The Produce Industry Podcast w/ Patrick Kelly

Who was Dewayne Lee Johnson, the school groundskeeper soaked in Roundup who took on the most legally powerful agricultural company in the world — and what did his trial finally expose about what Monsanto's own scientists had known, and hidden, for forty years? Why did the revolution that promised to feed the world end up increasing herbicide use by twenty percent, turning farmers into perpetual customers, and forcing a German pharmaceutical giant to pay billions of dollars for a mountain of lawsuits it still hasn't climbed? And how does the story of a Missouri peach farmer watching his trees die from a chemical he never even sprayed open a window onto a hundred and twenty years of the same corporate playbook?
Join John and Patrick for the final episode of their Monsanto series — the dicamba drift, the cancer lawsuits, the slag heap still glowing in the Idaho dark, and the question of whether history ever truly catches up with the companies that shape what we eat — in an age when the most dangerous document in the world turned out to be an internal email that was never meant to be seen...
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In Sponsorship with J&K Fresh.
The customs broker who is your fruit and veggies’ personal bodyguard. Learn more here!
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Join host Patrick Kelly and his daughter Lillee Kelly as they share a heartfelt conversation about their scouting trip to the Dominican Republic. Discover how their experience with the Water for All initiative revealed the critical importance of clean water access, sustainable farming, and community resilience in the produce industry.

Tune in for a personal and inspiring episode that connects global produce supply chains with real human stories.

This week on Fresh from the Field Fridays, California melons are in from El Centro, and May marks the beginning of California cantaloupe season.
Dan the Produce Man dives deep into the fascinating history of the cantaloupe - from ancient times, to the papal villa where the melon is believed to have received its name, to the American railroad system that helped spread cantaloupes across the United States. Did cantaloupes really kill a pope? And how did they actually help save lives during World War II? Dan breaks it all down.
Also on the table this week - a few early apricots, sweet Coachella Valley corn, and an update on the California cherry crop.
It’s all right here on Fresh from the Field Fridays from The Produce Industry Network, powered by AgLife Media.
Check out AgLifeMedia.com today.

Join host Juanita Gaglio from Athens, Greece, as she explores Brazil's rising role in the global mango market with expert guest Eryvan Pires, CEO of FruitMarket. Discover how Brazil's year-round mango supply supports key markets in Europe and the US, the intricate logistics behind keeping mangoes fresh across continents, and the future growth opportunities in mango consumption and marketing. A must-listen for anyone interested in the international fresh produce industry and tropical fruit trends.
#brasilmangoes #FruitMarket #Eryvanpires #mangoeports #freshproduce

Who was Bob Shapiro, the guitar-playing Vietnam protester turned Monsanto CEO who genuinely believed genetically modified seeds could save the planet — and how did the same man who preached environmental salvation simultaneously bury a billion dollars of toxic human suffering in a corporate spinoff so that Wall Street would never have to look at it? Why did the most consequential revolution in the history of American farming arrive not with a manifesto but with a technology-use agreement that made it illegal for farmers to do what farmers had done for ten thousand years? And how does the story of Roundup Ready seeds open a window onto the hidden architecture of modern food; from a Vice President offering himself as Monsanto's Washington liaison in a company greenhouse, to the superweeds growing three inches a day that nobody in the marketing department wanted to mention?
Join John and Patrick for the fifth episode of their Monsanto series — the GMO revolution, the monarch butterfly, the seed-saving ban, and the extraordinary gap between Bob Shapiro's vision and the contracts his lawyers were writing — in an age when the most powerful thing a company could own was a gene, and the most dangerous thing it could lose was trust...
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In Sponsorship with Cornell University: Dyson Cornell SC Johnson College of Business
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Join the History of Fresh Produce Club for ad-free listening, bonus episodes, book discounts and access to an exclusive chatroom community.
Support us!
Share this episode with your friends
Give a 5-star rating
Write a review

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Subscribe to our biweekly newsletter here for extra stories related to recent episodes, book recommendations, a sneak peek of upcoming episodes and more.
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@historyoffreshproduce
Email: [email protected]