Farm To Table Talk

COP 28  was widely expected to call for drastic reduction of meat consumption in Western Nations. That didn't happen! Instead it was decided that the world needs to scale up productivity growth of livestock, implementing best practices around the world. "Livestock plays a crucial economic role ....high quality protein ...essential for good health". Eric Mittenthal, the Chief Strategy Officer of the American Meat Institute was in Doha with TheProteinPact.org as discussions considered country level policies that center food as a climate solution and a way to mitigate the climate crisis. Livestock farming and meat consumption have a positive role in that mission.  www.theproteinpact.org

The next generation of farmers of color are being inspired and  empowered to grow high quality seasonal vegetables for local urban communities.  It's a mission of We Grow Farms and the Ujamaa Farmer Collective to grow food regeneratively, ensure secure land tenure and promote equitable access to resources for historically underserved farmers of color. Nelson Hawkins is featured at Eco Farm and Farm To Table Talk to share the story of how Sacramento urban farmer natives are making a difference for themselves, their community and other aspiring farmers. #EcoFarm2024 www.wegrowfarms.org  

Many segments of Agriculture are experiencing changes to increased focus on regenerative, sustainable, more earth friendly farming practices. Although farmers usually prioritize doing what is best for their soil, today's changes are being hastened by major food companies such as Mars and WalMart requiring confirmation of the practices that their consumers are increasingly expecting.  Jeff Van Pevenage is the President at CEO  of Portland based Columbia Grain International where the mission is to nourish the world safely by supporting producers and customers in an evolving Ag landscape. www.columbiagrain.com

The peak of freshness is often best achieved by freezing.  The advances in freezing technologies is allowing consumers to enjoy breeds, varieties, climate friendly production practices and geographical differences in food products both at their favorite store and direct to their door from farmers around the world. Ruben Cortez and  Wesley O'Brien, co-founders of Frozen Logistics are empowering farmers, particularly small-scale and local producers, by offering them a direct channel to reach consumers. This includes increased revenue for farmers, cost savings for consumers, and the convenience of purchasing directly with cold chain management, stringent quality control,  eco-friendly packaging and efficient transportation. www.frozenlogistics.com    

Raising pigs for pork today is different than yesteryears.  Pig farms are much larger and more specialized with "sow farms" artificially inseminating females, farrowing pigs and supplying 'wean to finish' pork producers with weaned 15 pound pigs to grow to market weights of about 280 pounds. On Cheryl Walsh's family's sow farm fresh boar semen is delivered twice a week to breed over 2,000 sows who produce close to 30 pigs each per year. A pig is is born about every minute of every day and Cheryl still finds time to explain how and why pigs are raised the way they are today. www.ilpork.com

Yes a well raised vegetable can taste great, but it’s not ice cream. What if every time you dig into ice cream, you could be supporting the next movement of farming, positively changing our planet for a better future: removing harmful carbon from our air; creating water-retaining soil; building biodiverse and nutrient-rich topsoil. Alec Jaffe taught himself to make ice cream in elementary school for a school project and grew up exploring his relatives’ sustainable farmland. He didn’t realize how defining those childhood moments would be until he was an uninspired and unsatisfied adult perusing pints in the freezer aisle. He knew we could do better so he perfected his signature recipe and set out to source the best earth friendly ingredients. The result is Alec’s Ice Cream a first-ever regenerative organic ice cream—improving the world through the way it’s created and through the smiles that it creates in turn. www.alecsicecream.com

Keeping family farms viable will require higher technology and diversification that goes beyond past experience.  Tomorrow's farmers may need to learn robotics or global trend analysis and how to create non-traditional income streams, outside of agriculture.  Dino Giacomazzi considers these options as he reflects on his experience that started on a Central Valley  California Dairy to global music touring and Bay Area high tech before returning to the farm where it was necessary to shift from dairy to almonds. Now he sees even more changes ahead if his own children decide to continue the family farm.

If we can't bring the city to the farm, bring the farm to the city. That's what Organic  farmers did during Climate Week. Right in Rockefeller Center a pop up farm was created complete with tractor, barn, cows (sort of) and real farmers, including Ohio dairy farmer Jordan Settlage.  Since the US is losing 100,00 family farms each decade it's time to not just tell consumers where their food comes from but how we all need to protect where their food is coming from. www.organicvalley.com

QR codes can add important farm and ranch stories to menus wherever increasingly curious customers are purchasing food.  Coming out of the pandemic, consumers began seeing QR codes with menu selections that allowed them to order at the new outdoor sidewalk venues without handling traditional menus.  Although restrictions have eased, QR codes have not gone away and in fact are becoming more prevalent -- sometimes allowing consumers to see precisely where their food purchase came from and how it was produced. Eric Seymour, VP of Channel Programs with www.meandu.com sees restaurant owners banking on technology and consumers welcoming smart tech personalization that could include taking diners on a virtual trip to the origin of their orders.

Nine per cent of all green house gas emissions in the US are from Agriculture and cattle are responsible for 2%.  To identify the magnitude of the challenges, EPA does an annual inventory of the GHG contributions from each industry. In the effort to achieve carbon neutrality, Methane from cattle production has become a major target; however per capita consumption has already been declining for years while the population keeps growing, with corresponding demand for more meat in global diets.  Fortunately solutions are being found in programs like AgNext at Colorado State University where Dr. Sara Place is a Professor of Feedlot Systems. www.agnext.colostate.edu

Getting to know a farmer is how caring consumers should start and if you’re a farmer “get known” by being available to answer questions that explain how and why you do what you do. For this mission Dana DiPrima founded For Farmers, a movement designed to recognize and support small farmers by sharing their stories, dispelling myths, and providing them with grants and other resources. Dana shares farmer stories on the Talk Farm to Me podcast and social media (mainly Instagram @xoxofarmgirl), where she also unpacks various myths about farming. Farmer grant nominations will begin on National Farmer’s Day and a review board will select farmers who will receive the grants. www.farmersmovement.com

“We are the ones we have been waiting for” to improve the food system says Chef and farmer Mollie Englehart. Rather than wait for a government agency to fix what’s wrong, consumers make the vote that counts when they purchase food grown right from farms or restaurants they can trust. Raised on a small farm in New York state there was college, music, poetry and restaurant transitions before Mollie became a farmer closing the loop –recycling wasted food from the restaurant kitchens to their own LA area farms for compost producing rich soil and more food grown to return to the restaurant kitchens. Building community, growing sustainable food, practicing regenerative agriculture and cultivating new ways of thinking is now extending from California to Texas where regenerative ranch life is being shared in the heart of Hill country. www.sowaheart.com www.sageveganbistro.com www.sovereignityranch.com  

Oil is just one letter short of being a four letter word as processed foods in general are widely condemned. Yet there are good-for -you virgin oils such as walnut, olive, grapeseed, avocado, sesame and others that are not fully refined, stripped of nutritional benefits.   Matthieu Kohlmeyer knows good oils start with good farming. He set out from France for Northern California to build a company from scratch taking high-quality walnuts, drying them, and then toasting them in custom-made, French cast-iron kettles before pressing them to extract pure, "virgin" oil. At the time  walnut oils available in the United States were overly heavy or diluted with cheaper oil. Consumers took to La Tourangelle’s trich tasting, artisan oil full of "good-for-you" omega-3 fatty acids. From the farm to our tables, byproducts of well grown produce such as non vegetable virgin oils offer flavor, nutrition and climate smart production for consumers who care more than ever. www.latourangelle.com

The public is concerned about the accuracy of food marketing, particularly  antibiotic usage in animal products according to research by Food Forward. Promoting the illusion of exceptional animal treatment and practices while masking industrial conditions under which animals are raised and slaughtered, is called humane washing. Andrew DeCoriolis, Executive Direcror of Food Forum explores Americans’ knowledge of and expectations for meat labeling, support for transparency and regulation of meat industry marketing around issues like antibiotic usage, and the extent to which marketing misleads the public. www.foodforward.com

For local food, what if the Farmers Market could come to you? That's the idea that Rachelle Gould had when she started a multi farm CSA  in Red Bluff CA with the concept of collaboration over competition. There was an immediate response from neighboring towns and counties to receive local produce and protein from area farms. The multi farm CSA model is open for anyone including individuals with a love for local food but do not farm, farmers that are looking to increase revenue and customers, or co-ops of farms. Field to Fork Tehama, LLC is a multi-farm CSA that provides members with a weekly box filled with vegetables, fruit and protein that are currently in season. www.fieldtoforkca.com

Reducing methane reduces warming. Methane is nothing more than energy that instead of off-gasing in to the atmosphere can be captured to use for transportation and other benefits--converting a liability into a utility.  Livestock, not only cattle, contribute to methane off-gasing now but less in the future when as a result terperatures will be go down. Technologies and new research are providing the new solutions ranging from methane digesters on farm manure holding lagoons and non-gmo genetics to breed low methane animals. At the center of these develoopments is Clear Center at UC Davis, under the direction of Dr. Frank Mithourner who joins Farm To Table Talk to shares the learned facts and  promise of better climate future.  www.clear.uc.davis.edu

As radical weather continues, Earth friendly protein may increasingly be found on shopping lists and menu plans.  If the taste and nutrition of bovine products without concerns over the potent Green House Gas methane is a priority, Ostrich will earn a try. Alexander McCoy discovered  Ostrich when he was working in Africa and preparing for an iron man competition.  He loved it and ran his best time.  Back home in Idaho he couldn't find ostrich for Christmas dinner for his family, so after also becoming sold on the taste and nutrition of ostrich, he decided to change careers and produce ostrich--American Ostrich Farms.  www.americanostrichfarms.com

A carbon neutral food system can become the shared goal of farmers, consumers, processors and retailers.  Marcus Lovell Smith, the CEO of Neutral Foods believes we can drive more change with food than anywhere else and that decarbonizing food is essential to our future.  Consumers are ready to improve their own personal carbon footprints and their food choices can add up to major positive impact, even more than driving an electric car.  Some day supermarkets could even have have carbon neutral food aisles in response to consumer demand. Neutral Foods debuted nationally in 2021 with organic whole and 2% milk products that are now available in more than 2,000 grocery stores from coast to coast.  They partner with family farms that join the climate change fight with innovative on-farm projects. eatneutral.com

The true cost and true value of food should consider more than just price and yields. Saving our food systems from collapse will need smaller farms, regenerative practices, multiple species and strong enough markets says Matt Maier the chief farmer/owner of Thousand Hills Lifetime Grazed 100% Grassfed Beef. Nourishing soil, plants, cattle and people begins with  producers ranging from Oklahoma to Minnesota who have shared views of leaving the land better.  Matt Maier saw that the welcome chaos of nature has disappeared from too much of today's farms and ranches. Their regenerative venture with product available in all 50 states is allowing consumers to vote with their dollars for authentic regenerative practices.  https://thousandhillslifetimegrazed.com/our-story/

If you want a small sustainable farm but don't have the land why not grow shrimp?  Shrimp is a popular food but travels a long way to the table, changes hands frequently, is frozen and thawed repeatedly and likely has been raised in less than ideal circumstance. Steve Sutton had a vision of a better way as he learned shrimp farming in Asia before establishing Transparent Sea to grow shrimp for local, particular customers. The first facility is in a warehouse in Los Angles that receives hundreds of thousands of baby shrimp that are grown out to sell as prawns to local restaurants and stores. Shrimp are consumed everywhere so why not grow them everywhere? When you dream of having a small farm, maybe you should think small, with shrimp, anywhere. www.transparentsea.com