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The immigration crackdown and our food supply

Federal agents have arrested more than 100 people in Vermont over the last 10 months. Those arrests have heightened fears in tight-knit communities across the state. Vermont Public’s Peter Hirschfeld discusses his new 4-part series on arrests and deportations in our region. He gives us a behind-the-scenes look at his investigation.

Many of the immigrants targeted for arrest work on local farms. A new book called Will Work for Food argues that their labor needs to be part of any discussion about our food supply chain. We're joined by the book's co-authors Teresa M. Mares, an associate professor of anthropology at the University of Vermont and the director of its food systems graduate program, and Laura-Anne Minkoff-Zern, an associate professor of geography and the environment at Syracuse University and the director of its graduate program in food studies.

Broadcast live on Monday, Dec. 8, 2025, at noon; rebroadcast at 7 p.m.

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Mikaela Lefrak is the host and senior producer of Vermont Edition. Her stories have aired nationally on Morning Edition, All Things Considered, Weekend Edition, Marketplace, The World and Here and Now. A seasoned local reporter, Mikaela has won two regional Edward R. Murrow awards and a Public Media Journalists Association award for her work.
Jon has spent his entire adult life working in broadcast journalism. He began his career in Baltimore at WYPR, and has since been a producer for WHYY, Vox, The Majority Report with Sam Seder, and The Talkhouse. Jon is a lifelong recording artist whose projects include Repelican, The Art Department, and Dungeonesse. He lives with his wife in Panton, Vermont.