In her novel The Good Earth, Pearl Buck wrote, “If roots are to bear fruit, they must be kept well in the soil of land.” Her thought leads us to ask:

Which farmland is best for bearing one’s fruit?

We have been hearing a lot about farmland recently.

We’ve been hearing how very wealthy people like Jeff Bezos and Bill Gates have been using the millions and billions pouring into and out of their businesses to buy up vast tracks of America’s farmland; how mysterious entities from China are buying up farmland near America’s military bases; and how entrepreneurs have been buying up farmland covered in greenhouses for the purpose of growing America’s cannabis.

The true value of all that farmland is determined by what someone is willing to pay for it. And there are a lot of reasons why people buy farmland.

Today, we focus on those who want to obtain farmland to grow food, flowers and fiber as a business. And we are fortunate to have one who knows how to find the true value farmland for a business.

Please welcome…

Chuck Allen, Chuck Allen Properties, Watsonville, CA

Michael Olson hosts Danielle Flint - Danny the Nanny

You would think a hungry child would want eat just about anything, but a lot of hungry children only eat what they want to eat. And so we ask:

How do you get an obstinate child to eat what you want them to eat?

The 1413th edition of the Food Chain Radio Podcast with Michael Olson hosts Danielle Flint, Maryland’s Danny the Nanny, for a conversation about feeding the obstinate child.

Topics include the ways in which children express their obstinacy about eating what they are supposed to eat; ways in which adults try to manage their obstinate children; and how a nanny must somehow justify the demands of obstinate child and frustrated parents.

No kidding! It's true. Having had to catch a plane and fly away, we missed kiddentine in California's great Central Valley. Our loss leads us to ask:

Have you had the opportunity to play with the kids?

The 1412th edition of the Food Chain Radio Podcast with Michael Olson hosts Margie Weber, Co-Owner, Rocky Oaks Goat Creamery, for a conversation about raising goats in a vertically integrated dairy.

Topics include why goat dairy; the raising of goats in a semi-rural environment; and the selling of goat dairy products direct via farmers markets.

Along the Food Chain with Michael Olson…

#1411 The Snack Chips Man

Jake Stenton, President

Natural Bridges Company

You stand in front of the grocer’s selection of snack chips and think, ‘A penny’s worth of potato in a bag that costs a buck!’

We Americans eat about $50 billion dollars worth of snack chips every year. That pencils out to about $167 per person per year. And the price of those bags of snack chips keeps going through the roof.

According to the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, a bag of chips that cost $6.75 in 1977 would cost $33.39 today!

That so much money is spent on those bags of snack chips, leads us to wonder:

What would it take to bag up some chips and sell them?

China Now, 26.1.29, Hour 1

Gang of Two Nan Su & Michael Olson

CCP Coup Attempt at Zhongnanhai / A Trap is Sprung

China Now 26.1.29 Hour 2 Gang of Two: Michael Olson & Nan Su CCP Coup Attempt at Zhanganhai, Xi gets away!

The 1410th edition of the Food Chain Radio Podcast with Michael Olson Guest: Matt Mulica, Senior Project Director, Keystone Policy Center Imagine being in a business that loses 55 percent of its business in one year, and nearly that much in the previous year. Such is the state of the North American beekeeper. And so we ask:

Is there a strategy to save the honey bee and its keepers?

The 1410th edition of the Food Chain Radio Podcast with Michael Olson hosts Matt Mulica, Senior Project Director, Keystone Policy Center, for a conversation about saving the bee, bee keepers, and the domestic business of honey.

Topics include why a strategy is needed to save the western honey bee; how the North American bee industry decided what that strategy would be; and how a coalition of industry groups was fashioned into a cohesive group to implement the strategy.

Nan Su & Michael Olson President Donald Trump invades Davos and conquers Greenland.