches journalism at the University of California-Berkeley.

    “Our food system is in crisis,” said Pollan. “It’s not doing the bare minimum you want from a food system, which is to feed everybody and keep everybody healthy.”

    Pollan points out the terrible irony with the U.N. study. While millions throughout the world starve for food, a nearly equal amount, if not more, are overfed and struggle with obesity and Type 2 diabetes.

    The problem is in both directions and Pollan thinks they’re caused by similar things.

    “We’re very good at growing commodity crops — corn and soy, wheat and rice — and a lot of that food ends up feeding animals and getting turned into junk food,” said Pollan. “But we’re not so good at putting real food on people’s plates.”

    Allen said the problem abroad can be solved here at home.

    “I believe the only way to end world hunger is to do it at the local level,” said Allen. “Our work has been to inspire people to go into action and grow their own food in their own backyards.”

    Allen thinks there’s a larger issue preventing a movement toward a more self-sustaining model of food.

    “The big challenge is that we have is to grow farmers,” said Allen, adding that the average age of the American farmer is about 65 years old.

    Both Allen and Pollan are encouraged that a younger generation are beginning to pick up their shovels and plant seeds. The enthusiasm to grow food comes after farmers suffered the butt of jokes for decades. Pollan said the prestige of being a farmer is returning.

    “One of the ways we encourage people to farm is by revaluing farming. In this country we denigrated farming for many, many years. It was official policy to reduce the number of farmers, take people off the farms and move them into the cities,” Pollan said.

  • 2014 Midterm Election Results In Wisconsin

    Wisconsin Public Radio state capitol reporter Shawn Johnson recounts the results of the the midterm elections and one of the tightest gubernatorial races in the country.

  • Where Is Our Food System Headed?

    Few know the challenges of our food systems better than Michael Pollan and Will Allen. In a conversation, they share where they see the food system going, and how politics, global climate change and big business affect what we eat.

  • This Week In Congress – November 5, 2014

    USA Today Politics and Congress Editor Paul Singer joins Central Time for his weekly update on happenings in Congress.

Episode Credits

  • Rob Ferrett Host
  • Veronica Rueckert Host
  • Marika Suval Producer
  • Galen Druke Producer
  • Will Allen Guest
  • Michael Pollan Guest
  • Shawn Johnson Guest
  • Paul Singer Guest