September 27, 2012: Slow and Steady Wins the Race to Stop Climate Change

As the climate change crisis looms and presidential campaigns remain quiet on the issue, a local clean energy leader received an unexpected surprise – a $250,000 award for his work in promoting climate solutions. This week Green Acre Radio’s Martha Baskin interviews KC Golden about his work.

Listen here:

September 20, 2012: What Growers and Companies Talk About When They Talk "Organic"

For the state’s leading advocate for organic and sustainable farming, September is celebrate organic month. What’s the celebration about? And what do growers talk about when they talk "organic"? To find out Martha Baskin attended a cider and chocolate tasting event and paid a visit to a long-established organic farm in the Skagit Valley.

Listen here:

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: