September 13, 2012: "Fresh Bucks" for Fresh Farmer’s Market Produce: Grassroots Organizing Celebrates a Victory for Low Income Communities

When grassroots organizers pushed back a proposal to cut the Farmer’s Market Nutrition Program for low income families in 2011, they learned about the state’s eight million dollar contract with JP Morgan Chase to administer electronic benefit transfers for food stamps. After a year of protests and actions, many of their demands have been met. One that took root recently is "Fresh Bucks," a pilot farmer’s market program aimed at increasing access to healthy foods for low income and people of color communities. Martha Baskin has our story.

Listen here:

August 23, 2012: Managing Water Conflict Is About Lifting Boundaries Off the Map and Human Interaction: A Conversation With Water Negotiator Aaron Wolf

Can global water conflicts between people who dislike each other be negotiated? Water negotiator and Oregon State University scholar Aaron Wolf has seen it happen in tense river basins all over the world. Martha Baskin caught up with him and brings us this story.

Listen here:

August 2, 2012: Shifting Tar Sands: The Continent’s Dirtiest Oil Set to Expand in Puget Sound

Opponents of Canada’s tar sands call it one of the planet’s biggest carbon bombs. A quiet expansion of the Trans-Mountain pipeline owned by US company, Kinder-Morgan, would more than double tar sands oil capacity in Washington state. On the anniversary of the costliest pipeline disaster in US history, activists staged a mock oil spill on the steps of Seattle’s City Hall to bring the point home. Martha Baskin takes a closer look.

Listen here:

July 26, 2012: The Story of Corn, The Farm Bill, and an Iowa Farmer and Public Caught in the Crossfire

Crops burning in the field are the subject of hot debate this summer. But little attention has been given to the practice of monoculture farming and a gargantuan piece of legislation known as "The Farm Bill." Martha Baskin takes a closer look at the forces fueling the growth of certain crops; and the farmers and activists attempting to fight the tide.

Listen here:

Below is a partial list of organizations, agencies, non-profits and other entities to learn more or get engaged in the Food and Farm Bill issue. For a complete list see Dan Imhoff’s Food Fight, A Citizen’s Guide to a Food and Farm Bill

Sustainable Agriculture:
American Farmland Trust
National Campaign for Sustainable Agriculture
National Family Farm Coalition

Conservation Groups:
Defenders of Wildlife
Natural Resources Defense Council
Wild Farm Alliance

Policy:
Environmental Working Group
Food First
Institute for Agriculture and Trade Policy
Public Citizen

July 19, 2012: Anyone Listening While the Food You Eat & Land that Grows It Comes Up for Debate?

As the nation focuses on the economy, the presidential race, immigration, and most recently, the worst drought in half a century; a critical piece of legislation about the food you eat is being debated in Congress. Martha Baskin goes behind the scenes to bring us the first in a two part series.

Listen here:

July 12, 2012: Klickitat Canyon Winery

Does it matter whether the grapes that go into that wine you love come from vineyards where butterflies thrive and birds sing from oak trees? At Klickitat Canyon Winery in the Columbia Gorge that’s what winemaking is all about. Here, the ecosystem - the nuthatches and bush grasses - are just as important as the grapes. Martha Baskin has our story.

Listen here:

July 5, 2012: Oyster Reclamation: One Estuary and Community Shellfish Farm at a Time

Oysters on the half-shell – what’s a summer without them? For thousands of years oysters were considered inexhaustible in the Pacific Northwest. But loss of habitat, over-harvest, and most recent ocean waters saturated with greenhouse gases, are undermining stocks. Can these rich succulent marine creatures be reestablished in community shellfish farms? Martha Baskin takes a look and brings us the story.

Listen here: