In this tasty episode, I interview Food and Agricultural Economist, Dr. Jayson Lusk. We talk about his controversial opinions of the local food movement that challenge a lot of popular assumptions. He also provides a unique perspective on soda tax, like the one recently passed in Philadelphia, and how the obesity epidemic can be to tied to economics. Jayson’s up-beat, but realistic, approach to these controversial topics is sure to be informative and entertaining.

Jayson Lusk, PhD, Food and Agricultural Economist

Dr. Lusk is a food and agricultural economist who studies what we eat and why we eat it. Since 2000, he’s published more than 170 articles in peer-reviewed scientific journals on a wide assortment of topics ranging from the economics of animal welfare to consumer preferences for genetically modified food.  He’s been listed as one of the most prolific and cited food and agricultural economists of the past decade and won numerous research awards, given hundreds of lectures for businesses, nonprofits, trade industry organizations, and universities in the US and abroad, has been interviewed or published editorials in outlets such as the New York Times, Wall Street Journal, the Washington Post, Forbes.com, Foxnews.com, TIME.com, Townhall.com and the Huffington Post, and have made TV appearances on Fox and Friends, the John Stossel Show, Varney & Co., and Wall Street Journal Live, among others.

Dr. Lusk serves as Regents Professor and Willard Sparks Endowed Chair in the Department of Agricultural Economics at Oklahoma State University and also serves as the Samuel Roberts Noble Distinguished Fellow at the Oklahoma Council of Public Affairs.  After earning a B.S. in Food Technology from Texas Tech University in 1997, he received a Ph.D. in Agricultural Economics from Kansas State University in 2000.  His first job out of graduate school was as an assistant professor at Mississippi State University, where he stayed for three years before moving to Purdue University as an Associate Professor.  In 2005, he accepted his current position at Oklahoma State.  In 2011, he and his family lived in Paris while he served as a visiting researcher at the French National Institute for Agricultural Research and worked on a research fellowship awarded by the Organization of Economic Cooperation and Development.

The Food Police: A Well-Fed Manifesto about the Politics of Your Plate, was published by Crown Forum in 2013.  His most recent book, Unnaturally Delicious:  How Science and Technology are Serving Up Super Foods to Save the World was published by St. Martin’s Press in 2016.

Dr. Lusk currently lives in Stillwater, Oklahoma with his wife and two sons.

WHAT YOU’LL LEARN IN TODAY’S EPISODE…

1:42 Jayson explains what a Food and Agriculture Economist is and how he became one

“It’s a great job and, one of the fun things is, there’s always plenty of problems to solve and so there always seems to be a lot of fun work to do.” – Dr. Jayson Lusk

4:28 Jayson talks about his controversial viewpoints on the local food movement

“So, I’m not against local foods but, what I am against, are bad arguments for buying local foods.” – Dr. Jayson Lusk

11:33 Annette and Jayson discuss CSA (Community Supported Agriculture) programs

“I ended up wasting a lot of the food because I don’t know what to do with ten pounds of Swiss chard.” – Annette Hottenstein

13:03 Jayson explains why certain crops are grown in certain locations in order to be economical

17:50 Jayson provides some statistics on the number of total farms in the US compared to the number of farms that produce 80% of the food consumed in the US

19:30 Jayson gives his take on the soda tax that was recently passed in Philadelphia

“To say that that’s going to be the thing that solves the obesity problem, I’m going to be extraordinarily skeptical about.” – Dr. Jayson Lusk

29:53 Annette and Jayson discuss how income and technological advancements might contribute to obesity

33:02 Jayson talks about his books, Unnaturally Delicious, Food Police, and Compassion by the Pound

SOME OF THE RESOURCES DISCUSSED…

To learn about Dr. Jayson Lusk, visit his blog.

To learn more about the Agricultural & Applied Economics Association, just click here.

Click the titles below to learn more about Jayson’s books:

Unnaturally Delicious

The Food Police

Compassion, by the Pound

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Until next time!

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The post Episode 038: Agricultural Economics w/ Dr. Jayson Lusk appeared first on Food Sommelier.