Ep 37: Crisis in Our Rural Communities - with John Ikerd

Bytable Podcast - Know Better Live Best

Listen in as we discuss the history of monopolization and corporate influence in our agriculture system, the decline of the family farm and rural America, the rise of private funding for agriculture research at public universities, his work on the new film Right to Harm, and my favorite part - how we can work together to fix our food system, support our farmers, and how if we each work on our little piece of the world we can work together towards a better one.

About John:
John Ikerd, Professor Emeritus of Agricultural Economics, University of Missouri, Columbia.

John was raised on a small dairy farm in southwest Missouri and received his BS, MS, and Ph.D. degrees in agricultural economics from the University of Missouri. He worked in private industry for a time and spent thirty years in various professorial positions at North Carolina State University, Oklahoma State University, University of Georgia, and the University of Missouri before retiring in early 2000. Since retiring, he spends most of his time writing and speaking on issues related to sustainability with an emphasis on economics and agriculture. He is author of six books which are available through Amazon.com via http://johnikerd.com/books. In 2014, Ikerd was commission by the Food and Agricultural Organization of the United Nations to write the regional report, “Family Farms of North America,” in recognition for the International Year of the Family Farming. He currently resides with his wife, Ellen, in Fairfield, IA. More complete background information and a wide selection of writings are available at http://faculty.missouri.edu/ikerdj/ or http://johnikerd.com.