Kim Olson: Running to Fuel Texans

WEBVTT

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There are some people that make their
work just another thing they have to do,

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and there are those that make their
work something that they want to do.

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Welcome to Working on Purpose with your
host Elise Cortes. In our program,

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we provide guidance and inspiration from those
people who have found deeper meaning and

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personal connection to their work life.
It's beyond nine to five. It's working

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on purpose. Now Here is your
host, Elise Cortes. Welcome back to

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Working on Purpose. Thanks for tuning
in again this week. I'm your host,

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Elise Cortes, joining from Dallas,
Texas, which is home base for

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me. This program is all about
helping people more meaningfully and productively connect with

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their work and equipping organization to do
the same for their employees. I bring

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on guests who have a particular perspective
or experience that I think expands the conversation

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about meaningful and productive work. And
I draw on the meaning work research I've

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been doing over the last fifteen years, as well as the consulting work I've

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been doing at Insignia and prior.
I'll get to the program in just a

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second, but thank Let me thank
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They are the leading locally focused job
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are dedicated to helping employers find quality
talent in their own backyard while giving job

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secers control over their search. Last
week, if you missed the show live,

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we were on the air with Joy
Shudakoff, who is a recognized leader

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for business lifestyle design for women and
is the founder of her business consulting practice

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called Smart Women, Smart Solutions.
She is the author of What's Next,

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The Seven Steps to Discover your Big
idea and create a wildly successful business.

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We talked, among other things,
about incorporating vision with strategy and starting a

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business, the critical criticality of managing
cash flow, and scaling the business by

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adding talent to offload tasks that diminished
the effective effectiveness of the owner. We

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covered a lot in an hour.
It was amazing. And by the way,

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if you want to receive alerts in
advance of my Life Show conversations to

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know what's coming, you can join
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entering your name and email address and
we'll get you on a list with us

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this week I'm very happy to say
is retired Colonel Kim Olsen from the United

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States Air Force. I affectionately call
her the Force. By the way,

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you'll see why as we go along. Retired retired Colonel Olsen has a distinguished

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career creating and leading organizations and initiatives, which I'll ask her to detail later

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today. She is a farmer,
veteran pilot, and champion of education,

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and is influencing the future of sustainable
food production through her community supported agriculture at

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the four Ka River Ranch on Mineral
Wells, Texas. Retired Colonel Olson has

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announced her candidacy for Texas Commissioner of
Agriculture, and we'll talk about the important

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work she's doing to literally help fuel
Texans. She joins us today from Mineral

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Wells, Texas. Colonel Olson,
welcome to working on purpose again. It

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is always a pleasure in interview with
you. Lease, It's just a fabulous

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show. I'm a fan and I
want to be able to help my listeners

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understand why I'm a fan of you. So before we get into what we

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want to talk about with regard to
feeding Texans and the health of Texans and

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what you want to do about that, will you just say just a bit

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about your background. I want listeners
to get the smattering of the various kinds

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of things that you've been up to
and what the perspective and experience they would

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be getting. Well, my background
comes from serving in the United States Air

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Force for twenty five years. I
happened to be in the first generation of

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female pilots, so to by design, I got to be a trailblazer in

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that arena, which, as most
women know, once you enter a non

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traditional career field, you learn a
lot quickly. And then after I retired,

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I entered the field of education,
as your bio described, and I

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worked for Dallas is SD, worked
on a school board, both urban and

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suburban, and then saw that there
was a need for women veterans to have

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access to equitable care since we had
women that were going into both Iraq and

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Afghanistan and when they came out,
they just did not have the kind of

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support that was needed given the tasks
they were required to do. And in

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that work I discovered that food was
a great healer, and we can talk

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about that later. And then since
then I've been running my ranch, the

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forour k River Granch, and I
run a CSA, which again we'll talk

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about a little bit later. And
in all that that kind of acculmulated into

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a decision to put my time,
talent, and treasure into running for office.

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So that's kind of where you find
me today. That is a crisp

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way to that. It crazily captures
a wealth of experience and contribution, colonel,

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So thank you for that. I
just wanted to make sure our listeners

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got a little bit about your background
that I knew. So let's get into

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this here, this thing that you're
doing here, Why do you want to

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run for the office. Why do
you want to run for Texas Commissioner of

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Agriculture. Well, at least there
were tipping points that sort of led me

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down this line. A lot of
people had asked me, you know you're

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going to run for office? You're
ever going to run for office given kind

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of my breath of experience, And
yeah, I had run, like I

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said, as school board for two
terms, but I mean just more like

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on a larger platform. And so
three things happened. One was November the

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eighth, and then in December my
son joined the United States Air Force and

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I thought, oh my gosh,
I've just given my nation my most precious

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resource, one of my children.
And then in January of this year,

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I got to march in Austin with
one hundred thousand of my close personal friends.

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Now we did a lot of marching
in the military, but not carrying

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signs, I can assure you that. And so I looked around, I

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thought, how can I not do
something? How can I not step into

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the political discourse and do something to
help this nation. It's one thing to

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sign and you know, write a
blank of your life in the service of

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your nation. It's another to put
your name on the ballot line for your

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state. And that's pretty much what
I've done. That is it just it

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moves me, colonel, because the
service of that's involved in that is magnanimous.

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It's just it's really amazing. And
and for our listeners to better understand

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which just what's really what this is
really all about. What's involved to compete

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in this race and win? Well, the race is department of bag And

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I didn't quite close the question of
why ag And given that I had worked

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with veterans for five years and I
saw how food could be the great healer.

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And we can talk about this in
more detail as to why I'm driven

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so by making sure that Texans have
access to the best food, whether it's

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in our school systems and our nursing
homes or just in our grocery stores.

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I mean, we need to have
good fuel to exact point few us for

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our future, whether we're learning in
the classroom, whether we're aging out,

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and whether we're in the middle of
our work life. Food is an incredible

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not just keeps you alive, it
keeps you well if you eat appropriately.

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So let me segue in over to
your question about what it takes. So

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we started early. Most folks who've
entered the race in twenty and seventeen have

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started early. This is a statewide
race, so anybody out there listening from

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Texas can vote. We'll have a
primary in January, I'm sorry, March

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the sixth of twenty eighteen, and
then the general election will be in November

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the sixth, at twenty and eighteen. And I'm excited because number one in

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the least, I'm the only female
on the ticket right now. I think

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women need to share in the leadership, especially in the political arena. I

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just know from experience that better decisions
are made when you have more women around

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the boardroom and the war room tables
and the political tables. So I am

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thrilled that I get a chance to
maybe step into the fray and be a

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reasonable voice of someone who's spent a
lot of time walking in a male dominated

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arena. And I think with my
very broad background that I could bring a

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lot to the game. So I'm
very very excited. You ask me what

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it takes. I'm trying to visit
all two hundred and fifty four counties because

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I really believe that rural Texans built
Texas, and therefore rural Texans have a

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lot of things to offer, and
in a way, we've kind of forgotten

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about them because we concentrate a lot
on our cities suff one end of the

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spectrum, and then the other end
of the spectrum is believe it or not,

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we have places in large cities like
Dallas, places where you are where

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there are food deserts, places where
a mom can't get access to fresh foods

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and vegetables without taking three forms of
public transportation. I mean, that's just

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that's insane in twenty seventeen, and
we're going to talk about how we can

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fix that later, but that's that's
kind of where we are on the rate

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on this kind of race. And
the bottom line is three million. That's

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the number. Three million votes and
a million votes. Yep, that's what

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it's going to take. Okay,
it doesn't sound and it doesn't sound like

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a lot for a state that has
nineteen million people who could vote. I

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want you to think about that.
Yeah, incredible, huh uh huh.

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I appreciate you laying that out for
us, Colonel. I guess the other

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thing I want to make sure that
we understand here is that when you run

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for an office like this, you
don't get paid, right. I mean

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you're actually spending your own money or
whatever you raise to be able to run

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for the race, and then when
you actually do the work, you don't

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get paid. Correct. Well,
actually, the agency, which is Department

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of Agriculture, has one thousand employees
that work for it. It has kind

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of if I may real quick,
it has basically five big things. It

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does. It make sure the ways
and means, meaning you know, when

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you put a gallon of gas in
your car, you get the right amount

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of gas and it's good gas.
It does a free and reduced lunch for

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our kids three million children every day
in our schools. It helps do match

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grants like meals on wheels, providing
foods for seniors. And then it make

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sure about our food safety that the
food we pull off the shelves in our

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grocery stores are safe for our family. And then the big deal is it's

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supposed to enhance rural communities, and
I think that's what's kind of let itself

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down. So a billion dollar budget, half a billion dollar budget, a

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thousand people, and it's an agency, and yes, you do get paid,

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you do get paid due on that
agency. Okay, good, good

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good. I'm glad to hear that. I would hate to think that,

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knowing the effort that you're going to
put forth, that you wouldn't actually even

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draw a paycheck. So I'm actually
happy to hear that. Well, let's

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talk about one of the things that
I really was interested in hearing about for

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my own self, because I certainly
do care a lot about health, physical

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fitness, food, all nutrition.
I know that you know a lot more

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about the health of Texans than I
do, and you've got some concerns about

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that. What are the certainly in
Texas, I think shares what's going on

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in the United States the really sad
thing. And you can there's lots of

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research around it, lots of studies
showing this, but the projection is that

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a third of Americans are pre diabetic
or diabetic. That's ae hundred million people

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who have the potential to have diabetes. And the sad thing is it's our

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children who have an absolute diabetic epidemic
bubbling. And the only reason that is

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a current place is because of what
we see them. Now, I'm going

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to talk to the moms out there, because no mom wants to sentence their

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child to a shorter lifespan than they're
going to live. But that's what's going

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to happen if we don't curb this
diabetic epidemic. It is for the first

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time in human history, this next
generation will not live as long as say

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you and I will. And that's, like I said, that's insane.

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And so we moms who do bring
the groceries into the household. I know

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you've got some guys out there that
shop, but you know, least or

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six back of beer isn't really considered
groceries as well, I'll give it to

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them. So we have to educate
moms as to how food can be medicine

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for their children and how it's important
what you feed your child in the early

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years and then later on, because
they don't want their children have diabetes.

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They don't want their kids to be
sentenced to a shorter life spent, and

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they sure is Sech don't want all
the complications that come with a sickness which

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is which is actually pretty brutal.
Diabetes is a brutal sickness and it lasts

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a very long time, but it
really truly does shorten your life and give

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you a terrible quality of life.
So if we can educate moms or the

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caregivers of families about what's best to
bring into your household, then I think

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we can we can curb this projection
of a pretty sick society. And that's

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that's really what drives me. And
of course Texas is riding line with all

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that. Education is a big thing
for me. Obviously. How do you

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want to how do you want to
get people educated on this front? This

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is a big task, it is. But I'll tell you, Elise,

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once you and I'm going to swing
out to the women again. Once you

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get women on board and moms on
board and caregivers on board, you're going

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to be amazed what we can do. What person out there, Let me

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just ask you that, what person
out there would put a toddler in a

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car and not put it in a
carcitat? Do you know that was legislated?

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We actually legislated and changed behavior.
And I know everybody has a fit

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when we say, oh my gosh, you're an legislative behavior. But if

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I tell you, look, if
you bring that six packisoda in, if

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you feed your children sugary drinks,
this is what's going to happen to them.

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And it's not that they get sick. In addition, it's here's what

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happens in their inability to learn because
they can't pay attention. Here's what happens

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when there's sugar spikes and drops back
down. Here's what happens when they're the

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obesity epidemic that's rolling through our children
today. These are lifelong illnesses that again

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I know of no mom that wants
to plague their child with that. And

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in reality, we got to own
this the least because when we entered the

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workforce to work with a purpose,
we put a void in the kitchen and

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guess who filled that fast food?
So we created it. There you go.

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If we created it, we can
fix it. And can you imagine

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now pulling up to a fast food
restaurant and said, yes, I like

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a pack of slice carrots and some
peanut butter and celery, and let's ask

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some apples with that and a bowl
of fruit. We can do that.

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We have the most powerful thing in
our fingertip, which is our dollar bill.

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Where do you spend your money?
Where what do you support as a

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mom? And I'll go back through
it. Moms against drunk driving, putting

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car seats in the car, making
sure that all the things that moms do

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very well. And if we want
to feed our kids healthy food, we'll

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do it. I believe in I
believe some women we will. I can

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remember, Colonel when I my daughter
who is now fourteen, and I per

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year, I've always believed very strongly
in having good, healthy food, especially

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starting with vegetables and fruits, and
I remember so distinctly. I'd go to

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the market, the basic grocery stores, and I would be literally the only

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person in line that had just a
boat load of vegetables and fruits, and

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everybody else had packaged stuff. And
you could almost see the clerk going,

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oh no, here we go.
We got to look up all these skews

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for all these things. Oh no, bags and bags of vegetables. So

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you're right, we can't appolutely change
that tide. Absolutely can. I believe

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in that too, And all the
more reason that I wanted you to come

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on the air because I want to
be a part of helping to raise this

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message and bring this agness to necessity
to change. That's how we get it

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done. That's how we get it
done. You're right, Well, are

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there any other kinds of so we
talked about about diabetes and obesity, Is

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there anything else out there that you
want a presence that you want to address

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00:16:22.879 --> 00:16:27.120
in this particular role. Well,
I think the biggest thing, like I

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said, would be to help rural
Texans because, like I said, America

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built was built on the back of
rural Americans, and Texas was built on

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the back of rural Texans. And
I think they feel as if they're forgotten.

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And again, I've been to forty
six counties in this state, and

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I'm going there to listen to them
to see what their issues are and what

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is it they need. Do they
need less legislation, do they need seed

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money. Do they need help in
regards to getting access to land for young

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farmers. They're getting access to let's
say an exemption early off. Do they

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00:17:06.960 --> 00:17:14.039
need less fees? Like the auditors
just came up with apartment of bag overcharged

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these poor farmers and ranchers the fees
and so. And a great example is

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here we at Harvey which decimated the
cotton crop. What can we do to

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help them modernize? What can we
help help them do to save our resources?

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Because just because you work the land
doesn't mean you get the strip it

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of all it has, I believe, and most of us at work land,

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which of course I do want to
be good stewards of the land.

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And so if you have information and
education out about how best to work your

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land, and I'll just give you
a real quick example is something like cover

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crops. If you put cover crops, then you don't lose that precious resource

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on your land, which is the
first two inches of soil. This is

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the most is like gold to most
farmers and ranchers. So if we can

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do that and get the farm bill
which will come out next year, to

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put some money in to help farmers
transition to say instead of broad broadcast irrigation.

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Maybe we do microsprayers instead of leaving
ground barn, we put cover crops

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on it so that we can save
the top solil. So there's lots of

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things we can do because technology is
incredible now in farming, but the farmers

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need capital to make those kinds of
technological transitions. And I think not only

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do farmers and ranchers need a voice
in Austin, they need a voice in

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DC. And you want to be
that voice. Well, I would be

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happy to have you be that way, right, And you've got a voice

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and you want to use it.
I love that holder's out there. For

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a second. It's time for a
quick break. I'm your host Elis Cortez.

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We've been on the air with retired
Colonel Kim Olsen, who served in

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the United States Air Force for twenty
five years. She has a distinguished life

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and career and running for Texas Commissioner
of Agriculture. She joined us today from

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Mineral Wells, Texas. We've been
talking a bit about why she wants to

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run, what it takes, and
some of the issues that she really wants

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to help move through. Stay with
us after the break. Friend us on

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00:19:25.200 --> 00:19:32.240
Facebook to keep up with what's empowering
the world. Voice America Empowerment Lalise Cortes

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00:19:32.319 --> 00:19:37.640
is a speaker and engagement and development
catalyst. She designs and delivers professional development,

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00:19:37.839 --> 00:19:41.640
leadership and engagement workshops and can bring
her expertise to your organization. She

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00:19:41.720 --> 00:19:48.279
will help ignite meaningful development within your
workforce that will increase employee engagement, performance

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00:19:48.359 --> 00:19:52.599
and retention. To learn more or
to invite Elise to speak to your organization,

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00:19:52.759 --> 00:19:56.960
please visit her at www dot Elisecortes
dot com. She would welcome the

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00:19:57.000 --> 00:20:03.240
opportunity to help get your employee working
on purpose. Have you friended us on

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Facebook yet? Why not? Just
go to Facebook dot com, forward slash

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Voice America or search for the keywords
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275
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Just go to Facebook dot com,
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Voice America. It's your world,
Motivate, change, succeed, Voice America

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00:20:34.279 --> 00:20:49.440
Empowerment dot com. This is Working
on Purpose with Alas Cortes. To reach

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00:20:49.480 --> 00:20:53.720
our program today, please call in
to one triple eight three four six nine

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00:20:53.799 --> 00:20:59.200
one four one. Again, that's
one triple eight three four six nine one

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00:20:59.279 --> 00:21:06.519
four one. You may also send
an email to Elise alisb at Alisportes dot

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00:21:06.559 --> 00:21:11.839
com. Now back to Working on
Purpose. Thanks for staying with us,

283
00:21:11.839 --> 00:21:15.000
and welcome back to Working on Purpose
if you're just joining us. My guest

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00:21:15.119 --> 00:21:18.200
is retired Colonel Kim Olsen, who
served in the United States Air Force for

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00:21:18.240 --> 00:21:23.480
twenty five years. She has announcedir
candidacy for Texas Commissioner of Agriculture. She

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00:21:23.599 --> 00:21:27.319
is a farmer, veteran pilot,
and champion of education and has influenced in

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00:21:27.359 --> 00:21:32.839
the future of sustainable food production through
her community supported agriculture at the four K

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00:21:33.000 --> 00:21:36.880
River Ranch in Mineral Wells, Texas. I'm your host, Elise Cortes.

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00:21:37.559 --> 00:21:38.920
So, Colonel, before the break, we were talking a bit about just

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00:21:38.960 --> 00:21:45.400
some of the things that you would
be able to help enact via voter support.

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So the first thing I want to
do in this segment is I want

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00:21:47.359 --> 00:21:51.799
to remind listeners that the way to
get into this conversation and become part of

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00:21:51.799 --> 00:21:56.079
the solution is to vote. So
you mentioned there are nineteen million people that

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00:21:56.119 --> 00:22:00.279
are eligible voters in the state of
Texas alone, and in the last run,

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00:22:00.400 --> 00:22:04.440
only eight million of them voted.
So and I certainly get that no

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vote is a vote. And so
the first thing I want to say as

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we go into this next segment is
the importance of really joining in through lending

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your own voice via vote. So
I know that Texas is the one of

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the states that just doesn't seem to
vote. So let's change that tight while

300
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we're talking about food. Okay,
right, thank you, right, yeah,

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00:22:25.640 --> 00:22:27.839
you have them. I just think
that I've been asked to share that

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00:22:27.920 --> 00:22:30.799
as well because I think it's just
so important and people say, please,

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00:22:32.039 --> 00:22:33.799
please speak your mind on that issue
of voting too, so I will.

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00:22:36.400 --> 00:22:38.279
Well, let's get back into the
food topic, colonel, if we can.

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00:22:38.440 --> 00:22:45.720
I mean, food varies considerably in
people's perspective, and what actually constitutes

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00:22:45.759 --> 00:22:49.319
food varies considerably, So will you
help our listeners understand what kind of a

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00:22:49.359 --> 00:22:56.599
diet negatively contributes to our health?
Well, let me let me just spend

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that question, which is a great
one, and let's talk about the best

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00:23:00.440 --> 00:23:06.039
and the best guy you can have
is the one that is where you get

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the food closest to the source.
So if you're having mangoes in the winter

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time, that means those mangoes were
picked from overseas and they were picked to

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00:23:15.200 --> 00:23:18.680
be transported. They're not picked for
their nutritional value. They picked so they

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00:23:18.680 --> 00:23:25.079
can handle the transportation journey, and
then they're shipped obviously to your local grocer

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00:23:25.079 --> 00:23:30.480
store where it is you shop.
And so I'm a huge proponent of trying

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to get food as close to the
source. So we're going to segue into

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Okay, well where does that happen. Well, when you look at your

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grocery store and you look at the
label, look where food comes from.

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Is it from New Zealand? Is
it coming out of Mexico, Which isn't

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bad. That's just south of our
border. That's not too bad. But

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you have to remember that food like
tomatoes and apples and things like that are

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picked so that they can be transported, not picked at their peak of rightness.

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So if you're concerned about the nutritional
value of food, fruits and vegetables,

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again, you want to get them
as close to the source as you

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can. And we'll talk about where
that is later. The second thing is

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when we were retraining women vets on
how to change their diet to help them

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in their reintegration back into civilian world, because we have a pretty processed diet

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when we ship you overseas to fight
in combat, because it's very very high

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calorie and high sugar, and we
try to not have that when we come

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back home. We tell folks to
shop only the perimeter of the grocery store

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because most of the inside aisles are
really non food items, their processed items.

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And if so of your kid has
add if we're struggling with asthma,

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a lot of the research will show
if you will decrease the consumption of that

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00:24:49.839 --> 00:24:55.079
kind of food, and really it
isn't food, it's just fumed. Me

334
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too on that those symptoms will decre
And again I'm not a doc, but

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there is a ton of research out
there on the best way, especially if

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you're struggling with any kind of illness, The fresher and the more whole literally

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whole food you can get, meaning
at the whole potato, not a French

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fry or a potato chip, but
the whole potata is better for you than

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anything that's been processed. And that's
just the one. It's common sense,

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but number two is really it.
We found an incredible change in our women

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who we fundamentally change their diets when
they came back. You know, I

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really appreciate the crispness of crispness what
you just outlined for us there, Colonel,

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00:25:42.799 --> 00:25:45.240
the idea being that when you go
to the grocery store, you shop

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00:25:45.279 --> 00:25:48.480
the outside corns. And I realized
that is what I do. I very

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seldom will go to the internal aisles, and that is a simple way to

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frame good eating. I really appreciate
that. That's fantastic, great simple things

347
00:26:04.880 --> 00:26:07.680
for simple minds, Colonel, That's
what I need. Get it to me

348
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straight. Well, along those lines, one of the things I definitely wanted

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to talk about is, and I
know that you're one of the things you

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want to do is help Texans gain
access to farmers markets. And I love

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going to the farmer's markets. But
first, why are you a fan of

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00:26:22.000 --> 00:26:26.680
farmers markets? Well, I'm a
fan of farmers markets because I'm a fan

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of farmers, and most folks who
don't like farmers, I mean, they

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00:26:32.720 --> 00:26:37.160
work in the field, they grow
you a product, they're proud of it,

355
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they harvest it, for you.
If you know anything about farmers markets,

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this is kind of how it works. Most of us who are and

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00:26:41.599 --> 00:26:45.880
I've you know, I've sold it
a farmer's market. We were up at

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00:26:45.880 --> 00:26:49.599
O dark thirty. We harvest whatever
it is we're going to bring to the

359
00:26:49.640 --> 00:26:53.680
market. That means it is picked
that day for you. We get it

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00:26:53.680 --> 00:26:59.519
to the farmer's market. We tend
to we're very proud of what we sell.

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00:27:00.200 --> 00:27:03.359
Tends to be much cheaper than anything
you can get in the grocery store.

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00:27:03.480 --> 00:27:06.079
Yeah, do you have to find
a place set selling stuff? Yes,

363
00:27:06.160 --> 00:27:08.359
you do, Okay, get over
it. You know you'll drive to

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00:27:08.400 --> 00:27:11.720
a Starbucks, You'll drive to a
movie theater, come to your local farmers'

365
00:27:11.759 --> 00:27:17.519
markets. It shows that you support
those farmers who are working really hard to

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00:27:17.559 --> 00:27:22.759
buy to provide good produce for the
Texan family. And it's a good way

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to show your children where food comes
from and how it gets delivered, and

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00:27:26.319 --> 00:27:30.960
what people look like who grow this
stuff. I mean, most of us,

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most of the farming is not done
by mega corporations. It's just done

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00:27:34.720 --> 00:27:38.960
by regular Texans who just happen to
love to grow stuff. And I think

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00:27:40.000 --> 00:27:45.920
it's a great community event when you
go to one. There's several in Dallas.

372
00:27:47.000 --> 00:27:51.359
There's several in most large places,
and if there isn't one, you

373
00:27:51.400 --> 00:27:56.880
ought to start one. It just
is lots of folks grow stuff around where

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00:27:56.880 --> 00:28:03.599
most people live. There tend to
be farming that everywhere. We have a

375
00:28:03.759 --> 00:28:07.519
beautiful downtown Dallas Farmer's Market that I'm
sure you know of and probably have frequented

376
00:28:07.599 --> 00:28:12.440
before, and it has the most
fantastic inviting vibe to it, Colonel.

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It is just it's visual appealing,
It smells fantastic, It has this jeanv.

378
00:28:19.079 --> 00:28:22.480
De Vive kind of feel about it
that is so inviting. I don't

379
00:28:22.480 --> 00:28:25.279
know why you wouldn't want to go
to Farmer's market. Yeah, sure,

380
00:28:25.359 --> 00:28:27.599
right, you have to slap yourself
down there and get there. But it

381
00:28:27.680 --> 00:28:33.359
is incredibly inviting to go to.
And I'll give you a tip. If

382
00:28:33.839 --> 00:28:37.200
most of us who harvest food and
bring it to the farmer's market don't want

383
00:28:37.240 --> 00:28:41.759
to take it home with us.
So if you'll go right before the farmer's

384
00:28:41.799 --> 00:28:48.000
market closes, you can get a
lot of great deals on food because people

385
00:28:48.000 --> 00:28:51.920
will sell it to you at a
discount because again they don't want to haul

386
00:28:51.960 --> 00:28:53.480
it back. And what we used
to do when we were there, is

387
00:28:53.480 --> 00:28:56.880
we would barter, so I'd end
up giving somebody which I was in the

388
00:28:56.920 --> 00:29:02.680
garlic. I traded this guy whole
bushel of peaches for my garlic. So

389
00:29:02.720 --> 00:29:07.720
there's lots of things you can do
at a farmer's market. But I'm glad,

390
00:29:07.799 --> 00:29:08.680
And I don't know what that word
was, but I'm sure it was

391
00:29:08.720 --> 00:29:14.880
a good word that you said.
Jo TV means joy of life in French

392
00:29:14.920 --> 00:29:18.319
and it just has that feel for
me. But that is a great tip

393
00:29:18.400 --> 00:29:21.359
about going toward the end of the
market. I hadn't considered that, but

394
00:29:21.359 --> 00:29:22.359
that makes a ton of sense.
You don't want to bring that stuff back

395
00:29:22.400 --> 00:29:27.680
to the farm, so makes sense. Well, we talked about for me,

396
00:29:27.799 --> 00:29:30.880
it's not hard for me to get
to this market, Colonel. I

397
00:29:30.880 --> 00:29:34.599
mean literally, it's probably a let's
call it a five mile drive at best,

398
00:29:36.079 --> 00:29:38.599
and it's fairly easy parking for me
and access. How do you plan

399
00:29:38.680 --> 00:29:42.319
to help Texas gain more access to
farmers' markets? You know, that's a

400
00:29:42.400 --> 00:29:47.079
really good question. And I talked
about earlier about having what we call food

401
00:29:47.079 --> 00:29:52.400
deserts where there's a South oacliff is
the great example where a mom would have

402
00:29:52.519 --> 00:29:57.119
to get on the dart and then
do public transportation and then walk three blocks

403
00:29:57.160 --> 00:30:00.160
to get access to a store that
sold freshly and vegetables. I mean,

404
00:30:00.200 --> 00:30:03.960
none of us are going to do
that. That's just insane. So where

405
00:30:04.119 --> 00:30:08.359
better to put a farmer's market than
places where there are food deserts. And

406
00:30:08.440 --> 00:30:12.359
I'll tell you the you know about
Paul Quinn College. It's a college right

407
00:30:12.359 --> 00:30:18.000
there in Dallas. I do the
predominantly African American student body, and I

408
00:30:18.160 --> 00:30:21.680
tell you I got to do a
shout out to that president when he got

409
00:30:21.680 --> 00:30:23.240
there, he said, we're not
going to have an athletic program. These

410
00:30:23.240 --> 00:30:27.119
folks need to learn how to be
businessmen and women. And what he did

411
00:30:27.240 --> 00:30:32.599
is he moved the athletic program I
believe, into you know, innermurals,

412
00:30:32.799 --> 00:30:37.799
and he took his stadium and he
grows fresh fruits and vegetables there and he

413
00:30:37.920 --> 00:30:40.960
teaches folks that you grow it there, and then he sells it to the

414
00:30:41.000 --> 00:30:44.759
cafeteria and then he sells it on
the open market. And what he's teaching

415
00:30:44.799 --> 00:30:48.359
his student body is how to be
entrepreneurs, how to be businessmen and women,

416
00:30:48.680 --> 00:30:56.000
how to market, how to do
science and math and environmental issues.

417
00:30:56.079 --> 00:31:03.160
So growing food covers the entire actrum
of all the disciplines you would ever learn

418
00:31:03.799 --> 00:31:08.559
in any college, I would argue, and so here is a phenomenal example

419
00:31:08.640 --> 00:31:15.279
of what a university did around food
and around teaching their students about how to

420
00:31:15.319 --> 00:31:18.680
be businessmen and women. What if
we did that in every college in this

421
00:31:18.759 --> 00:31:22.599
great state. Whether if we had
something like that in every high school?

422
00:31:22.680 --> 00:31:27.759
You know, we pooh pooed,
voke ed anymore, I don't, which

423
00:31:27.759 --> 00:31:32.519
I think was nuts. We really
did our students of disfavor by not allowing

424
00:31:32.559 --> 00:31:37.400
them to graduate, yeah, with
some kind of certification in something not it.

425
00:31:37.440 --> 00:31:38.480
I know everybody's going to have a
fit, but I'm going to say

426
00:31:38.480 --> 00:31:44.400
it out loud. Not everybody should
wants to or can afford to go to

427
00:31:44.440 --> 00:31:48.359
college. But it doesn't mean you
can't make a decent living because guess what,

428
00:31:48.400 --> 00:31:51.519
at least I like air conditioning,
I like running water, I like

429
00:31:51.880 --> 00:31:57.799
have electricity to my house. All
those things require certification to build and maintain,

430
00:31:59.000 --> 00:32:01.920
and I think our students can do
that. Plus, growing food is

431
00:32:01.960 --> 00:32:07.640
exactly the same thing. I want
to comment on what you said earlier about

432
00:32:07.680 --> 00:32:10.960
the president of Paul Quinn. I
think that's got to be doctor Michael Sorels,

433
00:32:12.000 --> 00:32:14.720
and I know him and I'm also
a big fan, but I did

434
00:32:14.720 --> 00:32:19.559
not know that that's what he was
doing with this, having converted sports program

435
00:32:20.000 --> 00:32:23.119
into more of food production, and
I had no idea. That is fantastic.

436
00:32:23.200 --> 00:32:25.519
I mean even I'm even a bigger
fan. Now, that's great now,

437
00:32:25.720 --> 00:32:30.799
and I appreciate how you laid out
right how that might be a blueprint

438
00:32:30.880 --> 00:32:34.160
for other universities. Colonel. That's
that's the kind of stuff that I wanted

439
00:32:34.160 --> 00:32:37.839
to make sure that we presenced for
our listeners. Great stuff. Yummy,

440
00:32:37.920 --> 00:32:45.920
no pun intended, but just yummy. Sorry, I can't help myself.

441
00:32:45.759 --> 00:32:49.680
So another thing that we talked about
and I just don't have a lot of

442
00:32:49.720 --> 00:32:54.400
knowledge about, is CSAs or co
ops. So what's CSA and what's a

443
00:32:54.480 --> 00:33:01.759
co op? So it's a CSA
is it's an act for community supported agriculture

444
00:33:01.799 --> 00:33:07.200
And that's the business model that I
run and what you do is and this

445
00:33:07.279 --> 00:33:10.559
is a big deal around a lot
of the cities. When folks want fresh

446
00:33:10.599 --> 00:33:14.720
food bought to them, so they
don't go to the farmer's market, It

447
00:33:14.759 --> 00:33:16.599
gets brought to them in a different
a lot of different ways, or you

448
00:33:16.680 --> 00:33:21.680
pick up. So when I ran
my CSA, I had what you call

449
00:33:21.720 --> 00:33:27.960
a membership, and people pay you
upfront, so everybody puts money into the

450
00:33:28.000 --> 00:33:30.720
CSA. So everybody pays upfront.
And what then you do is you take

451
00:33:30.759 --> 00:33:37.279
that capital and you invest and you
grow whatever the season calls for. And

452
00:33:37.480 --> 00:33:39.359
in that work, you say to
your members, Okay, you're taking on

453
00:33:39.440 --> 00:33:44.440
the risk that a farmer would have
if we get hail, if we get

454
00:33:44.440 --> 00:33:47.759
a flood, and forbid, if
something happens, then well I'll try to

455
00:33:47.799 --> 00:33:51.240
do the best I can. But
you got to know that this is tough.

456
00:33:51.279 --> 00:33:54.440
But what they're doing is investing in
a farmer to grow for them.

457
00:33:54.599 --> 00:34:00.079
That's basically what it is for me. When I ran mine, I made

458
00:34:00.119 --> 00:34:02.880
the families give me sweat equity,
which meant they had to come to my

459
00:34:04.039 --> 00:34:07.400
farm and they either had to harvest, they had to plant, they had

460
00:34:07.400 --> 00:34:10.079
to weed, they had to can, they had to clean, they had

461
00:34:10.079 --> 00:34:15.360
to do something, because I wanted
them to see in reality, at least,

462
00:34:15.360 --> 00:34:19.880
how hard this is to do,
how much work it takes. And

463
00:34:20.039 --> 00:34:23.360
once you see that, you'll never
complain about a bruise on your apple or

464
00:34:23.440 --> 00:34:29.440
a little bug in your lettuce.
Again, it just it is very very

465
00:34:29.480 --> 00:34:31.920
hard work. We love it,
but it is not for the week or

466
00:34:31.920 --> 00:34:36.199
the faint of heart, because it
is a labor of love, because you

467
00:34:36.320 --> 00:34:42.679
better love labor. And so say
I make the transition of you know,

468
00:34:42.760 --> 00:34:45.519
none of us are going to go
out into the valley and pick fruits and

469
00:34:45.599 --> 00:34:51.440
vegetables, but we have a workforce
that'll do that. And that's why for

470
00:34:51.719 --> 00:34:57.239
Texas, agg is a third of
its GDP. And you need a decent

471
00:34:57.280 --> 00:35:01.280
immigration policy so that you have workers
that can come in and pick all those

472
00:35:01.320 --> 00:35:05.440
massive fields. Because if I don't
get my field pick, guess what,

473
00:35:06.519 --> 00:35:09.639
I lose it, and I lose
it for the entire year. It's not

474
00:35:09.760 --> 00:35:15.440
like some assembly line that I can
just slow down. So ag and having

475
00:35:15.519 --> 00:35:21.039
people see what it takes to do
that, then they become great advocates for

476
00:35:21.639 --> 00:35:27.000
homegrown products and for the local farmer. And so I've had women and families

477
00:35:27.000 --> 00:35:30.840
that have been with me for five
and six years. So we do kind

478
00:35:30.840 --> 00:35:37.280
of become this minute, minute mini
community. But I'm a big advocate for

479
00:35:37.559 --> 00:35:40.039
community supported agriculture. But anyway you
would, you get your membership and then

480
00:35:40.079 --> 00:35:43.960
I deliver groceries to you basically once
a week. That's how it happened.

481
00:35:44.480 --> 00:35:46.559
Okay, I don't know if we
talked about this or not, Colonel,

482
00:35:46.599 --> 00:35:51.199
but did I tell you that I
grew up on a farm that my and

483
00:35:51.199 --> 00:35:53.039
that's really where I got my work
ethic. You talked about this hard work.

484
00:35:53.920 --> 00:36:00.000
So when I was in elementary school
in central Washington State, my parents

485
00:36:00.199 --> 00:36:04.760
had a six hundred acre farm that
had wheat. We ultimately grew wheat,

486
00:36:04.840 --> 00:36:08.559
sugar beets, and we had cattle. And I boy talk about hard work.

487
00:36:08.639 --> 00:36:14.320
I mean my parents. I will
always revere them and for what they

488
00:36:14.360 --> 00:36:16.599
what they what they put in in
a seven day work week, and what

489
00:36:16.639 --> 00:36:20.360
they taught me about work. And
later on we got into the restaurant business,

490
00:36:20.360 --> 00:36:23.599
and that's equally right up there with
hard work. But anyway, it's

491
00:36:23.679 --> 00:36:27.880
so part of the Again, the
part of the reason that I resonated with

492
00:36:27.920 --> 00:36:30.840
what you're doing is that I can
appreciate just what it takes to be able

493
00:36:30.880 --> 00:36:34.639
to pull this off. And what
you're saying about the hard work and being

494
00:36:34.679 --> 00:36:37.199
able to help enroll people in that
process and having them work on your farm

495
00:36:37.239 --> 00:36:40.920
with you, I think is genius. Well, it's funny because I had

496
00:36:40.960 --> 00:36:44.719
a kid come out one time,
and this just shows you how important it

497
00:36:44.760 --> 00:36:47.199
is. Now, how folks don't
know about their food. The kid walked

498
00:36:47.199 --> 00:36:52.159
down this, Now, which trees
and potatoes grow on a honey? Let

499
00:36:52.159 --> 00:37:00.360
me just show you what is dirt? That's true story. No, I

500
00:37:00.880 --> 00:37:06.280
totally get it. I understand,
and that's all the more reason I appreciate.

501
00:37:06.719 --> 00:37:08.280
And we're actually just about to go
into a quick break here. I

502
00:37:08.320 --> 00:37:13.159
know we're going to talk more about
that in terms of teaching children about food

503
00:37:13.199 --> 00:37:15.000
and where it comes from and being
part of that process. So let's go

504
00:37:15.039 --> 00:37:17.559
ahead and grab that brick so we
can get right back into that conversation.

505
00:37:19.039 --> 00:37:22.239
I'm Alice Cortez, your host.
We've been on the area with retired Colonel

506
00:37:22.320 --> 00:37:24.320
Kim Olsen, who served in the
United States Air Force for twenty five years.

507
00:37:24.760 --> 00:37:28.639
She has a distinguished life and career
and is now running for a Texas

508
00:37:28.679 --> 00:37:31.760
Commissioner of Agriculture. She joins us
today from Mineral Wells, Texas. After

509
00:37:31.760 --> 00:37:36.440
the break, we're going to talk
a bit about how to help schools and

510
00:37:36.519 --> 00:37:53.280
communities grow using such options as school
gardens. Stay with us Friend us on

511
00:37:53.320 --> 00:38:00.239
Facebook to keep up with what's empowering
the world. Voice America Empowerment Alice Cortes

512
00:38:00.360 --> 00:38:06.679
is a speaker and engagement and development
catalyst. She designs and delivers professional development,

513
00:38:06.880 --> 00:38:10.679
leadership and engagement workshops and can bring
her expertise to your organization. She

514
00:38:10.760 --> 00:38:16.320
will help ignite meaningful development within your
workforce that will increase employee engagement, performance

515
00:38:16.400 --> 00:38:21.639
and retention. To learn more or
to invite Elise to speak to your organization,

516
00:38:21.800 --> 00:38:27.000
please visit her at www dot Elisecortes
dot com. She would welcome the

517
00:38:27.039 --> 00:38:32.039
opportunity to help get your employees working
on purpose. We're making it easier to

518
00:38:32.079 --> 00:38:37.119
listen to the Voice America Talk Radio
Network wherever you go. In addition to

519
00:38:37.199 --> 00:38:39.519
listening live, you can check out
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520
00:38:39.559 --> 00:38:44.400
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521
00:38:44.920 --> 00:38:47.920
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522
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523
00:38:52.840 --> 00:39:00.000
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524
00:39:07.159 --> 00:39:15.320
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inspired, encouraged and connected on our Lively

525
00:39:15.360 --> 00:39:20.360
Award winning Healthy Living Power Hour Star
Style. Be the Star you are with

526
00:39:20.480 --> 00:39:24.760
host and empowerment architect Cendya Brian live
every Wednesday at four pm Pacific on the

527
00:39:24.880 --> 00:39:30.440
Voice America Empowerment Channel. Tune into
the Power Party for positive, uplifting,

528
00:39:30.679 --> 00:39:42.840
life changing talk radio. Visit Star
Style Radio dot com. Jo stop you

529
00:39:43.199 --> 00:39:51.400
land. Follow us on Twitter for
more great ideas at Voice America Empowerment.

530
00:39:59.519 --> 00:40:04.400
This is Working on Purpose with Elise
Cortes. To reach our program today,

531
00:40:04.440 --> 00:40:07.800
please call in to one triple eight
three four six nine one four one.

532
00:40:07.920 --> 00:40:13.199
Again, that's one triple eight three
four six nine one four one. You

533
00:40:13.280 --> 00:40:21.199
may also send an email to Elise
Alis at Elisecortes dot com. Now back

534
00:40:21.239 --> 00:40:25.840
to Working on Purpose. Thanks christaying
with us, and welcome back to Working

535
00:40:25.880 --> 00:40:30.440
on Purpose. If you're just tuning
in, My guest is retired Colonel Kim

536
00:40:30.480 --> 00:40:35.079
Osen of the United States Air Force. She's announced her candidacy for Texas Commissioner

537
00:40:35.079 --> 00:40:38.239
of Agriculture. She is a farmer, veteran pilot, and champion of education

538
00:40:38.599 --> 00:40:44.639
and is influencing the future of sustainable
food production through her community supported agriculture at

539
00:40:44.639 --> 00:40:46.960
the four K River Ranch in Mineral
Wells, Texas. I'm your host,

540
00:40:46.960 --> 00:40:52.960
Elise Cortes, so colonel before we
left off last and then on the break,

541
00:40:52.000 --> 00:40:55.960
you and I continued, what are
some of the things we can do

542
00:40:57.519 --> 00:41:01.199
to get access to good food.
Well, one idea that I think is

543
00:41:01.280 --> 00:41:06.559
fabulous that our neighbor to the north
does, Canada, is when you go

544
00:41:06.639 --> 00:41:09.880
into a restaurant, they have the
ability to they have like a circle with

545
00:41:09.960 --> 00:41:15.800
one hundred inside of it. And
what that means is that menu item came

546
00:41:15.360 --> 00:41:20.400
within the food for that menu item
came within one hundred miles. And so

547
00:41:20.440 --> 00:41:22.760
what that does is tells the consumer. It's kind of like our Go Texan

548
00:41:22.880 --> 00:41:25.880
program, but Texas is a pretty
huge state. My goodness, and Dard

549
00:41:25.880 --> 00:41:30.599
for ten hours is still not be
out of her is if we had something

550
00:41:30.840 --> 00:41:34.400
like that where we went to some
of our favorite restaurants and we had a

551
00:41:34.440 --> 00:41:37.679
circle with one hundred saying, look, the food on this item came within

552
00:41:37.679 --> 00:41:39.599
one hundred miles. And why that's
a big deal. It's because number one,

553
00:41:39.599 --> 00:41:43.840
you're supporting a local grower. Number
two, you don't have food that

554
00:41:43.920 --> 00:41:46.679
has to be picked for transportation.
And number three is we're not burning all

555
00:41:46.760 --> 00:41:52.760
kinds of petroleum in moving food from
you know, New Zealand or you know

556
00:41:52.840 --> 00:41:55.800
clear out from California or way down
south in Mexico somewhere that the food is

557
00:41:55.840 --> 00:42:00.719
coming locally, meaning it's going to
be fresher, more nutritious, and probably

558
00:42:00.000 --> 00:42:05.519
really taste better. So there's things
like that that we could do which would

559
00:42:05.559 --> 00:42:09.519
be just so simple, not cost
anybody anything. I like that idea.

560
00:42:09.599 --> 00:42:14.840
I don't know that. I also
understand that was happening either. That's fascinating,

561
00:42:15.320 --> 00:42:19.280
very simple. And then how could
we support that? How could that?

562
00:42:19.360 --> 00:42:22.840
Is that just a matter of education
evangelization? What is that? Well,

563
00:42:22.880 --> 00:42:29.760
a lot of top chefs will contract
with local farmers to bring in certain

564
00:42:29.840 --> 00:42:34.679
kinds of food. So if I
went to the local chefs there in Dallas

565
00:42:34.679 --> 00:42:37.079
and said, look, I'm I'm
a garlic grower, and they're like,

566
00:42:37.119 --> 00:42:40.239
okay, well we'll we'll buy all
our garlic from you. So there are

567
00:42:40.400 --> 00:42:45.199
chefs that already do that, but
a lot of times some menu items like

568
00:42:45.239 --> 00:42:50.840
I'm just thinking I'll give a plug
to Grace in Fort Worth. It'll tell

569
00:42:50.880 --> 00:42:53.440
you all these greens came from a
local farm, and these are the names

570
00:42:53.440 --> 00:42:57.639
of the farm, and they laundry
list where these came from. And so

571
00:42:57.679 --> 00:43:00.239
wouldn't that be cool to know,
you were eating lettuce the Poorque River ranch,

572
00:43:00.679 --> 00:43:05.320
or you were eating garlic from my
ranch while you went to this particular

573
00:43:05.360 --> 00:43:10.960
restaurant. It just it personalizes it
and it makes you understand that your choice

574
00:43:12.000 --> 00:43:16.960
as a consumer impacts that farmer on
the other end of the spectrum. What

575
00:43:17.039 --> 00:43:22.599
I also really like about that kernel
is what I see is just that really

576
00:43:22.599 --> 00:43:29.679
rich connection, that profound connection that
exists between where the food actually came from

577
00:43:29.719 --> 00:43:31.559
the person that created it and then
your actual consumption, which is a very

578
00:43:31.599 --> 00:43:36.000
intimate connection. That's what I heard
when you talked about that. That was

579
00:43:36.400 --> 00:43:39.679
I couldn't help getting that, Okay. So along those lines, one of

580
00:43:39.679 --> 00:43:43.840
the other things I wanted to talk
about that I know is important to you

581
00:43:43.920 --> 00:43:47.000
in terms of growing healthy communities is
working with school gardens. And I can

582
00:43:47.039 --> 00:43:51.679
tell you that my daughter, who
is now fourteen, she did actually do

583
00:43:51.760 --> 00:43:54.280
that when she was in elementary school. She here at Lakewood Elementary They had

584
00:43:54.320 --> 00:43:58.840
a garden, a school garden program, and I thought it was fantastic.

585
00:43:59.840 --> 00:44:01.920
So I know, I saw that
she got to be able to contribute her

586
00:44:01.960 --> 00:44:06.880
talents to be able to create this
food, nurture it, harvested, and

587
00:44:07.000 --> 00:44:10.480
she was proud of it. But
will you say more about why you're such

588
00:44:10.480 --> 00:44:15.519
a fan of school gardens and what
can they do to help us eat better

589
00:44:15.559 --> 00:44:20.400
food. That's a great question,
and I am a huge fan of putting

590
00:44:20.440 --> 00:44:25.960
gardens in every school in every district
in this state. I think every elementary

591
00:44:25.960 --> 00:44:30.480
school ought to have a garden for
three reasons. Number one is it's important

592
00:44:30.559 --> 00:44:36.679
for kids to understand where stuff comes
from comes from. It really doesn't come

593
00:44:36.719 --> 00:44:38.920
from a grocery store, and it
doesn't come out of a container. It

594
00:44:38.960 --> 00:44:44.320
comes from something, and it has
to take a process to get there.

595
00:44:44.599 --> 00:44:50.840
And like I said earlierly, gardening
encompasses science and biology and the impact to

596
00:44:50.920 --> 00:44:55.239
its environment and health and all these
things. And so I'm a fan of

597
00:44:55.320 --> 00:45:00.360
dinosaurs, and I know we have
dinosaur module in all the elementary schools,

598
00:45:00.360 --> 00:45:05.280
But why don't we teach people about
something they are going to do three times

599
00:45:05.320 --> 00:45:09.679
a day for the rest of their
lives, which is eat. Teach them

600
00:45:09.800 --> 00:45:15.280
about the impact of how we farm
and what it takes to get food on

601
00:45:15.360 --> 00:45:20.880
the table. I just think that
is so critical in just learning about that.

602
00:45:21.360 --> 00:45:24.639
The second thing is that a lot
of times this is a this is

603
00:45:24.719 --> 00:45:28.760
like the number two thing I was
hearing about as I was traveling around that

604
00:45:28.840 --> 00:45:30.960
there's this shaming going on. So
when a kid runs out of money in

605
00:45:30.960 --> 00:45:37.960
the cafeteria, they really like almost
punish the child for not their parents not

606
00:45:38.000 --> 00:45:45.840
having enough money for food and a
nutritious meal for our kids. Isn't you

607
00:45:45.840 --> 00:45:50.920
know That's not like just something we
might want to do, It's something we

608
00:45:50.960 --> 00:45:54.280
should do. All children in the
United States of America should eat, and

609
00:45:54.320 --> 00:45:59.440
they should eat a nutritious food period. I mean, this is this is

610
00:45:59.480 --> 00:46:02.599
a this is a Texas value.
And if we had food that we could

611
00:46:02.639 --> 00:46:07.320
get to for free, then feed
it to kids, let them pick it,

612
00:46:07.400 --> 00:46:09.960
let them, let them learn what
it's like to bring food to the

613
00:46:09.960 --> 00:46:13.360
table. Who cares if you can
pay for it or not. I think

614
00:46:13.360 --> 00:46:16.880
it's insane that with all the funding
that we have out there, that a

615
00:46:16.960 --> 00:46:22.320
child should go hungry in twenty and
seventeen in the United States of America.

616
00:46:22.480 --> 00:46:27.159
It's just it's insane. It is
completely insane. And at the other end

617
00:46:27.159 --> 00:46:30.000
of that, of course, go
ahead, well I'm just going to say

618
00:46:30.000 --> 00:46:30.920
another end of that, of course, is you know, then then we've

619
00:46:30.960 --> 00:46:34.280
got the ub city on the other
side of that too. It's just it's

620
00:46:34.360 --> 00:46:37.480
crazy. Sorry, what were you
going to say? Well said I was

621
00:46:37.519 --> 00:46:39.119
going to say. Then the last
thing is, you know you and I

622
00:46:39.239 --> 00:46:44.719
we have gray hair, chemically altered
gray hair. And it is this next

623
00:46:44.800 --> 00:46:50.760
generation that has to learn the impact
of our choices in how we use our

624
00:46:50.840 --> 00:46:55.519
look on. I don't care how
many doubters you have out there. The

625
00:46:55.679 --> 00:47:00.880
reality is if you didn't think so
after watching Harvey, then are living under

626
00:47:00.880 --> 00:47:05.079
a rock. But how we use
our land and what we do to our

627
00:47:05.719 --> 00:47:22.079
is going to packed our access to
exporting to different markets because now those ports

628
00:47:22.119 --> 00:47:25.880
and I'll just say Houston, even
Iowa corn cannot get out of the United

629
00:47:25.920 --> 00:47:32.559
States is where it's pushed out.
So my point is the culture being a

630
00:47:32.760 --> 00:47:42.400
massive you can on an impact for
our what we do to the because it

631
00:47:43.679 --> 00:47:45.719
care about it from a conscious point
of view. You ought to care about

632
00:47:45.719 --> 00:47:52.679
it from an economic point of view
because these events the least we are going

633
00:47:52.760 --> 00:48:00.920
to billions of dollars in revenue loss
and damage to what that does. So

634
00:48:01.039 --> 00:48:04.280
kids, I learn about that because
they're going to fix it. They're going

635
00:48:04.320 --> 00:48:07.599
to have to fix it. Mm
hm. You were cutting out quite a

636
00:48:07.639 --> 00:48:09.360
bit there from a technology vantage point. So I know you were talking about

637
00:48:09.360 --> 00:48:15.360
the economic impacts of Hurricane Harvey here
in Texas. I want to make sure

638
00:48:15.360 --> 00:48:19.719
that listeners could could get that context
for what you were talking about. Say

639
00:48:19.719 --> 00:48:22.079
again if you could Kernel, just
to make sure that listeners get it,

640
00:48:22.079 --> 00:48:24.880
because you did cut out what the
next generation can do to address that.

641
00:48:25.719 --> 00:48:30.519
Well, the next generation needs to
take on climate change. Okay, because

642
00:48:31.039 --> 00:48:36.440
Harvey did not only did it wet
all the cotton, so we lost a

643
00:48:36.480 --> 00:48:40.400
predominance of our cotton crop down there. It hurt the rice farmers because the

644
00:48:40.480 --> 00:48:45.920
rice had been harvested now it's wet. And in addition to that, most

645
00:48:45.119 --> 00:48:50.480
of the corn and soybean come out
of Houston. And so what it does

646
00:48:50.559 --> 00:48:54.480
is that it impacts our export capacity. So what I was saying is,

647
00:48:54.519 --> 00:49:00.159
if you don't care about climate change
because you have a social conscience, you

648
00:49:00.239 --> 00:49:05.880
ought to care about it from the
economic impact that events like Harvey will do

649
00:49:06.679 --> 00:49:12.119
to our agricultural economy, which is
I'm going to repeat is a third.

650
00:49:12.159 --> 00:49:20.280
It's one hundred billion dollar economy in
Texas and it generates or works around five

651
00:49:20.440 --> 00:49:24.599
hundred and sixty million dollar jobs in
this state. It's a big deal.

652
00:49:24.639 --> 00:49:30.440
At least. Yeah, it is
a big deal, and I appreciate you

653
00:49:30.519 --> 00:49:34.119
just really helping us get very clear
about that because it can get ethereal for

654
00:49:34.199 --> 00:49:37.960
people. I think it can get
very abstract for them in terms of concept

655
00:49:37.960 --> 00:49:40.880
that they if they're not connecting like
that like you are for us. And

656
00:49:42.000 --> 00:49:44.719
speaking of that, one thing I
want to do really quick because we're starting

657
00:49:44.719 --> 00:49:45.920
to get close to the end of
the show here is it just occurred to

658
00:49:46.000 --> 00:49:49.400
me as you were talking back on
school gardens. I know we're kind of

659
00:49:49.400 --> 00:49:52.400
going back a little bit here,
but I want to understand there's so many

660
00:49:52.400 --> 00:49:55.320
people out there who say this to
me, and I just don't get it.

661
00:49:55.599 --> 00:50:00.400
I don't eat vegetables or I don't
eat anything green. I'm most of

662
00:50:00.440 --> 00:50:07.079
my diet is vegetables. Do you
think that if we can help students get

663
00:50:07.119 --> 00:50:10.280
access to school gardens earlier in life, that we might actually see some of

664
00:50:10.320 --> 00:50:14.960
that trend change? Well, you'd
hope. So. I mean, we

665
00:50:15.039 --> 00:50:19.679
as a nation were able to kick
the habit of smoking cigarettes. We legislated

666
00:50:19.719 --> 00:50:22.159
it, we educated people, the
medical community got on board. I mean,

667
00:50:22.159 --> 00:50:25.119
there are all kinds of changes in
that. And so if I say

668
00:50:25.159 --> 00:50:29.000
to you, look, we have
this diabetic epidemic going, and it is

669
00:50:29.119 --> 00:50:35.199
only because we are consuming too much
sugar and not enough fruits and vegetables or

670
00:50:35.320 --> 00:50:37.840
too much of another product. I'll
leave sugar out of it. But we

671
00:50:38.000 --> 00:50:42.840
educate then moms to say, okay, this is maybe instead of a bag

672
00:50:42.880 --> 00:50:45.199
of chips, how about a bag
of carrots? Right? Instead of that

673
00:50:45.280 --> 00:50:52.960
process food, how about something closer
to the source, meaning greens or fruits

674
00:50:52.960 --> 00:50:59.920
and vegetables. And so I'm a
huge proponent and I trust Texas women going

675
00:50:59.920 --> 00:51:02.199
to do right by their families.
I don't have to browbeat them. You

676
00:51:02.320 --> 00:51:07.159
just got to make sure they got
access to it, be they understand the

677
00:51:07.199 --> 00:51:12.239
consequences if you choose fast food every
day for every meal. And see,

678
00:51:12.480 --> 00:51:16.800
no mom that I've met wants to
see their child suffer. And so if

679
00:51:16.840 --> 00:51:22.400
I can say to them, look
you know, or help them find the

680
00:51:22.679 --> 00:51:27.119
whatever the educational or the research base
that says this is where you can help

681
00:51:27.159 --> 00:51:30.039
your child to grow healthy and strong. Most kids want to be healthy and

682
00:51:30.079 --> 00:51:37.119
strong. Don't we want our children
to be that? Yeah? Got it?

683
00:51:37.639 --> 00:51:39.880
Well, we're getting really close to
time, per I have two more

684
00:51:39.880 --> 00:51:45.199
things I want to ask it really
quick, Colonel next one is any other

685
00:51:45.280 --> 00:51:47.599
thoughts about how we can grow healthy
communities, anything else that you haven't said

686
00:51:47.599 --> 00:51:51.360
that you want to make sure and
pass on to our listeners about growing healthy

687
00:51:51.360 --> 00:51:54.400
communities. Well, I'd like to
harken back to our Paul Quinn College,

688
00:51:54.239 --> 00:52:00.639
where a leader took a decision and
he pushed and showed the benefits of all

689
00:52:00.679 --> 00:52:04.559
those involved because there were a lot
of stakeholders, I'm sure and all that,

690
00:52:04.920 --> 00:52:07.360
and said it is for the best
of the community if we do that.

691
00:52:08.119 --> 00:52:13.800
As I understand down in Corpus Christi, there are community gardens in which

692
00:52:13.920 --> 00:52:17.599
folks come and work and they get
to have their produce. There are places

693
00:52:17.639 --> 00:52:22.519
in which they grow food and give
it to food banks. There are churches

694
00:52:22.159 --> 00:52:27.159
that do only sweat equity and then
you can take home as much produce as

695
00:52:27.159 --> 00:52:30.079
you want. I mean, the
hunger issue in our country is one of

696
00:52:30.079 --> 00:52:36.400
the dumbest problems we have because at
least forty percent of the food that we

697
00:52:36.480 --> 00:52:39.559
grow and bring to the table gets
wasted our repeating a matter of effect,

698
00:52:40.079 --> 00:52:45.840
forty percent we pitch forty percent of
the food. We can fix that if

699
00:52:45.840 --> 00:52:50.960
we can grow it closer to the
site and grow it closer to the people

700
00:52:50.960 --> 00:52:54.519
who need it. And I would
also you can grow food in downtown Dallas

701
00:52:54.519 --> 00:52:58.639
to share. You can grow food
out here in Palapino County. All you

702
00:52:58.719 --> 00:53:01.639
need is a little bit of land
and people can feed a family on a

703
00:53:01.639 --> 00:53:07.239
little bit of land. That just
breaks my heart here if we throw away

704
00:53:07.239 --> 00:53:12.679
forty percent of the food, that
just that kills me. Oh my gosh.

705
00:53:12.840 --> 00:53:15.440
Okay, Well, final thoughts here
for our listeners, colonel what would

706
00:53:15.440 --> 00:53:17.400
you like to leave our listeners with? Here? The show is about help

707
00:53:17.440 --> 00:53:21.880
people more meaningfully and productively connect with
their work and for you to be able

708
00:53:21.880 --> 00:53:23.840
to talk about just what it is
you're trying to convey. So what would

709
00:53:23.880 --> 00:53:30.280
you like them to leave with?
Well, in your show, it's working

710
00:53:30.320 --> 00:53:34.199
with a purpose. And I can
think of no greater purpose in this state

711
00:53:34.800 --> 00:53:37.760
in which we have the capacity to
grow own food to feed our own Texans.

712
00:53:37.800 --> 00:53:43.760
Because, as I said earlier,
everybody eats. Everybody eats, and

713
00:53:43.840 --> 00:53:47.199
everybody has a chance to affect how
their longevity is going to be. Everybody

714
00:53:47.239 --> 00:53:52.480
has a chance, through education and
the right choices, to drive what kind

715
00:53:52.480 --> 00:53:55.920
of life their children are going to
live. Everybody has a chance in life

716
00:53:57.079 --> 00:54:01.639
to make good choices around feel good
and aging. Now, well, I

717
00:54:01.679 --> 00:54:07.840
mean healthy ag leads to healthy Texans, and when we have healthy Texans,

718
00:54:07.880 --> 00:54:14.480
we have a healthy economy. It's
as simple as that. A least wonderful

719
00:54:14.519 --> 00:54:16.000
way to finish the show. Colonel, thank you so much for joining me

720
00:54:16.039 --> 00:54:19.840
again. You know I'm a fan. I appreciate you, appreciate the work

721
00:54:19.840 --> 00:54:22.920
that you're doing. You are absolutely
working on purpose, and I'm glad to

722
00:54:22.920 --> 00:54:27.440
be part of that conversation with you. Thanks for joining us. It is

723
00:54:27.599 --> 00:54:30.920
my pleasure as always, at least
you know I'm a fan of you too.

724
00:54:30.719 --> 00:54:35.880
Thank you. If you want to
learn more about return retired Colonel Kim

725
00:54:35.920 --> 00:54:38.519
Olsen and the work she is championing
by running for Texas Commissioner of Agriculture,

726
00:54:38.639 --> 00:54:43.000
visit her website. I'll say it
and then i'll spell it. It's Kim

727
00:54:43.000 --> 00:54:46.360
Olsen for techsagg dot com. But
it's got some different different characters in there,

728
00:54:46.400 --> 00:54:52.239
so it's Kim k I m Olsen
A O L S O N the

729
00:54:52.400 --> 00:54:59.719
number four t x agg dot com, Kim Olsen foragg dot com. And

730
00:54:59.800 --> 00:55:01.599
then join us next week if you
will. We're literally going to be going

731
00:55:01.679 --> 00:55:07.719
back to school and talking with Bishop
Lynch High School biology teacher Christy Wainwright about

732
00:55:07.719 --> 00:55:12.440
her completely unplanned journey into teaching and
literally getting zapped by her passionate dedication to

733
00:55:12.480 --> 00:55:15.800
instilling the love of lifelong learning in
her students. See you then, remember

734
00:55:15.800 --> 00:55:19.320
that work is at least one third
of our life, So let's work on

735
00:55:19.360 --> 00:55:29.599
purpose. We hope you've enjoyed this
week's program. Be sure to tune into

736
00:55:29.719 --> 00:55:34.920
Working on Purpose featuring your host Elise
Cortes, every Wednesday at six pm Eastern

737
00:55:35.000 --> 00:55:38.599
Time three pm Pacific Time on the
Voice America Empowerment Channel. This week,

738
00:55:38.840 --> 00:55:40.920
find your life's purpose at work.