At the Iowa Farm Table Podcast

16:30

Pesticide Drift: The Label Is the Law

At the Iowa Farm Table Podcast ·

2026/09/29

Welcome back to Season III of At the Iowa Farm Table!This week Beth Hoffman digs into pesticide drift with Amanda Severson (Grand View Beef), Joel Meyer (Meyer Agri-Air Inc), and Rob Faux (a farmer and communications at Pesticide Action and Agroecology Network). You’ll learn about how the laws around drift are determined and what happens when they are broken. And all in 16 minutes!The full transcript of the show is included below if you prefer reading to listening. You can also refer to it if you

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9:23

Cancer, Prairie Strips and a Man's Soul

At the Iowa Farm Table Podcast ·

2026/06/30

Jon Bakehouse is a corn and soybean farmer in southwest Iowa. He and his family were working to improve the sustainability of the farm over the years. But an unexpected health scare changed Bakehouse’s perspective of farming, andAbout this podcastThis episode is part of a partnership with the Practical Farmers of Iowa, a farmer-led nonprofit with more than 9,000 members that equips farmers to build resilient farms and communities. Through farmer-led education, on-farm research, financial support,

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9:10

Do we have a moral obligation to "feed the world"?

At the Iowa Farm Table Podcast ·

2026/06/16

Arlyn Kauffman, a row crop and egg farmer from southern Iowa, took a group of high school students to one of the nation’s largest agricultural shows, where major seed and chemical companies were showcasing their products.What he learned there changed his life.This episode is the beginning of an occasional series Beth Hoffman will produce in partnership with Practical Farmers of Iowa (PFI).PFI is a farmer-led nonprofit with more than 9,000 members that equips farmers to build resilient farms and

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12:44

Farmers and Land

At the Iowa Farm Table Podcast ·

2026/06/02

More than 70% of farms in the U.S. have been lost over the past 125 years. Today less than 2% of Americans call farming their profession.Yet, in a world with a changing climate and uncertain job market, many are looking to farming as a way to get back to the land, grow healthy food for their community, and discover a life full of meaning. But finding land and becoming a full fledged member of the family farm are essential first steps in the plan.Beth Hoffman explores how securing land for beginning

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12:02

How Prairie Made Iowa

At the Iowa Farm Table Podcast ·

2026/05/05

We wanted to send a quick note of appreciation for all of our listeners! Thank you so much for your support.Please be sure to write a review of this podcast (especially if you listen outside of Substack). And sign up for the Iowa Food System Coalition’s Local Food Challenge taking place this summer.Have you ever wondered why U.S. tax payers often pay farmers NOT to farm? In this episode, we frame that question a little differently: have you ever wondered why U.S. tax payers don’t pay more farmers to

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17:46

Iowa, Farming and Cancer: What Do We Really Know?

At the Iowa Farm Table Podcast ·

2026/04/21

Iowa has a cancer problem. We are one of the only states in the nation with a growing cancer rate, and have higher levels of certain kinds of cancers than do similar areas of the country.Many have put the blame on Iowa’s fields, while others say that legal pesticides are safe for us and the environment.In this episode we go down the rabbit hole to understand—how do chemicals become products on our shelves? Is a legal chemical safe? And what do researchers know about the relationship between

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13:17

USDA, Beginning Farmers, and Broken Promises

At the Iowa Farm Table Podcast ·

2026/04/07

The Increasing Land, Capital, and Market Access Program was slated to bring millions of dollars into Iowa, while supporting new farmers. Contracts were signed, fellows quit their jobs, and we were off to the races. Until suddenly, we weren’t. USDA abruptly pulled the funding in March with two days notice, deferring the dreams of new farmers like Lawrencia Rogers and eliminating the jobs created to help them.Please “like” this podcast or write a review! Share it with a friend too. VoicesLawrencia

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14:28

Can Restaurants Transform Iowa into a Farm-to-Table...

At the Iowa Farm Table Podcast ·

2026/03/24

In the second episode of our two part mini-series on restaurants, Beth visits with those championing for the transformation of Iowa into a farm-to-table haven. She talks to the chefs and farmers making it a reality, and to those in government supporting the change.VoicesSuman Hoque of HoQ and Flora in Des Moines, IowaJill Beebout of Blue Gate Farm, Chariton, IowaAustin Frerick, Author of Barons: Money, Power, and the Corruption of America’s Food IndustrySam Gelman of The WebsterJessica Dunker,

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12:04

Iowa Restaurants, Broadliners, and Meh Food

At the Iowa Farm Table Podcast ·

2026/03/10

How come so much of the food in Iowa seems to taste the same? In this two-part mini-series, Beth Hoffman dives deep into how and why restaurants have evolved (not for the better), and the ways chefs can help reinvigorate the state of Iowa.Listen to this 12-minute podcast on Substack or any other podcast player.VoicesSuman Hoque of HOQ and Flora in Des Moines, Iowa.Jill Beebout of Blue Gate Farm, Chariton, Iowa.Austin Frerick, Author of Barons: Money, Power, and the Corruption of America’s Food

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9:13

A Triple Win For Iowa

At the Iowa Farm Table Podcast ·

2026/02/23

Fruits and vegetables are often not the first thing many SNAP (the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program) participants buy. Produce can be more expensive, and when you are trying to stretch food dollars to feed hungry kids (children make up almost 40% of all SNAP users), processed foods often fills more bellies.A program implemented in Iowa called Double Up Food Bucks helps stretch SNAP dollars by doubling the money spent on fresh fruits and vegetables. It’s a federally funded program active in

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9:08

Healing From the Ground Up

At the Iowa Farm Table Podcast ·

2026/02/09

“Food as medicine.” The phrase is everywhere in the news and on social media. But food and farming impacts not only our bodies. In this episode of At the Iowa Farm Table, we look at the concept of healing our bodies, by choosing better foods and by healing our soils.“If we’re going to have healthy people, we have to have healthy soils that produce healthy plants. That gives us healthy people,” says Shaffer Ridgeway, farmer and Soil Conservationist with the Natural Resources Conservation Service, the

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10:53

A 160+ Year Family Legacy

At the Iowa Farm Table Podcast ·

2026/01/26

Todd Western III’s family settled in Mahaska County in 1864, a year after Abraham Lincoln issued his famous Emancipation Proclamation. More than 160 years later, the family still farms the same land.As one would imagine, the Western family has weathered a lot over the course of their time on the land: price fluctuations, weather changes, and racial discrimination. But it was the sudden death of Western’s father that changed the course of his life and allowed him to find his calling.Listen to Western

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10:32

Inspiration comes in all forms

At the Iowa Farm Table Podcast ·

2026/01/12

Working to change the food system can feel like a slog. Progress is slow, challenges are constant, and wins can be hard to see.And yet, change has happened. Public understanding has shifted, and a growing movement in Iowa is pushing toward a food system that is more sustainable, more equitable, and more accessible. That progress didn’t happen by accident. It happened because people showed up.In this episode, we reflect on the moments that inspire people to step into food systems work and to stay

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20:38

Chickenizing the American food system

At the Iowa Farm Table Podcast ·

2025/11/17

There’s a word that explains a lot about modern agriculture, even if Merriam-Webster hasn’t caught up yet: chickenization. It’s what happens when animals become “widgets,” farms become factories, and power quietly shifts from thousands of farmers to a handful of corporations.In this season finale of At the Iowa Farm Table, Beth Hoffman digs into how chicken went from luxury to dollar-menu staple, and what we lost along the way. Journalist and author Christopher Leonard traces the rise of vertically

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35:00

Here's the beef (on beef)

At the Iowa Farm Table Podcast ·

2025/11/03

This week on At the Iowa Farm Table, learn more about how and where your food is raised!Beth Hoffman and Amanda Severson chat about their cattle businesses and how they raise meat differently than what you typically buy in the supermarket. They discuss current political trends and how the nutrition of the meat they raise differs from cattle raised on corn.You can learn more about Amanda Severson and her family at https://www.grandviewbeef.com/ and on instagram @grandviewbeefBeth Hoffman runs

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10:45

Raise More Hell and Less Corn

At the Iowa Farm Table Podcast ·

2025/10/20

What’s going on in farm country?China, which normally buys half of America’s soybean crop, hasn’t bought a bean. Corn prices are dragging below the cost of production. Wheat and hogs? Also in the tank.Across the Midwest, people are whispering—and in some cases shouting—that we might be headed for another farm crisis, the likes of which Iowa last saw in the 1980s.To get perspective, I turned to Sarah Vogel. She’s an attorney, advocate, and author of The Farmer’s Lawyer, the memoir that chronicles the

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12:03

The Key to Ecological Healing

At the Iowa Farm Table Podcast ·

2025/10/06

In recognition of Indigenous Peoples Day (October 13th in Iowa), we hear from two Indigenous women residing in Iowa and learn how shifting our perspective can help bring us back into balance with the natural world. Featured Voices* Marianna G. M. Cota, MPH — Ecologist, dreamweaver, heartist, disruptor, folklorist, and public health scholar with Yoeme/Yaqui, Kapampangan/Filipino, and Mexican lineage. Marianna is the dreamer behind INDIGENEXUS, inviting others to develop and maintain relationships

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13:49

Who Benefits from Iowa’s School Lunch Dollars?

At the Iowa Farm Table Podcast ·

2025/09/22

Iowa schools spend millions feeding kids — in effect, they’re the largest restaurants in the state. But here’s the catch: most of those tax dollars don’t stay in Iowa. When food is trucked in from across the country and contracts go only to national corporations, local farms and rural communities lose out.In this replay of our very first episode, we dig into the real economics of school lunch. You’ll hear how the now-defunded Local Food for Schools program changed what ended up on kids’ trays, why

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13:45

Food Grows Iowa: A Vision for a Diverse Midwest

At the Iowa Farm Table Podcast ·

2025/09/08

Iowa’s food system has been engineered into sameness. This episode explores how diversification—of crops, markets, and farmers—could reshape the Corn Belt and prove that Food Grows Iowa. This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit attheiowafarmtable.substack.com

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15:35

4 IDEAs to Help Our Nitrate Problem

At the Iowa Farm Table Podcast ·

2025/08/25

Iowa’s nitrate levels have hit historic highs, forcing lawn watering bans, swim advisories, and costly cleanups. A new report — the Central Iowa Source Water Research Assessment (CISWRA) — confirms what many Iowans already know: agriculture is driving the problem, and solutions can’t wait.So what can you do about a challenge this big?In this episode, host Beth Hoffman sits down with Dr. Adam Shriver, Director of Wellness and Nutrition at the Harkin Institute and leader with the Iowa Food System

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