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Our virtual exchange is dedicated to bringing those who provide tools of the trade together with those who need resources.   If you need tools, click through the Resources and Services list located on the top of the right side the page.  Find the resources you need, take them home, and build a successful metrofarm.
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Our virtual exchange is dedicated to bringing those who provide supplies together with those who need resources.   If you need supplies, click through the Resources and Services list located on the top of the right side the page.  Find the resources you need, take them home, and build a successful metrofarm.
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SPEECHES, SEMINARS & CONSULTATIONS

Michael Olson has years of experience and has delivered 100′s of speeches, seminars, and workshops on how those who operate small, family-scale enterprises can compete against the Goliaths of the marketplace and win the consumer dollars.   His speeches inspire and motivate, and his seminars and consultations impart practical information entrepreneurs need to survive and prosper in the competitive marketplace.

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Special Limited Offer: Free Class with Purchase of MetroFarm
MetroFarm University is dedicated to providing you with the technological, business, and personal skills required to earn a substantial income by farming for profit in or near the city.
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On time and on demand, MFU’s web-based learning platform will offer convenience and flexibility to students of metropolitan agriculture throughout the world.   With MetroFarm University, you can learn the skills, and earn the certificate, at the times and places that work best for you.  We look forward to delivering complete and up to date curriculum and encourage you to sign up for the MetroFarm Newsletter.
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When you have trouble seeing the forest for the trees, call for a fresh and objective perspective from Michael Olson and the experts of MetroFarm Associates.  They will save you time and money by helping you find real answers for your difficult questions.
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Michael Olson has been consulting for specialty agriculture projects –big and small – around the world for over three decades.  His consultations
include the development of a vineyard in Oregon, the commercialization of herbs
wild-crafted in the Amazon basin, the redevelopment of an agricultural plateau on the island nation of Cyprus, and metropolitan farms everywhere.
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During your initial free consultation, Michael Olson will review your objectives, skill set, and resources.  From this consultation, he will develop and recommend a specific course of action for your consideration.

Some say S510, The Food Safety Modernization Act, is so onerous it will destroy our nation’s small farms, and so are trying to amend the Act to protect small farms. Others say “A microbe is a microbe,” and all should abide by the law, regardless of size. And so we ask…

For whom will S510 make food safe?

Government is now restricting what we may eat, but is leaving us free to glop 10,500 chemicals on to make our skin look good. This leads us to ask…

Which is best for healthy skin: cosmetics or food?

When the going gets tough, the tough get going… to the kitchen for food. Then along comes the holiday season and our escapism becomes an obsession that leads us to ask…

How did we become a nation of foodies?

California has elected to reduce its carbon emissions by up to 30% beginning in 2012. This decision has sparked a stampede to figure out how, which leads us to ask….

Can we farm our way to clean air and energy independence?

History tells us when the harvest is good, civilization expands, but when the harvest is poor, civilization contracts. This lesson leads us to ask…

What does the harvest portend for our civilization?

When times were good, California voted to reduce its emissions of carbon dioxide to fight global warming. But unemployment is now at 22% and the state is reconsidering its vote, which leads us to ask…

Can we end global warming and work the farm?

California’s illicit cannabis crop is worth $14 billion and the state’s politicians can get their hands on that money by making the crop legal with Proposition 19, the Regulate, Control and Tax Cannabis Act of 2010. This proposition leads us to ask…

What happens to the money when cannabis becomes legal?

Sometimes the big eat the small; other times the small eat the big. This time small bedbugs are eating big cities, and they are coming to our city soon. The freckle-sized monsters lead us to ask…

Can we prevent bedbugs from biting?

Every once in awhile, like when you get to be 700, you should celebrate by doing something special. And so…

The secret to economic viability is simple: Become a producer in a nation of consumers! And what could all those consumers want more than fresh, whole food? This chain of thought leads us to ask…

Can we eat our way to economic security and personal freedom?

“You never let a serious crisis go to waste.” Rahm Emanuel

And so, to protect us from contaminated foods that come from thousands of miles away, government is passing truckloads of food safety legislation like S510. But this effort leads us to ask…

Will food safety legislation kill local food?

“You never let a serious crisis go to waste.” Rahm Emanuel

Two giant farms sold us a half-billion rotten eggs, and so agents of the government, with guns drawn and warrants in hand, are breaking down the doors of the little people who sell fresh, whole foods to their neighbors. But…

Why is government attacking little people with no problems instead of big people with lots of problems?

“You never let a serious crisis go to waste.” Rahm Emanuel

The United States has a serious food safety crisis, and so its agents, with guns drawn and warrants in hand, are breaking down the doors of the little people who sell food to their neighbors. But wait…

Which is in crisis: local food or industrial food?

Now this will likely come as a surprise to many, but its true! Before we had refrigerators, we had food! On behalf of all the surprised, we ask… …

How did we preserve food without electricity?

Those who live in some undeveloped nations are ten times more likely to live over 100 years than those who live in developed nations. Their diet of ashes leads us to ask…

Why do they lead long, healthy lives while we do not?

The rate of autism among the general population, according to the CDC, is one in 166. The rate of autism among the population of Chicago’s Homefirst Health Services is zero. And so we ask…

Why do we have autism and they don’t?

When it comes to organic, they say, “Everybody’s got to play by the rules, whether they sell $1 or $10 million of product.” Their declaration leads us to ask…

Why is the government going after the little gal?

I went fishing with fellow foodie Thomas in the beautiful waters of the Monterey Bay. We caught two healthy lingcod, which became the object of some magnificent meals. But those meals lead us to ask…

Will our grandchildren taste wild fish?

While purchasing a cup of coffee from the booth at my local farmers market, I noticed that the proprietors, a husband and wife team of smiling seniors, were also selling world peace. And so I ask…

How fair is fair trade?

Wolf number 690 lost her pack to disease and was forced to flee the protected confines of Yellowstone Park for the wilds of private property. Her flight leads us to ask…

Who’s afraid of the big bad wolf?

When the going gets tough, the tough get growing. And what better way to grow than with friends and neighbors in a community garden. But all those community gardens sprouting up lead us to ask…

Who puts the community in community gardens?

Now that food is produced in giant factories far, far away, it tastes like food produced in giant factories far, far away. But we remember what food tasted like when it was wild and free, and so we ask…

Which wild foods do you miss most?

This little pig went to market. This little pig stayed home. This little pig went to Las Vegas for a taste of filet mignon. Those pink porkers of Vegas lead us to ask…

What should we do with our leftovers?

They sneak across the border by the millions to work in our fields, thus you and I can eat cheap food. But our reliance on cheap labor leads us to ask…

Can we eat with illegal immigrants?

There are mega trillions of them, and they are everywhere– in our hair, on our food, in our mattress. But after we smash one with enough force to knock over a baby elephant, we ask…

Can insects be sentient?

“All animals are created equal, but some animals are more equal than others.” If what Napolean suggests in Orwell’s Animal Farm is true, we wonder…

Which animal would you take with you to the New World?

As living beings, nature gives us the right to eat food. But as citizens, government legislates what foods we have the right to eat. Given all the food laws now being passed, we must ask…

What foods will government give us the right to eat?

Some say they are too young to work and must be protected with federal legislation until they grow up; others suggest if they are deprived of that work they may never grow up. And so we ask…

Should children be allowed to work on farms?

They sneak across the border to work in our fields. After tasting our Great American way, they’re here to stay, by the millions. So we ask…

Should immigration be reformed?

The bite is on… We heard it on the radio: “All you can eat shrimp. Come and get em!” And so, mouths watering in anticipation, we stampede across the floor and out the door for… But wait…

How can they afford to feed us all-we-can-eat shrimp?

Government-guaranteed safe food is coming, so get ready for brightly-packaged cake manufactured from GE soybeans, fortified with Chinese-made vitamins, flavored with nano grey goo of choice, and of course, colored green for sensitivity. But we ask…

Who is government going to make safe: Them or Us?

We look up to those who inhabit the top floors of skyscrapers for their ability to collect Other Peoples Money and hoard it for themselves. But now we must turn away from them and ask…

What can we learn from the Women of the Dirt?

The giants of industrial agriculture saw the light and became organic. To determine how organic they became, the government audited its National Organic Program. This audit leads us to ask…

How organic is organic?

We are riding a runaway train of debt, and this train is accelerating faster and faster along tracks that will end down the line, somewhere. This wild ride leads us to ask…

Can we rescue ourselves by selling more than we buy?

Agriculture, like most industries, appears to be growing in two directions: very big and very small. This observation leads us to ask…

Which will survive to feed us: big farms or small farms?

The Federal Government has admitted to discriminating against black farmers and taxpayers must now pay $1,250,000,000 to make good. These reparations lead us to ask…

Can a lender discriminate without discriminating?

Twice he took on the icy summit of Mt. Everest, and then he went after the biggest mountain of all, the Monsanto Corporation. And so we ask…

Did Percy steal Monsanto’s seeds, or did Monsanto’s seeds steal Percy’s farm?

To be a successful banker, one must learn how to see into the future. And so we ask one of the world’s largest lenders to agriculture …

Will farmers earn enough to grow our food?

Where there were many seed companies, there are now but few. Their consolidation of the gene pool leads us to ask…

Why save the many when a few might do?

It was a weed that became fashionable, and so was made illegal, and then medicinal, and is now, though still illegal, the nation’s most lucrative cash crop. This leads us to ask…

Should we end the prohibition of cannabis?

He said, “Never let a serious crisis go to waste!” and so they are using tainted hamburger, peanut butter and spinach to take total control of the nation’s food chain. Their legislation leads us to ask…

What will the Food Safety Totalitarians allow us to eat?

We are a nation of drug users-. We take them in the morning to wake up, at midday to stay awake, and at night to sleep. Our use leads us to ask…

What happens to the drugs when we are finished with them?

In 2006, government launched an campaign to eliminate raw milk. In 2010, raw almonds have been banned from the shelves of grocery stores. Today we ask…

Should we have the right to eat raw food?

There are lions in the neighborhood. My daughter saw one across the street in the playground of the elementary school. Their presence leads us to ask…

Can the wild and the tame just get along?

We try to eat our way to happiness, only to become fat and sad. The length of our waistlines, and our sleepless nights, leads us to ask…

Can we eat our way to happiness?

They turned off the water to the San Joaquin Valley, putting hundreds of thousands of acres and tens of thousands of people out of work. Now they are challenging Sacramento Valley water contracts dating back to the 1880s. Their work on behalf of endangered species leads us to ask…

Will the State of California survive?

They are married with children: She is the chair of the UC Davis Plant Genetics Lab and he teaches at the UC Davis Organic Farm. Their suggestion of a future filled with genetically-engineered organic foods leads us to ask…

Should we allow genetic engineering into organic agriculture?

Consider: Whereas the rate of autism in the general population is 1 child in 166, the rate among the Amish is 1 in 15,000. This anomaly leads us to ask…

Why do we have 90 times more autism than the Amish?

When the Cuban government allowed for free farmers markets, citizens got food and farmers earned money. Now Cuba is shutting the markets down, which leads us to ask…

Where is Cuba Libre?

The family enterprise began, like many others, in the black market and, when sufficient cash accrued, grew into respectability. This history leads us to ask…

What’s in that jug of Gallo?

Four seed companies now control 75% of the seed marketplace, and two of them– Monsanto and DuPont– are at slugging each other out in court for more. The concentration of seeds in the hands of these giants leads us to ask…

Do the seed giants strengthen or weaken our food chain?

The Man of Steel’s plan: From each according to his ability, to each according to his need. To enforce this plan on a population of recalcitrant city people, Joseph Stalin used the ultimate weapon– food. And so we ask…

Could the politics of scarcity be used again?

The fight is on for California’s water, with the salmon fishery extinct, 600,000 acres of prime farmland abandoned, tens of thousands out of work, and food banks distributing food from China. And so we ask…

Farms or Fish?

It’s pure, and natural, and squeezed fresh. And so we buy the orange juice and drink it to break our fast and start our day. Still, we wonder…

What do they mean by “squeezed fresh?”

Two decades after the Prince of Wales was scorned for suggesting plants can respond to human speech, science is proving plants can actually talk. And so we ask…

If plants can talk, can they also flirt?

Though seven out of every ten Indians depend on income from farms, they are selling off their farmland to the world’s corporations. This leads us to ask…

What will happen to the poor when they can no longer farm?

Some say a national Leafy Green Marketing Agreement would protect against harmful micro buggies like E. coli 0157; but others say the agreement could destroy America’s small farms. And so we ask…

Would a national Leafy Green Marketing Agreement strengthen or weaken our food chain?

2,500 years ago, Hippocrates said, "Let your food be your medicine." There is still one place where food is the only medicine, and it leads us to ask…

Can flowers from the Amazon cure what ails us?

When his goats ate the woodrat houses, instead of blackbrush shrubs, and became high-performace goats, Fred asked…

Can the nutrient wisdom of animals help us manage the environment?

Just because you’re paranoid doesn’t mean they’re not out to get you! And so we pause to ask….

Who is behind the National Animal Identification System?

The government appears to be changing its agriculture lending policy so that only farmers who do not need money get money. This new policy leads us to ask…

If farmers can’t get money, will we get food?

Mother nature never does get it just right, and so we keep fiddling with her work until we can grow the perfect fruit—one that could bring in hundreds of millions of dollars. This leads us to ask…

What two fruits would you combine to make the perfect fruit?

Fish sticks, tater tots, and sloppy joes… If we are what we eat, then what have school lunches allowed us to become? And looking to our future…

Can schools serve good food in hard times?

Michael Olson’s 3rd Law of the Food Chain: Cheap food Isn’t! In fact, cheap food can cost more and take longer to prepare. This leads us to ask…

Can we feed a family of four good food for less than $10?

An estimated 50% of the farm workers in the U.S. are without documentation. One way for them to gain some legitimacy is to have an American-born child. This strategy leads us to ask…

Who should pay the other costs of undocumented farmworkers?

Take a big deep breath and hold it. Now, the Incorrect among us will exhale too much CO2. Their exhalations will therefore be capped and they forced to trade with the Correct among us for the right to exhale more. This heavy breathing leads us to ask…

Who will win, and who will lose, with Cap and Trade?

The Federal government intends to make all food safe with HR 2749, the Food Safety Enhancement Act of 2009. This legislation leads us to ask…

For whom does the government want to make food safe?

The marauding bears had their choice between the regular and diet sodas left behind in the refrigerator. They left the diet sodas untouched. Those bears lead us to ask…

Should we eat and drink artificial sweeteners?

Unkempt and bedraggled, they shuffle in from the woods where they spend the night with a pleading look of hunger in their eyes that says, “Feed me, feed me!” And so we ask…

Should we feed the hungry… bears?

The equation was simple: From each according to his abililty, to each according to his need. But there was not enough ability, or too much need, and the USSR collapsed into ruin, which leads us to ask…

Who feeds the hungry when the government falls?

During the Great Depression, the Works Progress Administration hired writers to document what America was eating. From these accounts it is evident that what we were eating is not what we are eating, which leads us to ask…

For which foods from a younger land do you hunger?

There are three frightening ironies within the three simple sentences of this Chico Enterprise-Record letter to the editor:

“Today when I paid for my child’s lunch at school, I asked about the food that was being served. The lunch lady explained that all the canned food is from China because it is really cheap. She showed me the cans and verified the truth.”

Can you identify three ironies in this letter to the editor?

To feed our future, we will need to produce more food with less natural resources. Some point to the technology of the nano and say, “Salvation is on the way!” And so we ask…

Can nanotechnology feed our future?

This from a concerned listener: “No… Don’t spray! Just do not spray! No more chemicals. No pesticides. No bad stuff on my food, our community, our health.” Okay. But wait! What about the pests?

Can pests be managed humanely?

They say, “For decades, U.S. children, some as young as 10 years old, have been working in the fields with grave consequences for their health, education, and personal development.” They lead us to ask…

Should children work on farms?

They became famous as a defense strategy in the San Francisco murder trial of Dan White. Fifteen billion golden cakes later we pause to ask…

What’s in a Twinkie?

Scientists in laboratories can take apart two living things and recombine them into a new living thing. Individuals in basements and garages now say, “Me too!” This leads us to ask…

Should life be free for the making?

Farming, they say, accounts for too much greenhouse gas and should be reformed. This leads us to ask…

Can agriculture clean up its bad gas?

Campylobacter, E. coli, hepatitis A, listeria, norovirus, salmonella, and shigella are some of the food borne pathogens that lead us to ask…

Can the law protect us from bad food?

Before radio, television or the internet, there were chickens, which came in hundreds of colors, shapes, and sizes, and were kept in flocks at family farms and city homes. This history leads us to ask…

Can we bring chickens home from the factory?

They moved the animal farm into a factory so we could have cheap food. But Michael Olson’s Third Law of the Food Chain says Cheap food isn’t! And so we wonder…

Is there a viable alternative to the factory farm?

They tell us it is for our own good, that they are simply trying to help, that we should trust them to do what we cannot do for ourselves. They lead us to ask…

Will House Bill 875 federalize all farms and ranches in the USA?

Abraham Lincoln spent his first 21 years on the dirt-poor farmlands of the young nation’s frontier. His upbringing leads us to ask:

How did the farm shape the character?

Some look to doctors and hospitals for healing and hope; others look to the smiling faces in Washington, DC. But a few still look to the wisdom of grandmothers, and they lead us to ask….

Can we find healing and hope in the Grandmother Plant? (#626)

The good news is the price oil has returned to the $35 a barrel range. The bad news is the nation’s ethanol industry is going bankrupt and being purchased by oil companies. This leads us to ask…

What happened to biofuels?

To calculate the true cost of a gallon of gasoline, we must add a dollar a gallon for environmental and health costs. This additional dollar per gallon is paid by taxpayers, which leads us to ask…

Is there a real alternative to gasoline?

A substantial percentage of the minerals, vitamins and protein in our food crops has simply disappeared over the past 50 years. This leads us to ask…

What happened to the food in our food?

During the Great Depression, wind picked up the nation’s cropland and carried it away in great, suffocating clouds of dust. Where there were no crops, there was no hope. Some say a succession of five-year Farm Bills may cause the same kind of destruction, and so we ask…

Can a 50-year Farm Bill save our cropland? (#622)

Hippocrates said, “Let your medicine be your food, and let your food be your medicine.” But Hippocrates was yesterday. Today we take pharmaceutical medicines, and they lead us to ask….

Why did we separate our food from our medicine?

Daniel Bowman Simon and Casey Gustowarow are on a cross country mission in a topsy turvy bus to convince the new President to establish an organic farm at the White House. Their mission leads us to ask….

What do you want the new President to do for the food chain?

Cities are eating up our prime farmland at the rate of two acres per minute 24-7-365. This loss of farmland leads us to ask…

How can we save enough farmland to maintain our food chain?

Congratulations! You have been appointed Secretary of Agriculture for the United States of America. Your appointment leads us to ask…

What policy will you enact to guarantee a safe and secure food chain? (#618)

The SWAT team held the Stowers family with assault weapons for nine hours while tearing their farmhouse apart looking for evidence. The Stowers’ crime? Selling farm-fresh foods to friends and neighbors! This SWATTING of farmers leads us to ask…

Should farmers be allowed to sell us their foods, or should we be forced to buy their foods from government-sanctioned corporations? (#617)

The cluster of diseases known as AIDS has killed over 25 million people around the world. AIDS is said to be caused by the HIV virus, and thus to prevent AIDS one must manage HIV. Yet an increasing number are denying the efficacy of this claim, which leads us to ask:

Which causes AIDS: HIV or poverty?

HIV / AIDS currently accounts for an estimated 80 percent of all American financial aid to world health and population issues. Yet an increasing number are denying the efficacy of this food chain, which leads us to ask:

Should denialists be denied?

Sometimes we simply must break away and go to someplace really special, like Italy, and do something special, like discover the best wines of Italy. And so let’s break away and discover…

Which are the best wines of Italy? (# 614)

Ask any of those who survived the Great Depression in the 1930s what they ate for dinner and you’ll likely get an ear full, if not a belly full. Their stories lead one to ask…

Who fed the nation during the Great Depression?

Foreigners are sneaking in through the wide-open borders of the new world order. Some say the visitors are “invasive” and should be removed; others say there is nothing that can be done about them and we must therefore accept them. This leads us to ask…

Should we tolerate non-native plants?

In the leafy green fields of the nation’s salad bowl, growers are killing off wildlife. One grower was reported to have poisoned his ponds to prevent frogs from hopping around his fields. This leads us to ask…

Can wildlife be allowed to exist in agriculture?

We have spent more than we earned and now must borrow $10 trillion from our children to keep from going belly up. To make it easier for children to pay our bill, we could have more children, and allow for more immigration. This leads us to ask…

Should we increase population to pay our debt?

The howling of the wolves is both exhilarating and terrifying: exhilarating if you are a city person in need of the wild; terrifying if you are a country person in need of the civil. This howling leads us to ask…

Can wolves co-exist with livestock

Cities, like forest fires, grow out from an ignition point, consuming land. Unlike burned forests, however, new growth does not willingly spring from inner cities. Enter gardeners who, with or without permission, plant new life in that no man’s land. These green guerrillas lead us to ask…

Who owns the city’s no-man’s land? (#608)

The federal government owns approximately one-third of the land in the United States. One day, rancher Wayne Hage went to war with the government over his right to graze livestock on that public land. Wayne Hage’s war leads us to ask…

Should private property be allowed use of public lands?

Sometimes politics trumps science. It happened during Stalin’s “Land Reform” and Mao’s “Great Leap Forward.” Fortunately, it can’t happen here! Nonetheless, we pause to ask…

What happens when politics trumps science?

While we pull our plows with giant diesel-burning tractors, they pull theirs with teams of grass-eating horses. Speeding by, we look out the window and think, ‘How quaint.’ But somewhere down the road we pause to ask….

Why the Amish boom midst all our secular gloom?

Some say its best to raise food animals in cages. Others say cages are cruel and should be enlarged. In California, this matter-of-inches debate is coming up for a vote. And so we ask…

Should animal cages be enlarged?

The Food and Drug Administration will now allow for the bombardment of of fresh spinach and iceberg lettuce with gamma rays, thus allowing you and I to safely eat greens grown thousands of miles away. Some protest this move by the FDA, and so we ask…

What’s wrong with irradiation?

When times get tough, the tough get growing… gardens. From the trenches of World War I, to the Warsaw ghetto and Japanese internment camps of World War II, to the desert sands of Iraq, individuals have turned ruin into garden. And so we ask…

What else grows in gardens?

Recently, a Hong Kong restaurateur purchased one fish for $55,700 at a Tokyo fish market. This kind of feeding frenzy led Marine Biologist Barbara Tuck to call bluefin tuna the “cocaine of the seas,” and leads us to ask…

Can farming save our wild fish?

Special occasions are cause to pause for reflection. And so, on the occasion of our 600th edition of the Food Chain Radio program, we pause to reflect on…

Who will feed us in 25 years?

One study says organic food is better than conventional food. The next study says there is no difference between organic and conventional. These studies lead us to ask…

Is organic food worth the extra effort?

We all enjoy having someone tend to our every need while dining out with family or friends. But who are those people who reach into our intimacies with a butter dish? And, hey…

How much should we tip the waiter?

“Fire is a natural part of the environment, about as important as rain and sunshine. Fire has always been here and everything good evolved from it.” – Dr. Harold Biswell

Dr. Biswell leads us to ask…

Should we prevent forest fires? (#597)

When the U.S. Air Force wanted to determine which of its dining facilities was best, it called on California restaurateur Ted Burke, and made him, for the moment at least, the equivalent of a major general. This leads us to ask… Can an institution serve good food?

We now live in a world where everything costs much more today than it did yesterday. This leads us to ask,

Who will feed us tomorrow?

They say you can tell a lot about a person by the way they eat their food. If such is the case, we must be able to tell a lot about a nation by the history of its stomach. This leads us to ask,

Which has exerted the most control over our nation’s history: mind or stomach? (#595)

We have, for the most, lost the ability to make things for ourselves, and so must buy those things from China. Flush with our cash, the people of China can now afford to buy the foods that have made us tall and strong. This leads us to ask…

How will China’s 1.3 billion-person appetite affect our food chain?

As the world’s oil cartels squeeze us for our last dime, we look for relief to an economy fueled by carbohydrates instead of hydrocarbons. But this leads us to ask, “Which is first, food or fuel?”

Bees are so sensitive they appear to die at the first sign of trouble. As such, they have become the canaries in the mine of our environment. But this leads us to ask, “Why are bees thriving in the unnatural environment of Los Angeles?”

Some time ago, omega-3 fatty acids were removed from the Western diet. As these fatty acids are an essential part of our body’s chemistry, we now suffer accordingly. And so we ask, “What happened to omega-3’s?”

Agriculture is the foundation upon which we build all our sandcastles. This foundation appears to be failing as the hungry riot for food in 37 developing nations. And so we ask, “Why can’t the world’s hungry feed themselves?”

Sometimes we simply must get away, and what better way, to get away, then to eat our way around the world?

We feed ourselves with the cheap labor of foreign hands. But this leads us to ask, “How expensive is cheap labor?”

The price city people pay for animal protein is going through the roof. And so we ask, “Can livestock be raised in the city?”

Money is down. Food is up. Riots are hot! And so we ask, “What happened to cheap food?”

It seems as though invasive species are finding their way everywhere in our new world order of wide-open borders. This leads us to ask, “Should we tolerate or eliminate?”

This from a concerned citizen: “No… Don’t spray! Just do not spray. No more chemicals. No pesticides. No bad stuff on my food, our community, our health!” Okay. But wait! What about the pests?

To spray or not to spray: that is the question. Whether tis nobler in the mind to suffer the insatiable appetites of outrageous apple moths or, by opposing them with synthetic pheromones, end them.

One side says we must eliminate all of the natural elements that can harbor deadly E. coli 0157:H7. The other side says we must encourage those natural elements to grow healthier food. This leads us to ask: “Which way should we grow?”

We have learned to raise more animals in less space by confining them in ever-smaller cages. Some now say we are confining animals in cages that are simply too small. This leads us to ask: “How small is too small?”

Six decades ago, farms began leaving the city for greener pastures. Today they are returning. This leads us to ask: “Can farms and cities prosper together?”

Topics include a 38-year history of restaurant inspections; common and uncommon kitchen faults; and how restaurant inspectors decide where to eat when they eat out.

They say that hope springs eternal, but sometimes it doesn’t! Consider, for one example, the farmers of Oklahoma, who lost their soil to the wind when rain stopped falling during the 1930s.

Imagine the surprise when it was revealed that a Taster’s Choice selection for best frozen spinach came from China! And so we ask, “Should manufacturers be forced to reveal a food’s source?”

The National Animal Identifiication System, or NAIS, is a new government program that seeks to register each premises in the United States that harbors farm animals, and then to track the movements of each of those animals from birth to death. This leads us to ask, "What impact will NAIS have on the production of food in the United States?"

Many of the big issues of the day– globalization, immigration, women’s rights, pollution, self-determination– are associated with the production of coffee. And so we pause to ask, “What’s in your cup?”

o stop animal diseases, like avian flu, from sweeping through the nation’s 1.4 million farms, the Federal government has established a National Animal Identification System. NAIS asks all farmers and hobbyists who husband animals to voluntarily register their premises with government and keep track of the movements of each of their animals.

Every link in the food chain is affected by energy prices, and energy prices are going through the roof. This leads us to ask, “Can we produce cheaper energy?”

Peppers, salt and vinegar. That is not all there is in that little red bottle of Tabasco Sauce, there's also 140 years of American history and we're going to pour it out!

They are the last to freely move livestock across the great American landscape. But since their livestock is not cattle, perhaps we should call them… beeboys and beegirls!

Consider Michael Olson's Irrefutable Law of the Food Chain #2: The farther we go from the source of our food, the less control we have over what’s in that food. And so we ask, “Who is in charge of food safety?”

Sometimes we simply must break the pattern– go someplace different and do something different. And so we travel to the Tuscany to establish a vineyard.

Essential fatty acids are those that cannot be manufactured by our body, and therefore must be obtained from other sources. But when it comes to eating fats, some say we are now going from frying pan to fire! This leads us to ask, “Where can we find good fats?”

In 1941 residents of Northern California and Southern Oregon voted to secede and form the State of Jefferson. Though the State of Jefferson now exists only in the mind, its Garagistes maintain their spirit of independence through the production of foods and wines.

While the heart has reasons that reason does not understand, the heartland has corn– 80 million acres of corn. This leads us to ask, "Should we subsidize corn?"

Along the food chain there are good bacteria and bad bacteria. But California AB 1735 suggests only dead bacteria should be allowed in dairy products. This leads us to ask, “Is raw milk toast?”

“Climate is what we expect, weather is what we get,” said Mark Twain. But when it comes to observing today’s climate in order to predict next year’s weather, The Old Farmer’s Almanac is most always 80% right. This leads us to ask them, “Is the globe really warming?”

You buy the chicken labeled “100% Natural” because you want the best for your family. But up to 15% of that 100% Natural chicken’s weight may be salt water or seaweed! This leads us to ask, “Is there truth in labeling?”

The anti-depressant drug Prozac is now available in a strawberry-flavored liquid to better serve the 8,000,000,000 U.S. school children that now take psychiatric drugs. This leads us to ask, “What are we feeding our children?”

The Cornucopia Institute claims that Aurora Organic Dairy sells milk that is not really organic. Aurora, which produces private label organic milk for Wal-Mart, Target, Costco and Safeway, claims that its milk is indeed organic, and that it has the paperwork to prove it. This family feud leads one to ask, “Can big be good?”

The Preble’s jumping meadow mouse has been listed as an endangered species since 1998. Recent genetic tests, however, suggest it may not be a species at all! This leads us to ask, “Should we continue to protect the Preble’s mouse?”

To become one of the top 50 restaurants in the world, you have to serve some of the best foods in the world. Manresa restaurant obtains its foods via the biodynamic technologies of Love Apple farm. This leads us to ask, “Do biodynamics make dollars and sense?”

We have become a nation of avid readers and nervous eaters. Many write books that tell us how to eat. We read these books because we want to know what is healthy, safe, sustainable and just. This leads us to ask, “Can we eat our way into becoming a better nation?”

Contaminated spinach has again been recalled from the nation’s grocers. Some now say that industry-developed safety guidelines for farmers of the leafy greens will not solve the problem. This leads us to ask, “Will food safety guidelines protect consumers?”

Once a favorite of just about everyone in America, the Blenheim apricot lost out in the race to industrialize our food chain. But a few years ago, one last tree was found in Silicon Valley, and now the race is on to “Eat it to save it!”

Rising food prices… sky-rocketing transportation costs… escalating populations of the hungry… There is a perfect storm of trouble blowing along the food chain, which leads one to ask: How will we feed the world’s hungry?

Industrialization has given rise to wonder breads in plastic bags, yet some still hunger for the old ways of fresh local breads. This leads one to ask, “What kind of hunger can only be satisfied with local breads?”

When it comes to food, white could be beautiful, but mostly its not!

Oh, give me a home, where the buffalo roam. Wait, what’s this… a buffalo in the house?

Each year, the U.S. government spends about $90 billion to ensure that its citizens have cheap food. This leads us to ask, “Who should get the $90 billion?

Droughts here, floods there, global-warming everywhere! And so we pause to ask, “Is weather going wild?” And, if so, “How will we grow food?”

With grocery stores near everyone’s front door, getting fed seems to be an easy thing to do. But those stores were not always there, which leads us to ask, “What can we eat that does not come from a store?”

Our oil companies have been tossed out of Venezuela, and so we rush to replace hydrocarbons with carbohydrates by planting corn from sea to shining sea. This leads one to ask, “Food or fuel?”

When a farmer returned from WWII, he could make a good living-, pay his debts and send his children to college by farming 100 acres of tomatoes. Today, a farmer must grow over 2,500 acres of tomatoes to earn the same good living. This leads one to ask, “Is bigger better?”

It began as a way to preserve old fish, but became a way for millions to eat fresh fish… fast! This leads one to ask, “How did the way of the samurai become the American way to eat sushi-on-the-go?”

Rachel Carson’s Silent Spring was so powerful it helped end the use of DDT. But pointing to the millions who suffer from malaria, some now ask, “Should we end the ban on DDT?"

Oil allowed us to move off the farm and into the city, where we now eat food that is trucked in from over a thousand miles away. This leads some to ask, “Who will feed us when we run out of gas?”

Does it matter from where our food comes? Some say “No!” and go their way; others say “Yes!” and demand to know. This leads one to ask: “Should manufacturers be forced to reveal our food’s country of origin?”

We demand so much Made in China that a new coal-burning power plant must be built every week just to keep us satisfied. Mercury emitted from that burning coal wafts high into the air before falling into our water. This leads one to ask: “Can we survive our demand for Made in China?"

Harmful bacteria from fecal matter has been finding its way into our food chain. Those bacteria might be killed with irradiation, yet many object to the process. The FDA suggests industry be allowed to call irradiation “pasteurization.” This leads one to ask, “What’s in the name?”

We enjoy a plentiful supply of the best food the world has to offer. But there were times when knuckle of pork was a culinary treat. This leads one to ask, “What will we eat if times get tough… again?”

We have poisoned 39,000 of our pets by feeding them commercial pet food from 100 different companies. This leads one to ask, “What’s in the food?”

We city folk have learned to eat skinless, boneless breasts from factory-farmed chickens, and think ourselves intelligent for doing so. This leads one to ask, “What happened to the joy of eating?”

E. Coli 0157:H7 has precipitated a civil war in the nation’s salad bowl. On one side are those who say all forms of extraneous life should be removed from farms. On the other side are those who advocate for adding more life. This leads us to ask, “Which side will win the consumer dollar?”

We know what happens with the birds and the bees. But it is the Spring of dying bees, and this leads us to ask, “What happens when there are no bees?”

The Department of Agriculture has approved the large-scale planting of rice containing human genes. This leads one to ask: “Can those human genes be kept down on the farm?”

The year of the pig has returned to China. This year, however, arbitors of the politically correct demand that the pig totem be covered so as not offend the Muslim minority. This leads us to ask, “Why did the pig become a political animal?” ( Answer in Forum #533)

Every year, the government hands out $20 billion of our lunch money to those with outstretched hands. This leads us to ask: “Who should get the money?”

The debate over the 2007 Farm Bill will include a well-organized effort to ban the inhumane treatment of animals. This leads us to ask: “Can the animals we raise for food be raised humanely?”

One tragedy of industrial agriculture is that it takes youth off the land and thrusts them into the city, where they find little or no meaningful employment. This leads us to ask, “Where can youth find real work?”

In 1982, it appeared on the hamburger patties of fast food. Since then, it has repeatedly contaminated the leaves of leafy greens. This leads us to ask, “Can farmers protect us from E.coli 0157:H7?”

Its hard to imagine civilizations coming to blows over two plants, but they did… twice! This leads us to ask, “Will it happen again?”

We have thrown the pro-business Republicans out of office and replaced them with the pro-environment Democrats. This leads us to ask, “Can we have a clean environment and do business?”

600,000 homes are attacked by termites each year, costing U.S. homeowners about $1.5 billion. The answer to date has been ozone-depleting methyl bromide. This leads us to ask, “Can nature provide a better answer?”

Its name has become synonymous with that which is boring. This leads us to ask, “Can vanilla be exciting?”

Industrial agriculture has been taking the hits lately, with books like Omnivore’s Dilemma, Fast Food Nation and Appetite for Profit throwing the punches. This leads us to ask, “Can big food do the right thing?”

More than 40% of bottled drinking water comes from the taps of municipal water systems. This leads us to ask, “Why do we pay up to 10,000 times more for city water when it is bottled in plastic?”

While listening to a Shipibo shaman lecture on the efficacy of herbs along the headwaters of the Amazon, an ant bit into my index finger. Looking down from the vine I had been leaning against, the ant said…

Decades ago, we left the farm for the city. Yet today we sing, I'm gonna leave this city, got to get away! This leads us to ask: “What will we find when we move back to the farm?”

In 1982, it appeared on the hamburger patties of fast food; today, it is found on the spinach leaves of vegetarians. This leads us to ask, “Can we survive E.coli 0157:H7?”

They escaped the conquistadors and mated with the liberated of trappers, settlers and farmers. They still roam free in the Pryor Mountains, where they lead us to ask, “Should we leave room for wild horses?”

When autumn nights brought cold and darkness, our forebears put away meat for their winter. We now live in a different kind of world, which leads some to ask, “Should we not take the blood out of the blood moon?”

We developed the first antibiotics in the early 1930’s and, with the help of their magic, spread across the earth like mold in a Petri dish. This leads us to ask, “From where do antibiotics come?” And, “Will they come in time?”

Psychologist Nicola Amadora believes farmers and gardeners should grow for fairies-. This leads one to ask, “Are fairies real?” And, if so, “Why bother growing for them?”

Wal-Mart recently announced it will greatly expand its offering of organic foods, and will price organic only slightly higher than conventional. This leads some to ask, “Will Wal-Mart wal-mart organics?”

Smithfield wants to buy Premium Standard Farms. If approved, Smithfield will have 1.1 million pigs, which is nearly one-third of the nation’s slaughter capacity. This leads one to ask, “Is bigger better?”

A few short years ago, 35% of the county’s farmers were 65 years or older, and more than half of the county’s farmers reported having no on to take over the farm. Then someone discovered Placer Gold!

As we move from an economy fueled by hydrocarbons to one fueled by carbohydrates we pause to ask: “Which will come first, food or fuel?”

To protect America from transmissible spongiform encephalopathies, USDA ordered Linda and Larry’s prized milking sheep slaughtered. This leads us to ask, “What did the Fallace’s milk sheep have to do with mad cows?”

Mad cow disease has entered the U.S. food chain via a single "downer" dairy cow in Washington State. And so we travel to the epicenter of the disease, Great Britain, for a conversation with Mark Purdey, who says that, when it comes to mad cow disease, "the Emperor has no clothes!"

Should we know from where our food comes, or should we be content with whatever is placed on the table before us? Consumers and farmers overwhelmingly say that we should have the right to know, but others say we should not!

They say it's a $250,000,000 crop waiting to be planted–but there is one hurdle. It is illegal. This leads one to ask, "Should the United States legalize the cultivation of 'industrial' hemp?"

To stay on top in the world of haute cuisine, restaurant chefs must serve food that is the best of the best. This leads us to ask, "Where does one find the best food?"

They say one should be careful of what one asks. Many small-scale farmers asked for an official definition to the word "organic," and got it. Organic farming then grew into a multi-billion dollar-a-year industry, which now leads some to ask, "Should big farms be allowed to call themselves "organic?"

There are millions of jobs for the taking, and millions of hands willing to take them. This leads one to ask, "Should we return to the days of the strong arm?"

There are 8,570,000 references to factory farming accessible on the internet, and few are favorable. This leads one to ask, "What's all the fuss about factory farming?"

In 1930, the United States had 6.3 million farms; in 2000, it had only 2.1 million. Some say the 27 million people who lived on those farms were deliberately forced off in a Stalin-like purge. This leads one to ask, "What did happen to all the farmers?"

They can burrow through an acre in a single day and then go on to destroy up to half the crop on that acre. This leads one to ask, "How can one control gophers?"

To market… to market… to the farmers' market, for food with its farmers face on it, ambiance that is small-town friendly and people as real as the goods in their hands. And so we ask, "Can these people be real?"

Like magic bullets, antibiotics kill harmful bacteria and allow us to multiply like, well, mold in a Petri dish!  Our magic bullets, however, do not kill all bacteria– some survive as “super bugs.” This leads one to ask, “What can stop super bugs?” </h4>

It’s the dream!  Turn a wild, scrub-covered hillside into an orderly vineyard, and then crush the grapes thereof into a premium wine. But before you dig we ask, “What lies between the dream and the lips?” </h4>

It’s the law of the land!  The more valuable an object, the more likely someone will counterfeit it.  This leads one to ask, “What’s in those pills?” </h4>

It’s the snack everybody loves to make, which leads one to ask, “Who put the pop in corn?” </h4>

They say that, where obesity is becoming the major health issue, more and more are going hungry. This leads us to ask, “Who is hungry now?” </h4>

Our daily bread travels an average of 2,000 miles on oil provided by those who simply do not like us. This leads us to ask, “Can we turn our grass into gas?”</h4>

The United States has lost family farms by the tens of thousands, including that belonging to John Peterson.  Thus begins the story of how a farmer, who became a hippy, became a farmer on the new American family farm.

We have caught most of the fish available for the catching and are now fishing our way down the food chain. This leads us to ask, <i>“What’s next… jellyfish sandwiches and plankton soup?”</i>

From the beginning, agriculture has taken the wild and free and forced them to march in submission.  This leads us to ask, “Why do some believe we should <i>farm with the wild</i>?”

Some want all food processed and marketed on producing farms to be exempt from government inspection. This leads one to ask, “Who can we trust to insure the safety of these foods?”

They say two-thirds of us have become overweight or obese.  This leads one to ask, “Who is fattening us up… and why?”

Some say milk does a body good.  Others say milk does a body bad. This leads us to ask, “Which is it, good or bad?” 

The culture of American agriculture, is one of grain.  This leads us to ask, “Why do some continue preaching the Gospel of Grass?”

A core principle of Christianity is to love one’s neighbor.  This leads us to ask, “Why do some Christian missionaries in Africa say, ‘Stop sending food!’”

Someone once said, “A billion here, a billion there, and pretty soon you’re talking real money!”  Over the decades we have given farmers $600,000,000,000.  This leads us to ask, “Should we stop giving farmers real money?”

They call it the “Big Apple.” But if history is any measure, it should really be called the “Big Oyster.”

For the past six decades, US Secretaries of Agriculture have told American farmers to “Get big or get out!” and to “Adapt or die!”  And so they did.  This leads us to ask, “Where have all the farmers gone?”

Some say we should eat foods that are organic. Others say we should eat foods that are local. This leads us to ask, “Which is most important: organic or local?”

Life imitates art!  A plague of fearless crows has descended on Riverton, Wyoming—and other communities throughout the West— to frighten residents and take over their town.  And so we ask, “What can stop… <i>the Birds</i>?”

The inner city has been paved over with concrete and hopelessness.  The young, in hooded vestments, slink in the shadows.  And so we ask, “What is the value of seeds to the city?”

It’s a fact!  We are turning our farmland into cities.  At some point in the future, there will be more mouths to feed then farmland to feed them.  This leads us to ask, “What’s in the Petri dish?”

Got milk?  Perhaps not!  Food processors find bulk milk difficult to manage, and so have petitioned USDA for the right to use concentrated materials that some consider… <em>not milk!</em>

To protect against disease and terrorism, USDA will register and track domesticated animals, and the properties in which they reside, throughout the United States.  This leads us to ask, “What impact will these good intentions have on small farmers, ranchers and hobbyists?” 

In one year, the USDA will register and track domesticated animals throughout the United States.  This leads us to ask, “Why?” and “How?”

We ferment and distill the fruits of our fields, then drink ourselves silly. This leads us to ask, "What is in the glass that leads us to drink?

Saint Jerome said, "When our stomachs are full, it is easy to talk about fasting." For the most, our stomachs are full, and so we ask, "What's in a fast?"

Avian fluOe broken fuel lines… swarming immigrantsOe. It has been a year of living dangerously on the Food Chain. And so we ask, "Which of 2005's stories will have the greatest impact on our ability to eat food?"

Napolean the Pig said, "All animals are created equal, but some are more equal than others." And so we wonder why, in the world of kosher foods, the pig is among the least equal of all.

It is the season of giving. And so we ask, "How can we who have so much make a difference by giving to those who have so little?"

It's a fact! Cities consume a lot of food and excrete a lot of waste. And so we ask, "Should we spread this waste on top of farmland?"

It's a fact! Cities consume a lot of food and excrete a lot of waste. And so we ask, "Should we spread this waste on top of farmland?"

The culture of American agriculture is one of grain. And so we ask, "Why is Alan Nation preaching the gospel of grass?"

Once tame, now wild, parrots and pigeons have moved into the big city. And so we ask, "How do they make their living?"

Partially hydrogenated oil extends the shelf-life of food, but shortens the shelf-life of people. And so we ask, "Who put this poison in the pantry?" And, "Why do we keep eating it?"

Each year, we taxpayers spend about $1.4 billion dollars to subsidize the production of corn ethanol. And so we pause to ask, "Are we getting our money's worth?"

We know them as food and medicine. But some say there is magic in mushrooms that can help save the world. And so we ask, "How?"

In 1987, a great storm swept in from the Atlantic and devastated the Royal Botanic Gardens at Kew, England. To replace the thousands of specimen trees lost, plant hunters traveled to the edge of the world. This leads us to ask, "What did they find there?"

The Sierra Club has accepted a $100,000,000 gift on the condition it does not take a position on immigration. This leads us to ask, "Can we manage the environment without managing the population?"

In 1972, Dr. Robert Atkins sparked a revolution in dieting by telling us to "enjoy the fats and avoid the sugars." And so we ask, "What happened to the dead Doctor's dead diet?"

"Violence is never the answer," claims horse whisperer Monty Roberts. This leads us to ask: How can one break a horse by whispering to it?

Like a neutron bomb dropped from on high, Hurricane Katrina swooped down and blew away the people of New Orleans. This leads us to ask, "Should we rebuild the Big Easy?"

We now spend more than $20 billion a year on herbal supplements. This leads us to ask, "Are we getting our money's worth?"

The toxic contaminant methylmercury has worked its way up the food chain and is now found in our favorite fish. And so we ask, "Should we be allowed to know what risk these fish poise to our well-being?"

It's a fact. Millions have been raised on Kraft American cheese. And so we pause to ask, "Why?"

A Shakespeare professor once said, "Look here, Olson, all the good stories are about fighting or fornicating!" And so we ask, "Why did Monsanto file a patent application on the reproductive activity of pigs?"

Some say we should plant genetically-modified organisms from sea to shining sea. Others say, "Not in my back yard!" and pass laws banning the planting of them. This leads us to ask, "Who should have the authority to decide where GMO may be planted?"

Robert Vasquez is suing Swift Beef and Harris Moran Seed for costs incurred by the large number of illicit immigrants hired by the companies. This leads us to ask, "How cheap is cheap labor?"

Times are not good in the heart of Africa. AIDS and civil war force children to raise children. And so we ask, "Where does one turn for hope?"

They are out to do us in any way they can. And so we ask, "Can they use milk?"

This year, city people will give country people an extra $24 billion to farm crops. Some farmers do not need this help. And so we ask, "Why?"

When it comes to satisfying our hunger for food, we city people merely ask, and food is delivered from thousands of miles away. Yet we hunger for moreOe.