Food. Justice. Work.
The Checkout centers the voices and efforts of essential workers on the frontlines of our food system. Now more than ever, our food system is in a constant state of flux, radical change and crisis. From political economy and supply chain analysis to public policy, labor organizing and community struggles, The Checkout will expand the horizon of what is necessary to create a just, equitable and progressive food system.
The Checkout is a proud member of the Labor Radio Podcast Network.
Episode 44: The Weekly Special. Plant Based Foods, Labor Organizing & more. Dedicated to Jay Brito, RIP.
Welcome to The Checkout’s Weekly Special, where we discuss some of the top issues in food retail, CPG and policy. This week’s episode covers industry happenings from the week of April 5th, 2021, including plant-based foods, labor organizing, food access and our weekly inspirations. This episode is dedicated to Jay Brito of Bronx House JCC on the ten year anniversary of his passing. Rest in Peace.
Episode 43: Daniel Nicholson of NadaMoo!
The Checkout checks in with Daniel Nicholson, CEO of NadaMoo!, a leading plant-based ice cream based in Austin, Texas. The Checkout’s Host Errol Schweizer first put NadaMoo! on grocery shelves way back in 2005 while working as a grocery buyer in Austin.
Daniel Nicholson graduated from the University of Texas at Austin in 2007 with a degree in Mechanical Engineering. Daniel discovered NadaMoo! in 2008 after an introduction to the founder. Since immediately falling in love with the product and brand, NadaMoo! has become his sole focus for the past 13+ years. He started as the Controller, and after 3 years, the founder of the company was ready to step out to pursue other opportunities. In that moment, Daniel decided to step into the role of President and CEO, and he never looked back. Since 2011, the company has grown its revenue over 50x, from being distributed in just a few hundred stores to over 10,000 stores nationwide, and it is beginning to be distributed more widely in Canada. NadaMoo! has been a driving force for Daniel to help build awareness around health, wellness, and sustainability.
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Episode 42: UFCW Local 770, Hazard Pay and The Struggle For Dignity
The Checkout presents a special episode featuring John Grant, President of UFCW Local 770 in Southern California, as well as Maria Hernandez, a UFCW Local 770 rank and file retail clerk. Maria’s store is one of seven being closed by Kroger in response to the municipal hazard pay mandates that the union fought for.
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Episode 41: Greg Fleishman
The Checkout checks in with Greg Fleishman, a leading entrepreneur and brand builder in the natural products sector. The Checkout’s Host, Errol Schweizer has worked closely with Greg for almost 15 years.
Greg Fleishman creates, nurtures, & invests in Consumer Brands that make the world better. Co-Founder/CEO @foodstirs | Founder @purelyrighteous Brands | Co-Founder @uptogoodenergy | Co-Founder @eatunion | Board Director for Lily's Sweets, Once Upon a Farm, 4th & Heart Ghee, Nuun Hydration, & Demeter Biodynamic Farming USA | Impact Investor Partner for Cambridge SPG | Former exec @ Kashi, Kellogg, Coca-Cola | Forbes Top Consumers Catalyst | Certified Donutoiseur
Episode 40: Dr. Abdul El-Sayed on Medicare For All
Dr. Abdul El-Sayed discusses the corrupt and wasteful private healthcare system and why need Medicare For All and a true public health system.
Dr. Abdul El-Sayed is a physician, epidemiologist, educator, author, speaker, and podcast host. He is a commentator at CNN and his newsletter, The Incision, cuts into the trends shaping our moment. His three books include Healing Politics: A Doctor’s Journey into the Heart of Our Political Epidemic (Abrams Press, 2020), which diagnoses our country’s epidemic of insecurity and the empathy politics we will need to treat it; and Medicare for All: A Citizen’s Guide (Oxford University Press, 2021), co-authored with Dr. Micah Johnson, which offers a no nonsense guide to the policy. He is the host of “America Dissected,” a podcast by Crooked Media, which goes beyond the headlines to explore what really matters for our health. He is a Senior Fellow at the FXB Center for Health & Human Rights at the Harvard TH Chan School of Public Health and a Scholar-in-Residence at Wayne State University and American University, where he teaches at the intersection between public health, public policy, and politics.
In 2018, Abdul ran for Governor of Michigan on an unapologetically progressive platform, advocating for universal healthcare, clean water for all, debt-free and tuition-free higher education, a pathway to 100% renewable energy, and to rebuild the barrier between corporations and government. Abdul holds a doctorate in Public Health from Oxford University, where he was a Rhodes Scholar, as well as a medical degree from Columbia University, where he was a Medical Scientist Training Program Fellow and a Soros New Americans Fellow. He graduated Phi Beta Kappa with Highest Distinction from the University of Michigan. He is a native Michigander who was born and raised in Metro Detroit, where he lives with his wife, Sarah, a mental health doctor, and daughter Emmalee. He is a proud member of the National Writers Union, AFT Local 477, and SEIU Local 500.
Episode 39: Why We Need A Public Food Sector
In the wake of Covid-19 and Winter Storm Uri, retail and wholesale food supply chains were continuously strained and broken in Austin, Texas, leaving grocery shelves empty. So why are we still dependent on the private sector for our food supply?
Errol Schweizer, Host of The Checkout and a 25+ year veteran of food retail and CPG, shares an overview of how things work in the corporate-owned food supply chain, from retailers to distributors to charitable networks, as well as an outline of what a public sector food system could look like. With an eye towards food sovereignty and food security, we discuss food utilities, public cafeterias, publicly owned manufacturing and cooperative delivery platforms.
Episode 38: The Weekly Special. Pass the PRO-Act & more.
Welcome to The Checkout’s Weekly Special, where we discuss some of the top issues in food retail, CPG and policy.
Hosted by Errol Schweizer.
This week includes: Why we must Pass The PRO-Act; Alt-Meat Craziness; Senator Tester’s Class Bias; Essential Worker Policies & Weekly Inspiration.
Episode 37: Amazon’s Racial Capitalism: The Cost of Free Shipping
Dr. Ellen Reese is Professor of Sociology and Chair of Labor Studies at the University of California, Riverside. Her research focuses on gender, race, and class, welfare state development, social movements, and poverty and work. She is author of They Say Cutback; We Say Fightback! Welfare Activism in an Era of Retrenchment (2011, American Sociological Association’s Rose Series) and Backlash Against Welfare Mothers: Past and Present (2005, University of California Press). She is also co-author of The World Social Forums and the Challenges of Global Democracy (2007, Paradigm Publishers) and co-editor of The Wages of Empire: Neoliberal Policies, Repression, and Women’s Poverty (2007, Paradigm Publishers) and A Handbook of World Social Forum Activism (2012, Paradigm Publishers). ellen.reese@ucr.edu
Dr. Jake Alimahomed-Wilson is a Professor of Sociology at California State University at Long Beach. His research explores the ways that racism and labor exploitation intersect. He is particularly interested in the global logistics industry and the workers who move goods around the world. His current research examines the impact of e-commerce (i.e. Amazon) on work and labor. His newest co-edited (with Ellen Reese) book, The Cost of Free Shipping: Amazon in the Global Economy, was released in 2020 by Pluto Press (Wildcat Series). This book provides a rich and interdisciplinary collection of critical essays by scholars, activists, and labor and community organizers that interrogates the global significance of Amazon’s rise and the growing popular resistance to it around the world. jake.wilson@csulb.edu
Episode 36: Montserrat Garibay
Reginaldo Haslett-Marroquin began working on economic development projects with indigenous Guatemalan communities in 1988. He served as a consultant for the United Nations Development Program’s Bureau for Latin America and as an advisor to the World Council of Indigenous Peoples. He was a founding member of the Fair-Trade Federation in 1994.
Episode 35: Marita Canedo of Migrant Justice on “Milk With Dignity”
https://migrantjustice.net/about The mission of Migrant Justice is to build the voice, capacity, and power of the farmworker community and engage community partners to organize for economic justice and human rights. We gather the farmworker community to discuss and analyze shared problems and to envision collective solutions. Through this ongoing investment in leadership development, members deepen their skills in community education and organizing for long-term systemic change. From this basis our members have defined community problems as a denial of rights and dignity and have prioritized building a movement to secure these fundamental human rights to: 1) Dignified Work and Quality Housing; 2) Freedom of Movement and Access to Transportation; 3) Freedom from discrimination; 4) Access to Health Care.
Milk With Dignity: https://migrantjustice.net/about-the-milk-with-dignity-program
Episode 34: Reginaldo Hasslet-Marroquin: Decolonize and Indigenize Regenerative Agriculture
Reginaldo Haslett-Marroquin began working on economic development projects with indigenous Guatemalan communities in 1988. He served as a consultant for the United Nations Development Program’s Bureau for Latin America and as an advisor to the World Council of Indigenous Peoples. He was a founding member of the Fair-Trade Federation in 1994.
Episode 33: Karen Washington, on Farming, Food Justice and Community Organizing
Karen Washington has been a resident of The Bronx for over 26 years, although in 2015 she began living part time in Orange County, NY near the farm. Since 1985 Karen has been a community activist, striving to make New York City a better place to live. As a community gardener and board member of the New York Botanical Gardens, Karen worked with Bronx neighborhoods to turn empty lots into community gardens. As an advocate, she stood up and spoken out for garden protection and preservation. As a member of the La Familia Verde Community Garden Coalition, she helped launched a City Farms Market, bringing garden fresh vegetables to her neighbors. She also co-founded Black Urban Growers (BUGS), an organization of volunteers committed to building networks and community support for growers in both urban and rural settings. In 2012 Ebony magazine voted her one of their 100 most influential African Americans in the country, and in 2014 she was awarded with the James Beard Leadership Award. Karen was a Physical Therapist for over 30 years, and she "retired" in April 2014 to start Rise & Root Farm. Editor’s note: we recorded this episode in December, hence some of the current event references are outdated, but we chose not to edit it to retain the full impact of Karen’s words. Enjoy.
Episode 32: Farmer Rishi on Regeneration, Equity and Representation
Rishi Kumar is a farmer, educator and consultant based in Los Angeles working in the field of regeneration. Rishi learned to farm at Dr. Vandana Shiva’s farm in India. He is an articulate and outspoken advocate for diversity and inclusion in the good food movement. Please follow Rishi on Instagram, and check out his awesome YouTube channel as well as his writings.
Episode 31: Claire Kelloway on Prop 22, Big Tech and Reviving the Anti-Trust Movement
“Prop 22 is about excluding gig workers from basic labor protections.”
From https://www.foodandpower.net/our-team: Claire Kelloway is a senior reporter and researcher with the Open Markets Institute. She is the primary writer for Food & Power, a first-of-its-kind website, providing original reporting and resources on monopoly power and economic concentration in the food system. Her writing on food and agriculture has appeared in the American Prospect, ProPublica, Civil Eats, the Washington Monthly, and more.
Episode 30: Winona LaDuke
“The Line 3 Pipeline goes through the heart of our wild rice territory and wild rice is our most sacred food. This battle is about the wild rice. It is our responsibility to protect the wild rice.”
“People need to understand that this is the Holy Land.”
From http://www.honorearth.org/speaking_engagements : Winona LaDuke is an internationally renowned activist working on issues of sustainable development renewable energy and food systems. She lives and works on the White Earth reservation in northern Minnesota, and is a two time vice presidential candidate
Episode 29: Part 3 of 3, Worker Ownership and the Solidarity Economy, By Errol Schweizer
Worker ownership is what it’s all about. This episode covers different models of worker ownership and cooperative enterprises, with an eye towards creating a solidarity economy that meets the needs of all.
Dedicated to MF DOOM and Riley Gale, whose music continues to inspire.
Episode 27: Andres Bernal Talks Money
Andres Bernal, an advisor to Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, joins us for a wide ranging discussion on worker cooperatives, Modern Monetary Theory, myth busting the Federal deficit, the need for a Jobs Guarantee and how to fund a Green New Deal.
Episode 26: The COVID Receipts. Part 1 of 3, By Errol Schweizer
The Covid Receipts is Part 1 of a 3 part series diving into the pandemic fueled crisis and its impact on the food system. This episode details the vast inequality in the USA and the inequities in our food industry, the levels of retail consolidation and profiteering, and the impacts on supply chain workers.
Episode 25: Coalition of Immokalee Workers (CIW) and The Fair Food Program
“If you have a lot of purchasing power, you can drive prices down. At the same time, if you have a lot of purchasing power, you can demand more humane conditions, you can demand compliance with fundamental human rights in your suppliers’ operations, you can improve the lives of millions of people… if you decide to wield that same volume purchasing power for good as opposed to evil.”
“The reasons all these mechanisms work are the market consequences in these agreements with the buyers. If a grower is found out of compliance, the buyer has to suspend purchases. All of this comes together to form an actual enforcement of the rights in the Fair Food Code of Conduct. That’s the power of the purchase order.”
“Whatever they call social responsibility in the food industry has been a joke, a fraud… it is absolutely empty and soulless and unreal. It is everything that has not worked and has been done for public relations purposes for the corporations, not the workers. That all became clear when Covid came down and all these outbreaks came to the press, did any of the Buyers of all that meat step up and say that we can’t allow this to keep happening? Not one.”