Podcast appearances and mentions of michael dimock

The author, musician, homestead farmer, and host of the Full Expression podcast Dan Imhoff flips the table on Michael Dimock to explore the origins of Michael's interest in and career path within the good food movement.

Join Kelly Brownell in a conversation with Michael Dimock, Executive Director of Roots of Change, about transforming food systems through innovative policies. Discover how Roots of Change collaborates with various stakeholders to create nutrition incentive programs and support sustainable agriculture, focusing on community-first approaches. Learn about pioneering projects, insights into policy influence, and the future of agricultural practices. This episode provides an optimistic view of the evolving food system landscape and the potential for significant positive change. Interview Summary Why don't we begin by you explaining what Roots of Change does. What's the mission and role of the organization? Yes. We were originally founded by a group of philanthropic foundations that were very interested in food system change but had not seen much success in years. So we were really designed to be a catalyst to ignite the growth of what we would call the Good Food Movement. For 10 years, we were actually a philanthropic fund investing in different projects that built the power of the food movement. And then implemented projects that would catalyze change. That would show how you could scale change fairly rapidly by building collaboration. So that's really what we've been doing. And in 2013, the philanthropic fund ended, we'd spent down all the money. So we joined the Public Health Institute at that time because public health is such an incredibly important engine for food system change because the food system impacts public health so greatly. We've been since that time focused on policy change and implementing model demonstration projects. Thanks for that explanation. You talked about catalyzing change for transforming the food system. What sort of changes have you emphasized? We've been focused on a few key things. I would say that one of the most important for us has been healthy food access. And doing that through the creation of nutrition incentive programs. And the reason we're interested in that is, all the changes that we pursue are aimed to hit several different levers of change simultaneously. By building nutrition incentive programs, you help the small and midsize farmers who are supplying local grocery stores, the farmers markets, and at the same time, you're creating the funding for low-income families to actually purchase organic, regenerative, sustainable agriculture. From their local market. You get a lot of payoff for that kind of action. You mentioned incentives. How do incentives fit into this? There is a program, a federal program called the GUSNIP. Named after Gus Schumacher, who was Undersecretary at USDA during the Clinton years, and actually worked with us early on. And so that program is a pool of funding through the Farm Bill that is given as grants to either states or nonprofits that are creating these programs where a family comes in with their SNAP benefits, and their purchasing power is doubled. They're given matching dollars to buy fruits and vegetables from a farmer's market, a local store, grocery store. So it's an incentive to purchase fresh nutritious food. And so, we have worked on the original federal policy. We're one of the first demonstration projects to show how you do nutrition incentives working with folks in the upper Midwest and in the East. And then we created an analog. California also has a matching fund which helps us pull more money from the federal level. So, we can really get a big impact at the local level. And we built that California program as well. We've been really deep in nutrition incentives. But we also work on farmer farmworker protections from heat. It's a big problem out here in the West. Increasing temperatures. We're working with different scientists, epidemiologists, and farmers to figure out best management practices or technologies that keep farmers cool. And then we also work on programs to provide incentives for ranchers to produce regenerative meat, that is grass-finished meat. So, those are the three areas working in right now. But we're also just starting a project. I have a meeting today with the California Department of Food and Agriculture to develop a plan for mid and small-scale infrastructure for regional food systems in the state of California to be achieved by 2040. One thing I really like about your approach is the lining up of incentives to produce food in a way that's better for both human health and the environment. Because so many incentives are lined up the other way. Obviously, the food industry wants to make as much money as they can, and that comes from highly processed foods that aren't very good for health. And then the same sort of incentives lines up for agriculture to do industrial forms of agriculture where you maximize the yield per acre. To turn that around is really going to be a major effort. One thing I like about your approach is that you're trying different things that can become models for what could be used in a very broad scale in terms of public policy. I really admire that and like what you're doing. Do you have an overall strategy for helping bring about change? One of the things that we did in 2010-11 is we did a deep analysis of the food system and did a systems dynamic map of the entire food system. Working with leaders, Secretary of Agriculture for California, farmers - big size, small size, organic, conventional, with food justice folks. And we looked at where are the real intervention points. One of the things that we really realize is that, as you were pointing out, the current incentives are for industrialization, basically. And so, the question is, how do you actually change that? And policy is one important lever for doing that. So, we work a lot on trying to change the policy levers to create incentives for what we would call healthy and resilient agriculture. Tell me more about how you go about doing that. I'd love to hear when you're done with that, how you go about doing that with policymakers. Well, I'll jump right in on that. Let's look at what we did with nutrition incentives. So, working with Fair Food Network out of the upper Midwest, and Wholesome Wave out East, Roots of Change did a study. We created our own nutrition incentive programs using philanthropic dollars and some USDA kind of innovative dollars, and then we studied it for two years, what the impacts were. We wrote a report then, which went to Congress, to Debbie Stabenow in Minnesota, who was the Senator there who was on the ag committee. And she began writing a bill that would say, okay, let's provide incentives for people to buy healthy food that also helped the small farmers. So that switched the incentive from the big agricultural systems to the regional food system players. That was one way we did it. The other thing that we did in California was we organized all the farmers markets to go to the State of California and say, look, if you provide this nutrition incentive program in California and analog, we'll pull down more dollars from the federal government. The California legislature said that's a great idea. They got on board. Which then helped the farmers markets to provide more funding because farmers markets are often stressed. Too many markets, so there's problems. Competition between markets. So, to provide a new market, which is low-income families who are using nutrition incentives and their SNAP dollars, that was really important for the farmer's market. Those farmer's markets became another big piece of our strategy. Our way of making change was just to build collaborations, large collaborations of people. We work with many other nonprofits and farming groups in California to approach the legislature and over the last three years we've gotten $1.3 billion dollars in investments from the state of California into sustainable agriculture and food justice. Because we're able to build these large collaborations who convince the legislators who really care about votes that there's enough people out there want to see this happen. And we have just placed a billion-dollar request on the next bond, which will be in the next election, November. This November there's the climate bond. It's called a climate bond for the State of California. Ten billion dollars, one billion of that will be dedicated to nutrition, nutritional health, farm workers, and sustainable agriculture. So, in all ways, it's about getting enough voices. So, if you look at what we're really trying to do, we're trying to build the power of what we would call the Good Food Movement. Best of luck with that billion-dollar request. I really hope that goes through. You know, in the beginning of your response to my last question, you talked about a report that you did in concert with other organizations around the country and how that became influential in the policy process. Very often, some of the people in my orbit, scientists, wonder how they can help with this kind of thing and how they can do work that makes a difference. And I've often thought that speaking with people in the policy and advocacy world, like you, turns up some really interesting questions they could help address, if they knew what those questions were. But they often aren't having those conversations because they're mainly speaking to other scientists. That's one of the reasons why I so much like having people who approach things like you do on this podcast series. Scientists aren't our only listeners, but they're among them, and it's nice to give them ideas about how they can connect their work with what's going on out there on the ground in terms of policymaking. So, you emphasize putting people in communities first. What does that mean? And how does that play out in the work you do? It's a great segue from what you were just saying about the need to combine community voices with nonprofits and scientists, academics, and people who are good at research and who are good at analysis. Back to this idea of nutrition incentives that really grew out of what community groups were doing. The IRC (the International Rescue Committee) works with immigrants from Africa, primarily at that time who were coming into San Diego. And they were farmers, mostly. They were escaping violence, war, in their countries. And they came to San Diego and the IRC worked with them to create a farmer's market, and a farm - a community farm. And those folks were the ones that were saying, this program works. And this is a really good way to solve many problems at once. So, we were hearing from community members and the nonprofit that had created this model. So, it was a way of us understanding what was actually working on the ground. So that's one example. I can also say that in 2017, 2019 and 2020, we had terrible fires here in California. We also had all that followed with COVID in 2020. We were working with the University of California at Davis. Tom Tomich, who at that time was with the Ag Sustainability Institute at UC Davis. And we were doing research on how do you deal with climate change as small farmers? And what we realized is there was this moment in time when all of these things that have been piling up were impacting the ability to get meat. You'll remember that meat disappeared from shelves for a while because all the big plants that process meat in the Midwest were shut down due to COVID. So, what we did is then went out and we interviewed ranchers up and down the State of California, and we asked them, what do you need? And are you interested in finishing animals for grass-fed markets? Are you interested in building local markets? We got a lot of feedback that led to a white paper that Roots of Change published with the University of California at Davis and put out to the world. Which led to us getting a grant to actually take some of the suggestions and the recommendations we had gotten from the producers about what to do. What's that led to now? We have built a relationship with the University of California: ten campuses, five medical systems. They have committed to buy regenerative regional meat from the State of California. That grew out of a white paper, which was fed information by the ranchers on the ground, analyzed by academics and nonprofits, and delivered in a system that's now gotten the university to make a commitment. So, it's another example of just how you can mix all these great parties to get some sustainable change at a large scale? Now that leads me pretty nicely to what my next question. And it has to do with what's needed going forward and how do these things occur in more places in a bigger way than the places they are now. Now you mentioned, for example, the regenerative agriculture pledge that got made by the University of California system. That's a big enterprise. There are a lot of people that get touched by that system. So, that's a pretty impressive example of taking an idea that might've been smaller to begin with and then became bigger. Going forward, what kind of things are going to be needed to make that kind of thing happen more often? That's a really good question. Kelly, I think that one of it is communication. I mean, perhaps some somebody will hear this and reach out to us and say, how'd you do that? And then we'll say, well…and they'll tell us what they did and we'll learn from them. One of the things I'm really interested in, always been interested in, and one of the things that Roots of Change is focused on is trying to convene people to share information. Because you build partnerships when you share information. And those partnerships can become the engines for getting the policy makers or the corporations to change their modalities. How they're doing things. Because they realize, hey, the writing is on the wall. This has to happen. We need to figure out how to get there. And sometimes it's complex to get there because the food system is very complex. So, I would say that one of the things I'm really looking forward to is more cross collaboration. You know, we're living in the season of elections. We're hearing it on the news all the time. And the thing that drives the policy makers is whether or not they're going to be elected or reelected. And so, the more that we can convince them that there is a large majority of the public that wants to see these fundamental changes in the food system. We will have their support. We've seen it in California. We are getting incredible support from our Secretary of Agriculture, our governor, and our Secretary of Natural Resources. They work together to create things on the ground. I would say that the Tom Vilsack and Biden did a lot for regenerative agriculture, working on two big projects that have been funded by the USDA that will touch a thousand ranchers of bison and beef to get them to learn about, adapt, adopt, and then build new markets for their products. So that's an important piece. The other is the marketplace and companies want to sell their products. So, the more that consumers become discerning and what they're purchasing, the better off we're going to be. So, we have a podcast like you do. And what we're trying to do is just educate people about the connections between what they're doing and what the farmers and ranchers out there who are trying to do good work with the land and with health and with their workers. We just try to promote this idea of making good decisions about what they purchase. Tell us a little bit more about your podcast, which is called Flipping the Table. Tell us more about what you're trying to accomplish and the kind of people that you speak with. Well, it's similar to yours in a certain way, I would say. Because what I'm doing is interviewing the people that are doing the kinds of projects that we think are scaling change or could scale change. Or people who have a depth of understanding. So, the regenerative meat world, we've done a lot in the last few years. Talking to Nicolette Hahn Nyman, who wrote a couple of books about the meat system, with a great rancher up in Northern California, who advises other ranchers on how to finish their animals on grass in California in a dry environment. I just, today we dropped a podcast with Cole Mannix from the Old Salt Co op in Montana about the ranchers he's pulled together. The co op he's built that has a slaughter plant, restaurants, a meat shop, and has an online thing. And then they do a big, they do a big annual event in the summer during the solstice. So, you know, we're just trying to get voices who, like you are, who are, who are modeling and educating the public around what is happening. How much is actually happening. I've been in this world for 30 years almost, and I have to say, I have never been more optimistic about the scale of change, the accelerating speed of change, and the possibilities that lay ahead. BIO  Michael Dimock is an organizer and thought leader on food and farming systems and heads Roots of Change (ROC) a project of the Public Health Institute. ROC develops and campaigns for smart, incentive-based food and farm policies that position agriculture and food enterprises as solutions to critical challenges of the 21st century. Since 2006, Michael has been spawning and leading education and policy campaigns, community dialogues and creative engagements with government and corporate leaders to advance regenerative food and farm policies and practices that make agriculture and food enterprises solutions to critical public health challenges of the 21st century. His leadership has helped create one new law and funding program at the federal level and three new California laws that included two new funding programs and five successful budget requests. He began his career in 1989 as a sales executive in Europe for agribusiness and in 1992 founded Ag Innovations Network to provide strategic planning for companies and governments seeking healthier food and agriculture. In 1996, he founded Slow Food Russian River and, from 2002 to 2007, he was Chairman of Slow Food USA and a member of Slow Food International's board of directors. Michael's love for agriculture and food systems grew from experiences on a 13,000-acre cattle ranch in Santa Clara County in his youth and a development project with Himalayan subsistence farmers in Nepal in 1979. He is the host of the podcast Flipping the Table featuring honest conversations about food, farms and the future. 

How will the assassination of Hezbollah leader Hassan Nasrallah affect the Middle East? One year on from the conflict in Gaza, and the increasing political polarisation in America.

It's been a wicked googly of a week in American politics! To start, Henry appraises how the polls might be affected by both the attempt on Trump's life and the announcement of an all-outsider ticket, with J.D. Vance in the VP slot. Next, he and Michael Dimock (president of the Pew Research Center) delve into […]

Regenerative small and mid-size livestock producers are beginning to see potential solutions to their marketing problems.  Direct sales are happening on line, at Farmers Markets and to Restaurants but the links to larger institutions where there is need for grinding, braising and stew meats in large quantities is lacking.  These are exactly the cuts that small to mid size ranches have trouble marketing so instead they accumulate in their freezers. Michael Dimock, the President of Roots of Change, sees this changing as work begins with the USDA, CA Department of Food and Ag and the University of California System (that feeds up to 600,000 people a day).  Ultimately the sufficient quantities of product will be pooled to supply large institutions with regenerative locally produced meat as an alternative to product that may currently be sourced and blended from an  assortment of countries on other continents. www.rootsofchange.org

Only 19% of Americans are satisfied with the current state of the nation and 58% say that life for people like them is worse today than it was 50 years ago, according to an April  survey from Pew Research Center. During an event on “Strengthening Democracy in America,” part of Pew's 75th anniversary celebration, filmmaker Ken Burns, Pew Research Center president Michael Dimock, and Syracuse University professor Beverly Kirk discussed those findings before a live and online audience. The panel highlighted the challenges Americans have faced throughout history, how public opinion and civic engagement influence the perception of our democracy, and how lessons learned from the past can help inform the present and future.

COVID disruptions again showed that instead of dependence on a few global meat conglomerates, States and Provinces need more small-scale slaughter and cut-and-wrap facilities -- creating  skilled jobs throughout rural communities.  The Biden Administration's commitment to increase fairness in livestock and poultry markets, and USDA's new short-term funding for local meat processing, are a start. Coupling those with systemic solutions proposed in Congress and  Legislatures will create  Meat Processing Inspection programs “equal to” USDA inspection.  Michael Dimock and Roots of Change are working to unleash more market opportunities for small- and mid-scale meat producers, increase local meat supply chain resilience, protect workers and aid rural communities. www.rootsofchange.org Read more at: https://www.sacbee.com/opinion/op-ed/article254243278.html#storylink=cpy  

Find out how what America is looking for in a leader has changed. In addition, not only are there doubts about the mechanics and logistics of the U.S. election, but also the American public is going into it with deeper doubts about the qualifications of the voters in the first place. Learn how Americans’ attitudes are shaping the country.

Farmers and ranchers should "be recognized for the the unique ways they enable the sustainable foods systems of the future and nourish our communities, natural resources, and planet".  The US Farmers and Ranchers Alliance (USFRA)  was created to accomplish that vision with a mission to co-create sustainable food systems, connecting farmers, ranchers and food makers.  The CEO of the USFRA Erin Fitzgerald explains that American agriculture is bending but not breaking from the strains of Covid 19 in this conversation with the co-hosts of a developing podcast "Beyond Your Table".  Michael Dimock the host of Flipping the Table podcast and Rodger Wasson the host of Farm To Table Talk have joined to bring conversations from the real dirt to common ground-Beyond Your Table. www.USFRA.org

This episode was recorded before COVID-19 changed everything, but many of the themes we discuss about public opinion polling and the importance of trust and facts to a democracy are perhaps more relevant now than ever before. We talked with Michael Dimock, president of the Pew Research Center, about how the organization approaches polling in […]

Stat: 59 percent: The percentage of Americans who say they have little to no confidence in the public’s political wisdom. Story: As the new year—and an election year—begins, we turn to data on our democracy to learn more about how Americans view institutions and civic life today. Host Dan LeDuc speaks with Michael Dimock, president of the Pew Research Center, about the latest research on trust, facts, and democracy in America.

Matthew Taylor and Ian Leslie dissect new (and sometimes controversial) research on the divide between 'anarchists' and 'centrists'; the voters who live for drama; and the real reasons people share misleading news stories online.Plus, the similarities and differences between US and UK public opinion, as Matthew meets two of the top researchers from either side of the pond: director of the Pew Research Center, Michael Dimock; and director of the Policy Institute at King's College London, Bobby Duffy.LinksAnarchy in the UK (and Everywhere Else): The Ideological Roots of PopulismA “Need for Chaos” and the Sharing of Hostile Political Rumors in Advanced DemocraciesMatthew Taylor: Populism is growing because more people than you think want chaosIan Leslie: British voters are divided into anarchists and centrists – but the anarchists are calling the shotsYouTube: King's College London event: The state of trust, facts and democracyYouTube: The RSA: Why We're Wrong About Nearly Everything with Bobby DuffyPolarised: Identity, with Francis Fukuyama (episode 11, December 2018)Matthew Taylor: In tackling polarisation and anger, understanding our opponents is vital. It’s also extremely hardProduced by James Shield.Music by Blue Dot Sessions.Brought to you by the RSA.

Matthew Taylor and Ian Leslie dissect new (and sometimes controversial) research on the divide between 'anarchists' and 'centrists'; the voters who live for drama; and the real reasons people share misleading news stories online.Plus, the similarities and differences between US and UK public opinion, as Matthew meets two of the top researchers from either side of the pond: director of the Pew Research Center, Michael Dimock; and director of the Policy Institute at King's College London, Bobby Duffy.LinksAnarchy in the UK (and Everywhere Else): The Ideological Roots of PopulismA “Need for Chaos” and the Sharing of Hostile Political Rumors in Advanced DemocraciesMatthew Taylor: Populism is growing because more people than you think want chaosIan Leslie: British voters are divided into anarchists and centrists – but the anarchists are calling the shotsYouTube: King's College London event: The state of trust, facts and democracyYouTube: The RSA: Why We're Wrong About Nearly Everything with Bobby DuffyPolarised: Identity, with Francis Fukuyama (episode 11, December 2018)Matthew Taylor: In tackling polarisation and anger, understanding our opponents is vital. It’s also extremely hardProduced by James Shield.Music by Blue Dot Sessions.Brought to you by the RSA.

"Flipping the Table"is the appropriate title of a new podcast hosted by Michael Dimock, the President of Roots of Change.  "Roots of Change is working to ensure that every aspect of our food from the time it's grown to the time it's eaten - can be healthy, safe, profitable and fair."  Since Farm To Table Talk  and the Flipping The Table Podcast share interest and concern for the future of food and farming, it was only natural that the hosts, Michael Dimock and Rodger Wasson set down to record a shared podcast comparing their journeys and agricultural perspectives.  On Flipping the Tables this was episode #45 "Dueling podcasters".  Here we just call it "Building Trust" which is something these friends with often contrasting views, have done with each other and as much as possible for today and tomorrow's food system.   https://www.rootsofchange.org/flippingthetablepodcast/available-episodes/ #rootfsofchange #flippingthetable #podcast #disruptthesystem

One of the best-kept secrets in combating the climate crisis and the loss of biodiversity and agricultural productivity is a return to an agriculture model that sustained people and the planet prior to the age of industrial agriculture. The answer to the future of farming is to look to the past. Beginning from the modern sustainable agricultural and slow food movement, California's early pioneers in organic farming have redefined the meaning of sustainability. The new models for an earth-friendly, food-healthy system have drawn from the teachings of Rudolf Steiner—noted scientist, philosopher and founder of the Waldorf School. Interestingly, he was instrumental in helping European farmers combat the rapid decline in seed fertility, crop vitality and animal health on their farms. Join fourth-generation winemaker Paul Dolan, former chairman of the Wine Institute and former president of Fetzer Vineyards, who led a transformation that put the company at the forefront of organic viticulture and sustainable business. Today, besides growing and making biodynamic wines, Dolan is a leader in redefining the farming system, with a focus on regenerative agriculture and biodynamic farming. Joining Dolan is Roots of Change (ROC) president Michael Dimock, an organizer and thought leader on food and farming systems. ROC develops and campaigns for smart, incentive-based food and farm policies that position agriculture and food enterprises as solutions to critical challenges of the 21st century. He is the host of the new podcast “Flipping the Table,” featuring honest conversations about food, farms and the future. Dimock serves on the boards of the UCLA Law School's Resnick food law and policy program, Farm to Pantry, the Wild Farm Alliance and Sonoma Academy. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Recently, the Deseret News and Deseret Management Corporation hosted an event at the Newseum in Washington, D.C., titled, "Integrity and Trust: Lessons from Watergate and Today." Some questioned us for convening a conversation on the principles of integrity, trust and truth in our nation’s capital – especially in a day when debates are rarely about principles and policy but are instead about fake news, alternate facts, deceptive internet influence, half-truths, bold lies and countless shades of morally relative gray. At the Deseret News we felt it was exactly the right place for this conversation to begin. Hear highlights from our event with legendary reporter Bob Woodward, Elder D. Todd Christofferson of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints and Pew Research Center president Michael Dimock on this special edition of, Therefore, What?

When over 70,000 people show up to celebrate Farm To Fork in a single weekend, it's time to take stock of Sacramento's celebration of this expression of the Food Movement.  Farm To Table Talk does just that by setting down with three pioneering leaders of Farm to Fork:   California's Secretary of Agriculture, Karen Ross; Chef and Owner of Mulvaney's B & L, Patrick Mulvaney; and Michael Dimock, President of Roots of Change.  Rob Carlmark, Meterologist of ABC 10 introduces Farm To Table Talk Host, Rodger Wasson as the group digs in to where Farm To Fork is today and how  they explain that as they speak thousand of city residents are walking around enjoying the sights, sounds, tastes and presentations of a region that is proud  to be the Farm to Fork Capital.

Senior Interview Editor Disraeli Smith and Interview Editor Erich Denk sat down with the McCourt LEAD Conference key note speakers Michael Dimock (President of Pew Research Center) and McCourt Professor Jonathan Ladd. We recapped and discussed the McCourt LEAD Conference, the Baker Poll, lack of trust in institutions, local versus national politics in terms of information and media coverage, importance of providing raw data from a study, uncertainty in polling and survey work and more. If you missed the sessions, feel free to check them out here: https://mccourt.georgetown.edu/events/lead-conference/lead-2018/speakers

WASHINGTON, DC – With the mid-term elections less than seven months away, The Ripon Society hosted a luncheon discussion to look at the American electorate and how political trends may impact the prospects of the Republican Party in November. The discussion was entitled, “The Numbers Don't Lie.” It featured a presentation by Dr. Michael Dimock, the Vice President of Research for the Pew Research Center, who, among other topics, discussed the GOP's image among Americans, the issues in which Republicans are viewed favorably, and how young people view not only the party, but government.

After sharing a panel at the Milken Global Conference, Margie corners Michael Dimock, the President of Pew Research Center. They talk about Pew's mission, their latest study comparing online panels, and how he got his start. Check him out on twitter here.  Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

This week on Eating Matters, host Kim Kessler kicks off this show about food policy and political change with guest Michael Dimock. Michael is the President of Roots of Change which works to develop and support a collaborative network of leaders and institutions in California with interest in establishing a sustainable food system in the state by the year 2030. Talking to Kim about his latest projects as well as recent legislation concerning food, Michael explains what he has observed having been in the trenches lobbying for the food movement issues. In the second half of the show, Kim continues the conversation with Michael before introducing a new segment, Policy Made Personal, featuring UCLA Law student Sofia Beltran, reading an original essay. This program was brought to you by Cain Vineyard & Winery. “We believe that more unified power in the food movement is what’s needed to overcome the resistance at the policy level.” [2:24] “How do we get those who vote with their fork to now vote with their votes around these issues?” [25:45] —Michael Dimock on Eating Matters

Michael Dimock, associate director of the Pew Research Center for the People & the Press, provides an overview of the findings of the report Beyond Red vs. Blue: Political Typology (http://people-press.org/typology/ ).

A discussion of how Millennials will shape the political landscape. Panelists were: Matt Bai, contributing politics writer, The New York Times Magazine; Eli Pariser, board president, MoveOn.org; Reihan Salam, fellow, New America Foundation; Scott Keeter, director of survey research, Pew Research Center; and Michael Dimock, associate director, Pew Research Center for the People & the Press.

Deconstructing Dinner has long been exploring the many ways through which farmers, businesses, organizations and communities are accessing food using new and innovative models. On today's broadcast we hear more of those examples shared as part of the March 2010 panel - Produce to the People, hosted by the San Francisco based CUESA. The Produce to the People panel examined a few inspiring models for getting fresh, local food to residents in the San Francisco Bay area of California and featured Grayson James of Petaluma Bounty, Melanine Cheng of FarmsReach and Christine Cherdboonmuang of the Oakland Farms-to-Schools Network and Oakland FRESH School Produce Markets. Moderating the panel was Michael Dimock of Roots of Change. And closing out the broadcast - a new episode from Bucky Buckaw and his Backyard Chicken broadcast. Bucky discusses the pros and cons of eating raw eggs and provides suggestions on the safest source of those eggs to reduce exposure to the risks of salmonella. Voices Grayson James, executive director, Petaluma Bounty (Petaluma, CA) - Petaluma Bounty is a non-profit organization formed in 2006. The organization works to create a sustainable Petaluma food system with healthy fresh food for everyone by helping residents to grow their own healthy food, redistributing surplus food, and providing affordable fresh food to low-income families and seniors. Melanie Cheng, founder, FarmsReach (San Francisco, CA) - FarmsReach is an online farm food marketplace focusing on the San Francisco Bay area that connects farmers to business buyers. Their mission is to help businesses source fresher and healthier foods and put better food on more plates while supporting healthy farms. Christine Cherdboonmuang, coordinator, Oakland Farms-to-Schools Network (Oakland, CA) - The Oakland Fresh School Produce Markets is a program of the Oakland Unified School District Nutrition Services and the East Bay Asian Youth Center. The markets are set up to sell fresh, mostly locally grown and pesticide-free fruits, vegetables, eggs, nuts, honey and other foods at public schools. The produce is purchased from local family farms and distributors, and sold by parents and students during after-school hours every week at each school site. The markets, which operate at 12 schools are open to parents, students, staff and community residents. Their goal is to open 25 markets by 2012. Michael Dimock, president, Roots of Change (San Francisco, CA) - Roots of Change is a collaboration of community, nonprofit, philanthropic, government, and business organizations that seeks to accelerate the transition to more sustainable food systems in California. Bucky Buckaw - host, Bucky Buckaw's Backyard Chicken Broadcast (New York, NY) - Bucky Buckaw gives advice on raising backyard chickens as just one example of how a locally based economy can work. Through this segment, he informs listeners about the downside of factory farming and what kinds of toxic chemicals you can expect to find in the resultant livestock. He promotes organic gardening and composting, and supporting local farmers.

A Food Agenda for Next Administration will be a panel discussion at UC Berkeley that posits a policy framework for achieving healthy food and agriculture systems in the US. Speakers are Michael Dimock, President, Roots of Change; Michael Pollan, author and Professor, UC Graduate School of Journalism; Judith Redmond, co-owner Full Belly Farm and Board President, Community Alliance with Family Farmers; and Mark Ritchie, Minnesota Secretary of State. The moderator is Cynthia Gorney, Professor, UC Graduate School of Journalism.