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 17: Cristina Tzintzún Ramirez On Organizing Essential Workers
“We have a system that is happy to accept undocumented workers’ labor but not their full humanity…
“ We can create a system that understands essential work should be paid as such, that if you risk your life to take care of society, you should be paid more.”
From https://www.cristinatzintzun.org: Cristina Tzintzún Ramirez founded and led two of Texas’ largest voting and civil rights organizations: Jolt, a Texas-wide organization focused on energizing the Latino vote, and Workers Defense Project (WDP), winning the passage of local and state laws protecting the rights of hundreds of thousands of workers. Cristina is a former 2020 US Senate candidate. She was named “Hero of the New South” by Southern Living Magazine and her work has been featured on NPR, Vogue, The New York Times, MTV, USA Today, Univision, MSNBC’s Up Late with Alec Baldwin, among others.
Episode 16: Errol Schweizer on Taste Radio
“We have the most work to do in the food industry.”
We started The Checkout for a few reasons. One, we are food industry lifers and wanted to do a show about food from an insider’s perspective. Two, we felt we needed to center the efforts of working class and BIPOC folks on the frontlines. Three, there is so much injustice and inequity in the food industry and we need to change that. And four, we feel a deep sense of love and solidarity with our colleagues and want to recognize and give a voice to the work they do everyday of the year to feed the world. We hope you enjoy The Checkout and this interview with Ray Latif on Taste Radio.
Episode 15: Chris Smalls and The People Vs. Amazon
“Our mission is to create a rank and file democracy of essential workers… to get enough workforce behind us that we have more power than Congress itself…
“Until we have enough power to tell Amazon or any employer we’re not going to work unless you meet our demands.”
From tcoew.org : The Congress of Essential Workers (T.C.O.E.W.) is a collective of essential workers and allies across the United States coming together under a common goal: to support each other in a fight for better working conditions, better wages, and a better world. T.C.O.E.W. was founded by Chris Smalls, a former Amazon warehouse manager who was fired by the company after organizing a protest against the company’s abysmal handling of the COVID-19 pandemic that has put hundreds of thousands of workers at risk without proper PPE and social distancing regulations.
The TCOEW Vision:
A living wageAll workers are shareholdersJob securityPaid sick leave and hazard pay at full pay rate Free healthcareNo wage cap1-hour lunch breaksPPE to be provided at all timesChildcareMonthly bonuses
To support Chris Smalls: https://www.gofundme.com/f/support-chris-smalls-who-was-fired-by-amazon
For more info: https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2020/apr/02/dear-jeff-bezos-amazon-instead-of-firing-me-protect-your-workers-from-coronavirus , https://twitter.com/Shut_downAmazon and https://tcoew.org/about/
Episode 14: Leah Douglas on Covid19, OSHA and meat plant workers
“There’s definitely a need for the private sector to step up in reporting this info and making it publicly available.”
Leah Douglas has been doing Pulitzer-worthy reporting on Covid19 and here she gives us the big picture on the pandemic, OSHA and the meat racket.
From thefern.org: Leah Douglas is an associate editor and staff writer at FERN. Prior to joining the team, she worked for three years as a reporter and policy analyst with the Open Markets Institute, where she researched economic consolidation and monopolization in the food and agriculture industry. She founded and wrote Food & Power, a first-of-its kind resource on food sector consolidation. Her writing on food, agriculture, and land policy has appeared in The Nation, CNN, Fortune, Time, Slate, Civil Eats, and more. For more, see: https://thefern.org/2020/10/could-the-food-system-face-a-new-covid-19-wave-ahead/ and https://twitter.com/leahjdouglas .
Episode 13: Dr. Naya Jones on Food Sovereignty and Collective Healing
“The movie has an easier time envisioning the end of the world than the end of capitalism.”
We asked Chris Newman of Sylvanaqua Farms to share his analysis of “Kiss The Ground”, a new documentary that highlights the need for regenerative agriculture to repair our food system. The movie raises some very important points, but also has some troubling omissions and assumptions that we need to further scrutinize.
For more information on Chris Newman, or to become an investor in Sylvanaqua Farms, please check out: https://www.instagram.com/sylvanaquafarms/ , https://www.sylvanaqua.com and https://www.sylvanaqua.com/invest .
Other stuff we discussed: https://gather.film , https://kissthegroundmovie.com , https://twitter.com/SarahTaber_bww , https://twitter.com/sarah_k_mock , and https://twitter.com/grocery_nerd .
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Episode 12: Lorig Hawkins of Middle Ground Farm
Lorig Hawkins, Owner and Founder of Middle Ground Farm in Austin, TX, joins Errol for a discussion of local food, growing food, and the politics of food in Texas. Growing food in Texas is hard, and Lorig has many years of experience to share on the challenges and successes of doing just that.
Episode 10: Chris Maestro, Founder of Bierwax
“We are one of the early adopters of this idea in the States”
Chris Maestro spent twenty years as an educator until he decided to follow his passion and open up one of the most iconic bars in New York City, the Hip-Hop themed craft beer bar, Bierwax. Inspired by his visits to jazz and Hip-Hop bars in Amsterdam and Tokyo, Chris decided to create his own vision of this format in Brooklyn, NYC. Frequented by craft beer lovers, Hip-Hop aficionados and the occasional famous DJ or MC, Bierwax is also one of the few BIPOC-owned pubs in the city. Now with the Covid-19 pandemic regulations in effect, Bierwax continues to break new ground in the craft beer scene, while also giving Hip-Hop heads and vinyl lovers a place to call home.
Bierwax is located at 556 Vanderbilt Avenue in Brooklyn, NYC.
Episode 9: Alexa Delwiche, Center for Good Food Purchasing
“Resiliency is about up’ing our game on how much food is produced, processed and stored locally”
David Zuckerman is the Lt. Governor of Vermont and is currently running to be Governor of Vermont. Dave is a lifelong activist, farmer, hemp and cannabis advocate and GMO labeling pioneer. He has held a variety of local and statewide political offices in Vermont for over 25 years. His policy positions on employment, agriculture, healthcare and the environment are compelling and applicable in Vermont and beyond. Dave also brings a great deal of common sense, humility and empathy to a fractured and divisive political campaign season. Vermont is lucky to have David Zuckerman!
Episode 8: David Zuckerman: Gubernatorial Candidate and Lt. Governor of Vermont
“Resiliency is about up’ing our game on how much food is produced, processed and stored locally”
David Zuckerman is the Lt. Governor of Vermont and is currently running to be Governor of Vermont. Dave is a lifelong activist, farmer, hemp and cannabis advocate and GMO labeling pioneer. He has held a variety of local and statewide political offices in Vermont for over 25 years. His policy positions on employment, agriculture, healthcare and the environment are compelling and applicable in Vermont and beyond. Dave also brings a great deal of common sense, humility and empathy to a fractured and divisive political campaign season. Vermont is lucky to have David Zuckerman!
Episode 7: Tom Philpott On A Food System In Crisis… and How To Fix It.
Tom Philpott is an Austin native, a columnist for Mother Jones and is the author of Perilous Bounty, a hard-hitting analysis on the industrial food system and it’s fragility, from California’s Central Valley, to Iowa’s Corn Belt. Tom got his start as a financial journalist and was smitten with the food movement during the campaign to save NYC’s Community Gardens over twenty years ago. Tom has also worked on a small farm and has published hundreds of articles on the food system, all with an eye towards social justice and a healthier, more resilient food supply.
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Episode 6: Farming While Black in Austin, TX with Tiffany Washington
Tiffany Washington is an Austin-based combat veteran and Organic farmer, and runs Dobbin-Kauv Garden Farm. Tiffany served in the U.S. Navy and was trained as an Organic farmer by Farmshare Austin, an 18-week farmer education program, as well BattleGround to Breaking Ground, a one year Texas A&M program that helps veterans get into farming as a business. Tiffany is also an Organic Intellectual whose family has lived in the Austin area for over 150 years. Tiffany has done extensive research into the lives of Black farmers and Freedman colonies in Austin and Central Texas, including the insidious history of land theft and dispossession that gave rise to the current wave of gentrification and food apartheid in one of the country’s most segregated cities. Tiffany is an heir to the agricultural legacy of such luminaries as George Washington Carver, who trained thousands of Black farmers in regenerative farming methods, and Booker T. Whatley, the founder of community supported agriculture. We feel honored to have spent time with Tiffany to hear her story. To support Tiffany, check out her GoFundMe here: https://www.gofundme.com/f/veterans-urban-farm-needs-your-help.
Episode 4: Jose Oliva on Building a Worker-Centered Food System, Part 2
Jose Oliva joins us for a two part episode that dives into labor organizing, land reform, his family’s legacy and much more. Jose is currently the Campaigns Director for HEAL Food Alliance. Jose is a longtime food sector organizer and has served in leadership positions at Chicago Interfaith Workers’ Center, Interfaith Worker Justice’s National Workers' Centers Network, Center for Community Change, and the Restaurant Opportunities Centers United - the national organization of restaurant workers. Jose was the Co-Founder and Co-Director of the Food Chain Workers Alliance, a national coalition of food-worker organizations that collectively represents over 350,000 workers. Jose is also a 2017 James Beard Award recipient and a 2018 American Food Hero Awardee. We had an amazing conversation with Jose and he has excellent taste in literature as well!
Episode 3: Jose Oliva on Building a Worker-Centered Food System, Part 1
Jose Oliva joins us for a two part episode that dives into labor organizing, land reform, his family’s legacy and much more. Jose is currently the Campaigns Director for HEAL Food Alliance. Jose is a longtime food sector organizer and has served in leadership positions at Chicago Interfaith Workers’ Center, Interfaith Worker Justice’s National Workers' Centers Network, Center for Community Change, and the Restaurant Opportunities Centers United - the national organization of restaurant workers. Jose was the Co-Founder and Co-Director of the Food Chain Workers Alliance, a national coalition of food-worker organizations that collectively represents over 350,000 workers. Jose is also a 2017 James Beard Award recipient and a 2018 American Food Hero Awardee. We had an amazing conversation with Jose and he has excellent taste in literature as well!
Episode 2: Carla Vernón on Leadership, Equity, and Scaling Good Food
Carla Vernón is a Good Food pioneer, having led the Natural and Organics Business Unit at General Mills as its President and Corporate Officer. Carla has recently been named a Trustee of Princeton University as well. Carla shares her first hand experience growing and leading large-scale Organic and natural foods companies with The Checkout’s Host, Errol Schweizer. They discuss how Carla chose her career path and how she excelled, how diversity and inclusion policies can drive better products, business and social outcomes, and how the vast opportunities around regenerative farming may save the food system.
