Town Hall Ohio

You and I spent just under 21 billion dollars last year eating out. That’s the estimated sales figure for Ohio’s more than 22,000 eating and drinking establishments. We enjoyed meals at little diners at country crossroads and at Wendy’s, Bob Evans’ and other major chains and we supported more than half-a-million people in who Ohio work in the industry. Today, John Barker of the Ohio Restaurant Association, joins Ohio Farm Bureau’s Adam Sharp to talk all things restaurants, this week, on Town Hall Ohio.

Not everyone wants to graduate college with a PHD and that’s a good thing! Along with doctorates, doctors and lawyers, we need masons, mechanics, carpenters, electricians and thousands of other skilled professionals. Encouraging and preparing people to enter those necessary careers is our topic today. Our guests are Christine Gardner, Executive Director of the Ohio Association for Career and Technical Education, and Tim Harman, Director of Customized Workforce Recruitment and Training for Columbus 2020, an economic development organization in central Ohio.

Every year, millions of Americans travel to the nation's capital. Some are there to see the sights. Others are there to work. March 13-15, 2018 a group of around 100 Ohio Farm Bureau members were in Washington, D.C. and got a lot of work done. The big job was lobbying their lawmakers, but they also heard from the administrator of the US EPA, the Speaker of the House, both Ohio senators and more. On this episode of Town Hall Ohio, you will hear what they heard.

Americans would be well served to not forget the Dustbowl years of the 1930s. While that period is remembered for its disastrous impacts on nature and families, its legacy is a commitment to ensuring such calamity will never happen again. In Ohio and around the nation, soil and water conservation districts and their farmer cooperators are the boots on the ground in protecting natural resources. We’re proud to help tell their story on this episode of Town Hall Ohio.

Do any of these slogans sound familiar? Quality is our recipe. Fresh, never frozen. Where’s the beef? Of course, we’re talking about Wendy’s. Ohioan Dave Thomas’s vision, launched back in 1969, has grown to be the second largest purveyor of burgers and the 4th largest restaurant chain in America. So, their actions have great influence over how we eat - and how we grow what we eat. Today, Wendy’s Chief Communications Officer, Liliana Esposito, joins us for a live taping of Town Hall Ohio.

15 percent of Americans are 65 or older and in the next 12 years that will jump to 21 percent. That has implications for the elderly, their families and society. To help us walk through the challenges and solutions to aging issues, our guests today are Beverley L. Laubert, who was appointed interim director of the Ohio Department of Aging in December 2017. Director Laubert has been an ombudsman for nearly thirty years, including twenty-three as the State Long-Term Care Ombudsman in Ohio. Our second guests is Dr. Jim Bates is an assistant professor and Extension Field Specialist of Family Wellness in the Family and Consumer Sciences program in Ohio State University Extension in the College of Food, Agriculture, and Environmental Sciences. He also holds an appointment in OSU’s College of Education and Human Ecology.

The economy performed pretty well last year, and most forecasts say 2018 should be a decent year, too. But we’ve already seen a brutal return of stock market volatility, growing fears of what interest rates and inflation will do and concerns over a variety of political issues at home and abroad. Today, Nationwide Sr. Vice President and Chief Economist David Berson is in to help us sort through what might be awaiting us around the corner. The economy, today, on Town Hall Ohio.

Sadly, we’re in a time where far too many folks seem to be on their worst behavior when discussing important topics. Ranting and yelling and their online equivalents seems to have become the ways to share an opinion. In Ohio Farm Bureau, we believe there’s a better way to solve problems. Thoughtful, courteous discussion. Farm Bureau’s annual Discussion Meet competition is intended to develop young people’s skills in working that way. This year’s Discussion Meet Finalists are our guests, today, on Town Hall Ohio. Congrats to our 2018 winner Annie Specht from Tuscarawas County!

Agriculture is big in Ohio, and features a diversity of people and production practices for hundreds of different kinds of crops and livestock. Today we’re talking about a part of farming that is expanding rapidly – Organic agriculture. Here in the Buckeye state, organic farm numbers and economic output continue to grow. What’s the organic story in Ohio? How does it fit into the overall farm industry? And can organic and conventional agriculture coexist? We cover those questions and more, on this episode of Town Hall Ohio.

Ohio businesses and farms sell a lot of product to foreign countries. Some fifty-five percent of our state’s exports go to Canada and Mexico, who happen to be our partners in the North American Free Trade Agreement, best known as NAFTA. With that as a backdrop, you can understand why Ohio’s business and farm communities are more than a bit concerned when President Trump says he may want to back away from the trade deal. Why NAFTA is important, to all Ohioans, on this episode of Town Hall Ohio.

By this time next year, the Ohio political landscape will look a lot different, or at least will include a lot of new faces, or new faces in new places. Nine Ohioans have their hat in the ring to be our next governor. There are several potential ballot measures in the works, and the general assembly has plenty of business to attend to. We look ahead to policy and politics in 2018 with three members of the Ohio Statehouse Media Corp, on this episode of Town Hall Ohio.

Pulitzer winners, educators, scientists, farmers and political leaders all were in the Town Hall Ohio studio in 2017. This week we hit a few highlights from the past year's broadcasts.

Farm Bureau members had some great accomplishments in the past year. Members of the the organization's public policy team look back at the wins, plus, Extension Educator Jenny Lobb shares some great tips on saving money at the grocery store.

Most days you can’t pick up a newspaper or turn on the radio or TV without reading or hearing about the opioid crisis. Ohio leads the nation in opioid related overdose deaths. The opioid crisis is found in adults and young people and teenagers. What’s being done to prevent the epidemic from becoming even worse? Hope for Ohio, an opioid forum today, on Town Hall Ohio.

Those of us of a certain age can remember hearing Walter Cronkite close the CBS evening news with his famous sign-off – “and that’s the way it is” and, we believed him. We have a president prone to proclaiming news stories as fake. His charges aside, there’s plenty of evidence that some, maybe a lot of what we consider news, isn’t. Fake news. Real news. How do we know the difference? And the ramifications of even having to ask this question, on this episode of Town Hall Ohio.

There is no shortage of people who want to tell us how to eat, or to tell farmers how to farm. The food movement is growing in size, and in influence, and is already having an impact on public policy. What are the consequences of disagreements between members of the food movement and the traditional farm community, and can they find common ground? Well known food and ag economist Dr. Jayson Lusk helps us sort through it all, on this episode of Town Hall Ohio.

Since the early 80’s, Jo Ann Davidson has been a fixture in state and national politics. In a recent story in the Columbus Dispatch, Joe Hallet referred to her as a sentry for tradition and a protector of honor, decorum, conciliation, hard work and progress. He also referenced another moniker – “the velvet hammer.” Today we get to hear from one of Ohio’s most influential political leaders, as Ms. Davidson and Farm Bureau Exec Adam Sharp have a friendly chat, on this episode of Town Hall Ohio.

This probably won’t “shock” you, but Ohio is big in electricity. We produce a lot, and consume a lot. It’s also in our best interests to do both efficiently. Today’s guests can help us out. Eric Romich is with Ohio State University and Jim Miller is with AEP as well as Farm Bureau’s Dale Arnold are in today to talk about what’s going on in electric generation and usage and how we all might be able to save some money.

This Tuesday, Ohioans will have the chance to vote on State Issue 2, the Ohio Drug Price Relief Act. On this week's Town Hall Ohio, we hear the arguments of proponents and opponents. Matt Borges is the former chairman of the Ohio Republican Party. He now represents the Ohio Taxpayers for Lower Drug Prices campaign, which is the vote yes side. Dale Butland was press secretary and Ohio chief of staff for Sen. John Glenn and is now representing the Ohioans Against the Deceptive Rx Ballot Issue, which is the vote no side.

The Farm and Food sector is a huge part of the Ohio economy. And at Central State University, they’re interested in preparing Ohioans to be part of that industry. Central state is an 1890 land grant institution, and as such, is charged with teaching, research and outreach activities while providing students with a quality, affordable education. How they’re carrying out the mission is our topic today with Dr. Alton Johnson, Mr. Chris Widener and Farm Bureau’s Yvonne Lesicko, on Town Hall Ohio.