Promo Episode

Host Margaret Patkus and MN350 volunteers Sarah Riedl, Marita Bujold, Tenley Feinberg, and Eli Crain give listeners a crash course on food systems, climate change, and what to expect from the episodes to come.

Full episode transcript available here.

Transcript

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Promo Episode

Tue, 11/17/20 8:00AM • 19:42

SUMMARY KEYWORDS

food, people, systems, listeners, podcast, guests, climate, team, impact, building, episode, stories, climate crisis, nourish, communities, volunteer

SPEAKERS

Tenley Feinberg, Margaret Patkus, Eli Crain, Sarah Riedl, Marita Bujold

Margaret Patkus  00:00

Hello and welcome to Nourish. I'm your host for today, Margaret Patkus. And we are coming to you from the original homeland of the Dakota and Anishinaabeg peoples, or what is now known as Minnesota. Today we have a few guests from the MN350 Food Systems team. We're going to talk a little bit about what listeners can expect here on our show Nourish. So I'll give all of our guests today a chance to introduce themselves. 

Sarah Riedl  00:28

Sure. Hi, my name is Sarah Riedl, and I am the volunteer leader of MN350s Food Systems Team.

Marita Bujold  00:35

I'm Marita Bujold, and I'm a member of the Food Systems Team and the Headwaters team as well. I'm also the author of the Headwaters Community Food and Water Bill, which is one of our key strategies in MN350's climate solutions.

Eli Crain  00:52

Hi, my name is Eli Crane, and I'm a volunteer on the Food Systems Team helping with audio and production of the podcast.

Tenley Feinberg  01:01

My name is Tenley, and I'm a volunteer with MN350's Food Systems Team and the podcast.

Margaret Patkus  01:08

Wonderful. Welcome to everyone. Thank you so much for being here. I'm excited to hear all of your thoughts about this podcast and how it came to be. So I guess the first question that would be best to start off with is what is MN350's Food Systems Team? Why do we have a Food Systems Team within MN350? We'll go with that first. Sarah, do you want to start off?

Sarah Riedl  01:31

Sure I'd love to. So MN350 is a climate justice organization. And they are working for a just transition to a clean energy future and a clean food future. and they're really focused on trying to make sure that the transition to that sustainable future includes solutions that take into account the the frontline communities who have historically been most impacted by climate change, and the extractive systems that created the climate change problems. The goal, or the vision of the Food Systems Team is a just transition to a food system that is local, regenerative, equitable towards all who depend on it, and mindful of its impact on future generations. And on the other hand, we have the industrial food system, which is funded by our public tax dollars and is responsible for in large part, the climate crisis. And so our goal is to get some of those public dollars redirected, at the very least, to a better food system, one that is actually set up to nourish not just people, not just our bellies, but our communities, our relationships with one another and a relationship with the earth. And that's what our - so that's what our team is working on. No small task.

Margaret Patkus  03:45

Sure, truly. Does anyone else want to speak at all to kind of the connection between food and climate?

Tenley Feinberg  03:53

Oh, yeah. Food is like the systems through which we get food are obviously essential to our survival. But they're not always built to be central to our lives. They're kind of pushed aside, put in the shadows. They're not something that everyone needs to think about every time they eat a meal. But they do have widespread impact not just on the environment, not just in terms of like carbon emissions or carbon sinks, but they have so many wide reaching impacts, maybe even things that we haven't even thought  of or realized yet that it just makes sense to make them as positive of force, not just in terms of like Sarah said, the food we're actually eating, but in their larger impacts on our communities and on the world because those impacts are there. Even if they aren't obvious every time we eat a meal.

Marita Bujold  06:42

I think that Sarah's comment about how we have this publicly funded industrial food chain is an important concept for everybody to understand the industrial food chain in no way in no part of its system is adaptable to climate. In fact, it is the major contributor to greenhouse gas emissions at every part of its food chain from how the seeds are produced to what we plant, to how we grow things to how we raise animals, transport food, every part of it is part of the problem. And when we talk about having a system that works, we're not talking about trying to alter that system a little bit. Having a little less fertilizer put into our soil, for instance, to have water and soil that's a little less contaminated. We're talking about creating a system that actually will help us be successful in adapting to climate. And the real leaders for that have always been indigenous communities that have lived in locations all around the world, and adapted to those places, and figured out a way to understand the ecosystems in which they lived, produce vast resources of foods that help them to thrive, and also care for those ecosystems at the same time. That's the remedy for success.

Sarah Riedl  04:46

I would like to go back and drop this little factoid in there for people that don't know why "food systems" are so important. there are different, different numbers that show it's somewhere between, like 24 and I think 53% of all human caused greenhouse gas emissions - I like to simplify something to say about a third. So the food that we put on our plate and into our bodies, is responsible for nearly a third, which is about the same as the energy sector, So if you're willing to talk about solar panels and electric vehicles, we should also be willing to talk about the food that goes on our plates, because it is responsible for about the same amount of greenhouse gas emissions. 

Tenley Feinberg  06:53

Yeah, um, I was just thinking that eating climate consciously, like trying to eat less meat or shop locally isn't going to be enough, because you're still taking part in these systems, which are hell bent on destruction of the people working in them. And in the communities in which they reside. We're taking it a step further by trying to figure out like, okay, what are people doing to actually look at the system because it can feel so hopeless. So if we're looking into these systems, these ideas that people have to be like, okay, the way food is brought to us is unacceptable. Here's how we can make a sustainable regenerative food that's good for the community and good for the people who are working on it. And I think that was a big inspiration for bringing together this podcast: there are people working to change this for everyone, not just on an individual level.

Margaret Patkus  08:50

Okay, so along with everything that we're talking about, I think it would be great to just ask specifically, why was the title Nourish chosen for this podcast?

Sarah Riedl  09:00

Oh, Nourish. We chose that title because Nourish is what food should do. Right? And I think in many ways, the food that we're getting from the industrial system does not do that. Not just from the health and like the micronutrient level, and all of that but, because it is an extractive system, it destroys not just ecosystems, but again, relationships, relationships between like urban and rural communities or relationships between us and the earth. It's dependent on that extraction and that destruction. So it can never really, truly be nourishing. We want a food system that can nourish the earth, and the people and the future. And so when we heard the word "nourish," I think people just felt comforted by that. And it just sort of made sense that if we are trying to create a whole food system that nourishes all of those things, then that might be a good place to start with this podcast.

Margaret Patkus  10:47

Great. Thank you, Sarah. So I think I think this is the last one. What can the listener expect?

Sarah Riedl  10:54

So that's a good question. our goal is to help people actually envision a food system that is, like we say, in our mission that is local, regenerative, equitable towards those who depend on it, and mindful of its impact on future generations. We want to introduce listeners to real world examples of the food system we'd like to create. So people who are actually out there doing the work to make the food system regenerative, which is actually kind of how this podcast started. Honestly, this was actually how it started out is one of our volunteers, who folks will hear in the first few episodes, he's the host, for our first few episodes, Terry Hokenson, started asking, What is this? What does regenerative mean? What does that truly mean? Is it just agriculture? Or does it mean more than that? And so our first few episodes were him exploring that idea. But as as we've learned, as I hope our listeners learn, as they go through these, these episodes is that regeneration has so much more to do with than just the soil again, going back to this idea of communities and relationships: there is a way to produce food, and our guests are doing it that regenerates more than just the soil, we want to be able to discuss how these examples how these people and organizations address the issues created by the industrial food system, and then invite the listeners to take action in support of either our guests' work or MN350s work in the food systems area. So hopefully, every episode will lead listeners down that path where we where we talk about the food system we want, where our guests sort of illustrate for us like the work that they do. And then they're able to tell the listeners directly, here's how you can support that. So that's what we're going for. And this is all created by a team of volunteers. So I'm also hoping that our listeners will hear lots of different voices, not just from our guests, but from our hosts. And we're trying to get as many people involved in this as possible. 

Margaret Patkus  13:33

Wonderful. So exciting. Great. Does anyone else have any input about what the listener can expect?

Marita Bujold  13:40

I want to say that I think that what we're going to hear are some issues that are common among the leaders whose stories you're going to hear. And then there are some that are very specific to the communities in which they live, and operate and serve. And I think it's important to listen for those things. Because, first of all, I think one of the reasons these people have come forward is because they look at their community, and they're saying things aren't right here. And there are so many examples of why people who are pursuing local initiatives are really working against, you know, pushing against a closed door in many cases. So I think what you're going to hear is that passion for something that is really important to them, that they're working really hard to do, as well as hearing that because we have this investment in industrial system that tells this false narrative about how we need them, and has really created a whole story around that. And they're working against that to try and bring to their communities what they need, in spite of these challenges. And so of course, then it, we have to conclude that if we really want local food systems to deliver, we have to actually provide the infrastructure to make that happen. And in my view, that's, that's one of the reasons why you reach out into the community and hear these stories. Because not only have they provided leadership, but they're also making sure that we understand both the commonalities but also the specific challenges of particular communities, and the stories behind those. All of those things are going to matter in how we  move forward in building a truly just sustainable food system.

Eli Crain  26:53

You know, I think I think maybe we could mention that they should expect a diversity of stories and voices from maybe things that we wouldn't necessarily immediately associate with the food system, I think sometimes, you know, we're trying to include voices of like bipoc, farmers, local indigenous leaders, and women and include the voices of people who work in the food system that sometimes have been marginalized, and use this platform also to highlight their work.

Marita Bujold  40:04

Now, I think what I like about even the idea of organizing around having a just food system and a just food economy is that there is such potential for restoring what was lost, the cultures that have been marginalized, and with those cultures, their languages, their foods, their understanding of their ecosystems, all of those things can be revived if your goal is to actually create a healthy food system. Because all of those things will be crucial and necessary, and ultimately, something to really celebrate. Again, if you look at indigenous cultures, food, the food system is always the first economy that they have. Because without it, you just can't live where you've landed. It's about neighbors, caring about each other, and this home that we share, there's, we I don't think we can, in any way, overstate the importance of doing that work together.

Margaret Patkus  16:49

Great. Okay. This is amazing. Should we kind of wrap up  now?

Sarah Riedl  16:54

Sure, let's do it. I have I want to say a couple of thank yous before we before we do the official wrap up here. I just want to put out like a huge thank you to all of our volunteers. I think I mentioned earlier that this is an entirely volunteer-run podcast. And so Margaret and Rita and Eli and Tenley, who are all here with us today. But beyond beyond us, there's this team of I think we're up to about 35 people now who have had their hands on this effort in some way or another and quite the learning experience. And there are so many people on this team that have put so much of their time and their passion into this, to pull this podcast thing together. And so I just want to say thank you so much to all of you and and anybody else on our team who might be listening, it wouldn't be happening without them. And I hope the listeners understand that. And I also want to thank MN350 for providing us the space and the tools to make this experiment possible. Because if it weren't for MN350, we wouldn't be we wouldn't be doing this, we wouldn't be here. So thank you so much to MN350 as well. And then I also want to shout out like another huge debt of gratitude to our guests, who, you know, who have taken time away from like the vitally important work that they're doing, which is creating this food system that we want. That's what our guests are building. And I hope that we can show that on this podcast through their stories and their work. I want to be able to show people how to do it, it is possible, because that's what we need to do for climate to solve the climate crisis. So thank you, to our guests, for helping us with that.

Eli Crain  46:58

And maybe we can go to action from there. Let's show support for these people who are big movers and shakers in this space, and not just listen to the podcast, but you know, share it, share it with your friends, and support the organizations and businesses that are featured within it. And you can also visit men 350 action.org/podcast for transcripts and and like more links and stuff

Margaret Patkus  18:37

Awesome, thank you to everyone so much for your thoughts. That's our promo episode. I hope that you as the listener got an idea of what to expect and are excited as we are to listen to the rest of the show. So thank you for being here. And don't forget to tune in.

Margaret Patkus  19:02

Nourish by MN350 is a production of MN350’s Food Systems Team. We are changing the way people think about food production, distribution and consumption practices in the context of rapid climate change. This series is made possible by the hard work and passion of a group of dedicated volunteers. Our executive producer is Sarah Riedl. The sound editor for this episode is Eli Crane. Our logo was designed by Fizz Design Collective, and our music is by Ecuador Manta. You can learn more at mn350action.org/podcasts.