Truck Safety, Antitrust Failures, and Global Food Politics with Teresa Platt
They begin with the growing crisis of truck accidents on Interstates 80 and 76, blaming inexperienced drivers, bad road conditions, weak safety enforcement, and government complicity in handing out commercial licenses without solid English requirements. Trent calls for serious accountability in the trucking industry to protect American families.
They shift to the Federal Trade Commission and its weak antitrust enforcement. Trent blasts the FTC for letting giants like John Deere skate past right-to-repair rules while small players get punished. Teresa agrees that corporate power keeps growing while regulators look the other way.
From there, Teresa breaks down major opposition to the Mercosur trade deal between the EU and South America. After 25 years of negotiations, European farmers, environmentalists, and voters across the political spectrum are rejecting the deal. Teresa explains how the agreement would help a tiny group of elites while hurting agriculture, increasing greenhouse gas emissions, and flooding markets with imported food shipped across oceans. After massive pressure, the European Parliament sent the deal to the European Court of Justice, and farmer protests are gaining momentum.
Finally, Trent and Teresa compare how France and the United States produce and consume food. Teresa explains how France still values local farmers and direct food culture, while America has drifted into industrial systems controlled by regulations, subsidies, and climate policies that threaten livestock and local agriculture. Both agree the future of food security depends on reconnecting producers with consumers, defending local farming, and resisting global trade schemes that weaken rural communities.
