Trump’s Tariffs Are Still Hurting Wisconsinites (Hour 1)

From the Civic Media World Headquarters in Madison, Wisconsin, it's the Todd Alba Show.

And now, pursuing truth wherever it may lead, here's your host, Todd Alba.

Across Wisconsin on the Civic Media Radio Network.

and streaming worldwide on the Civic Media app.

Good afternoon, everybody.

Todd Alba, along with Mr. Aaron Zommers, our producer and engineer on the board.

It is six minutes past the hour of two o'clock on this Tuesday, August 5th, 2025.

It is a great day to be Wisconsinite.

Glad to have you along with us for another afternoon here at the World Headquarters in downtown Madison, overcast skies.

Maybe on the other side of the smoke.

There's sunny and blue.

But the wildfires, both to note in Western United States and Canada, not just one country to wildfire smoke continues to push into the Badger state, apparently breaking up in some parts a little bit more than others.

My voice is a little off those still summers.

But your hairs are nice

and trimmed.

I went and saw Lizzie last night and she asked me, she said, have you been wearing your hat lately?

And I said, yeah, but I was at a brewer's game and then I was, I was kayaking over over the weekend and stuff.

Yeah.

She says, you might, you might want to wash the hat because there's a little bit of a breakout.

And so this is, and my mom will appreciate this because she gets very disappointed in me because I wear a baseball cap for too long and it gets, you know, sweaty and has sweat stains because that looks terrible.

But I said, it's comfortable to wear once you break it in.

Now, I'm not as bad as Brett Favre, the old Packer quarterback.

He used to wear his until they were literally falling apart.

And so the problem is, is that I have one, you know, you've seen it a hundred times.

It's my Brewer hat that I got down there at Miller Park a few years ago.

I love it because it's the trucker hat that's kind of mesh in the back and then the front just has the glove Brewer's logo in front embroidered.

and it's blue behind that.

And I've been trying to find a replacement for that combo for some, and I haven't found it.

And I don't know what hit me this morning.

I guess after Lizzie told me I needed to do something about my hat.

Of course, I would online Amazon.

Yeah, yeah, I don't do it.

So it'll be here, it'll be here Thursday, a brand new

baseball brewers cap.

There is something to be said for keeping your old sports hats though.

My roommate Elliot, big Cubs fan, he has a brand new Cubs hat and one that is so washed out and old and worn up.

He was wearing that one to a game and some player came up and was like, Oh, you're a real fan and tossed him a ball.

Because it's not so worn in

right see it and also you don't want to do your part to jinx anything and the Brewers are hot right now They got another big win last night.

We'll talk about it a little bit later on in the show I Mean hottest team in baseball best record in baseball three full games now the Brewers are ahead of the Chicago Cubs

So that's in the National Inc.

Central.

So that is fantastic.

The Brewers again get underway again tonight on many of these stations along the Milwaukee Brewers Radio Network of Civic Media.

You can hear the game over the air on Terrestrial Radio, not allowed to stream it on the Civic Media app, but you can catch the Brewers a little bit later on this afternoon.

We'll give you the full details of that game and where to catch it and when all that a little bit later in the show.

And we're going to play that cut.

Zommer has helped me to remember of Logan Henderson.

who was called up over the weekend on Sunday.

And then they say, you gotta get to, you gotta get to DC to pitch because the Miz, Mizorowski got a little contusion, i.e.

a bruise on one of his shins from getting hit with a ball on Monday, last Monday.

And so he tried to find a flight.

No flights available from wherever he was.

He was in Scranton, Pennsylvania.

And so his parents were there watching him and they ended up driving him to his start in DC.

It's really cool So we'll we'll talk a little bit about the surging Milwaukee the hot not just surging red hop Milwaukee Brewers a little bit later on in this hour also coming up at the bottom of this hour Kyle LaFond

Founder and president of and CEO of natural contract Manufacturing and American province.

He is a member of the Main Street Alliance They'll be talking to us about what it's like these Trump tariffs once again going into effect here in a few days What it's like for a Wisconsin business owner.

What's what you hear a lot of this and national news?

Being spun by both sides.

Well, we're gonna talk about a real business owners and and find out

What is like so looking forward to that and also I believe he's on the Wisconsin PBS board I'll double check that but we'll talk a little bit about that those cuts to the National Corporation of Public Broadcasting that we discussed last week as well looking for the due to discussion with him and our two are what's worse for today grocery store addition Tomatoes store bought tomatoes or non dairy milk

What's worse, hour two, don't call on that yet.

We'll take your calls on that in hour two.

Now tomorrow, we are gonna be on the road once again, this time from the shores, the banks of the Mississippi, and also perhaps the Black River, gonna be in La Crosse tomorrow.

Looking forward to that, covering the Leader Ethics Forum on Fusion Voting.

And look, I know that a lot of this stuff is confusing.

It's confusing sometimes for me, a person who tries to follow this every day.

So we're going to break it down because Leader Ethics, a bipartisan group, is going to be hosting a forum in La Crosse.

By the way, if you want to attend in person, you're welcome to do so.

It is a one hour program starting at 12 30 in the afternoon tomorrow.

It'll be at the Black River Beach Neighborhood Center in La Crosse.

There is no fee for attendance, absolutely free, but you must register in advance.

To register, go to LeaderEthics.us.

Zomers has it on the screen for those watching on Facebook, YouTube, and Twitter.

LeaderEthics.us.

And you can register there.

Uh, beforehand, Zommer's also put the information in the show notes.

So we're going to be there tomorrow.

Looking forward to it.

Lee Rosh is going to be on this program, the executive director of leader ethics, also a plaintiff in the legal suit to reestablish the legality of fusion voting based upon conditions of the Wisconsin state constitution.

He is a member of, uh,

United States, uh, pardon me, a member of United Wisconsin, this great group that's bringing the discussion back on, on fusion voting.

So Lee Ross will be with us.

He was also the president of Western Wisconsin Technical College for a number of years.

Uh, former democratic sheriff of Dane County, Dave Mahoney will be on the program.

One of my former bosses, former Republican Wisconsin state senator and majority leader, Dale Schultz, will be there beyond the show and Christine Andrews.

the executive director of United Wisconsin, as well as Rusty Cunningham, who is a former publisher and executive editor with La Crosse Tribune and River Valley News.

He is going to be moderating the program tomorrow.

If you can't make it to La Crosse and you still want to check it out, watch it.

You can do so by watching a free stream.

Again, the website is Leader Ethics.

Leader Ethics.

All one word is two words, but for these for this purposes for the website.

It's all one leader ethics dot us You can watch the live stream tomorrow for 12 30 or 130 and then join our program from two until four We'll be discussing with all the aforementioned people will break down tell you what fusion voting is and why it's important to Wisconsin and how it could actually help bring about some Stability how it could actually give voice to both

Republicans and Democrats and find some sort of commonality here.

So looking forward to the program tomorrow and also the program tomorrow, Brian Van Hooker.

from cracked.com with a little bit of lighter information as well.

Who knows?

Maybe we'll go fishing zombers if we're along the banks banks of the Black River.

Maybe.

Maybe

you will fishing for

snakes.

No, no, be no fishing for for snakes tomorrow.

So looking forward to our fusion voting program tomorrow.

Also coming up a little bit later here.

Not here at a lot about this, are we?

From Reuters, the Trump administration formally acts as Elon Musk's five things email.

What?

It turns out they didn't think it was such a good idea.

They're quietly just Letting that go away.

Yeah, just like they're attempting to quietly let Elon himself go away, but

Very quietly very quietly indeed and we're gonna get to what's happening in in Texas as well some new audio there the Democrats leaving the state so far successful in stopping the Republican governor Greg Abbott from changing the

Maps for Congress to help Donald Trump pick up five seats in the next election We'll talk a little bit about this, but I want to start here was on the wonderful program this morning Matt Nair on air with Jane Matt Nair and Greg Bach They brought this up and and look I I think it's just interesting as a person who enjoys politics former governor and Republican governor Tommy George Thompson

was on WTMJ in Milwaukee today this morning.

And Tommy was asked whether or not, hey, you know what?

The, the governorship is, is going to be a wide open seat in 2026.

And, and we've talked about this before as ours.

The late great Senator, Democratic Senator, Tim Cullen of Jamesville.

He taught me years ago.

He said, Todd, anytime a politician is asked a question,

Anything other than no is a yes and anything other than yes is a no.

So if you say Governor Thompson, do you plan on running for governor?

He literally said quote.

I haven't said no.

Wow,

that's pretty direct.

Yeah.

Tommy says he hasn't said no to running for for.

Another, a fifth term as governor in this, of course, he did not finish his fourth term because he was selected by George W. Bush to be the Health and Human Services Secretary of the United States.

That's, you know, usually what Tim Cullen meant is reading between the lines to see, but he just pretty directly said, well, yeah, I might.

Right, pretty much.

So we were talking about this on Matt Nairnair this morning with Jane and Greg.

And because they had discussed it for a half an hour, took calls, it was great.

And then I came on and we spent the better part of 45 minutes discussing Tommy Thompson across the Civic Media Ready Network.

And I said towards the end of the discussion, I said, I'll tell you this.

Tommy Thompson is elated that if he heard this broadcast and now ours, we're only adding to it.

He's looking at people saying, you know what?

All I had to do.

Say I won't say no and these people are giving me more airtime than the gal dang people who are actually announced

Very true very true.

I think Tommy loves it Tony watching on YouTube says my first thought when I heard Jane and Greg talk about this was I bet Todd has some thoughts on this well Look to cut to the chase.

I don't know anything I don't I'm not an insider anymore in the Republican side of the aisle although I have some people that talk to me

My gut tells me that Governor Thompson, former Governor Thompson, will not run for another term.

He's 83 years old.

Yeah, that'd be pretty rough.

I mean, look, he says, look, you know, I'm in great shape.

I'm in great health, mentally, physically.

Well, yeah.

And if you are, I imagine you want to spend that time just doing stuff you enjoy spending time with your family.

Well, he's back.

He's back on the farm.

I mean, he and the first lady, Swann, I think, did a little addition up there to the farm in Elroy.

And he lives back in Elroy.

And so.

But he's not really, here's what I think.

I think that he's not going to run.

I don't think that the family is on board with this.

I don't think, I don't think it's too, it's too well.

Sue Ann has any desire at all to be on another statewide race.

I don't think his kids have any desire.

So I don't, I don't think he's going to have the family support.

I think in this new era, this new MAGA Republican party, I think he'd have a tough time making a go of it.

But.

We'll get more thoughts on the other side.

What do you think?

Is Tommy going to run for a fifth term?

855-752-4842.

You can also text us on the Civic Media app.

Come on back.

It's a Tuesday edition of the All Ball Show on the Civic Media radio network.

Tommy, can you hear me?

Can you feel me near you?

Tommy, can you see me?

Can I help to cheer you?

Oh, Tommy.

talking about the one, the only Tommy George Thompson, four-time elected governor of the state of Wisconsin.

Where did you find that song, Zombers?

And why did he ever use that for one of his campaigns?

I don't know why he didn't, but it's Tommy, Can You Hear Me?

by The Who from their album, Tommy, which is most known for pinball wizard.

Yes, that's fantastic.

Well done.

It's all about the kid, the pinball wizard, whose name is Tommy.

Right.

Welcome back everybody glad to have you along 23 now past the hour of two o'clock Started out the show here by was on Matt Nair and air this morning With Jane Greg Jane Matt Nair Greg Bach and they they started out with this news and posed the question to me And I just wanted to spend a couple of minutes following up on it Tommy George Thompson governor of the state of Wisconsin four times elected Was in his element yesterday

Milwaukee at the Wisconsin State Fair and he went on TMJ radio in Milwaukee and they asked him about the governor's race and Tommy said quote I haven't said no on quote He went on to say quote.

There are a lot of good candidates and I don't have a desire to get in the race But the truth of the matter is I'll wait and see who's out there.

I'm in great physical health

My mind is sharp as hell.

I've got things I would like to accomplish.

And it's way too early for me to make that decision.

I don't do as good at Tommy Thompson as Trigby Olson.

Trigby's impression is very good.

Here's what I get to cut to the chase.

I don't believe that Tommy Thompson is going to run actually run for another term as governor.

He's 83 years old.

And.

I said, oh, Jane Gregg show this morning.

My heart, my mind will always go back to the Tommy Thompson that was governor in the 80s and 90s.

Somebody who worked at a bipartisan man, but a manner to get things done didn't always agree with him with every single thing.

But by things like the lower Wisconsin Riverway, I talked yesterday about my friends, Curtin Floresy and I went to the lower Wisconsin Riverway for a four hour kayak paddle over the weekend.

That was a bipartisan project.

Democrats, Republicans came together.

Tommy Thompson signed it into law.

A lot of other great things Tommy did, a huge proponent of the UW system in this state.

And when he went to Washington to work in the Bush administration, I had the opportunity to visit him in his office out in D.C.

And he was he was working on measures to protect food sources and shipping to keep them safe that nobody else was doing.

Don Rumsfeld, the defense secretary, was sending his guys over to Tommy's office at DHSS to say, hey, we need to be doing this as a national defense thing.

Then Tommy came back who was the interim president of UW System during COVID and got bipartisan rave reviews as being the premier president of the UW System in our college system on how to deal with COVID.

He was protesting.

He set up all kinds of free testing clinics at universities around the state.

He was pro-vaccine.

He set up all kinds of vaccination centers as well as the testing around the state based on his time at DHSS.

And I think he deserves kudos for all those things.

And above all, nobody has been, no politician has been a greater advocate for Wisconsin cheerleader than Tommy Thompson.

But

And I've talked about this on this program before.

It deeply saddens me that, in my opinion, perhaps the greatest political Achilles heel that Tommy has is his lust and desire to be relevant.

And I think that, look, I'm not going to name names, but I pretty much know for a fact that Tommy Thompson does not like Scott Walker.

Tommy Thompson does not like Donald Trump, but he's played the game to stay relevant.

in a Maga Republican world.

And that saddens me a great deal, because I think he had the opportunity to be an even bigger leader had he stayed true to himself.

So I also think it's just funny because I think Tommy's probably getting a kick out of messing around with with, uh, uh, Barry and and and showman and these and Tiffany, because Tommy's sucking up all the news today on the governor's race.

And he probably has no intention of actually running.

And he's probably getting a huge kick out of it.

8-5-5-7-5-2-4-8-4-2.

Let's come to Eau Claire, WCFW, the tap gene.

Eau Claire, Gene, what do you got for us?

Well, hi.

Well, I sure hope you ain't planning on running either, and I remember he did a lot of great things.

However, people change.

I have always been independent, and I used to see some good things going on in our Senate, you know, in the U.S.

Senate, and even in the state of Wisconsin.

years ago before the Walker regime and and you know the people that I thought would come to fight for you know a Republic democracy or however you want to describe it would be these great leaders in different times you know and and and did great jobs and and they've all let us down every gal there and one of them has called out to whomever big money is

trying to change the United States of America.

And I was just very, very concerned.

And I could see them.

Oh, Tommy, you'd be so great.

We need to meet Tommy.

We're stroking his ego.

He loves

having his ego stroked.

Yes, and then all of us will suffer.

So I sure hope to heck you.

He's not for us anymore.

Thanks, Jane.

I appreciate it.

Curt in Madison says, for the love of God, get in your boat and go fishing, Tommy.

Do anything but run for governor.

Why tarnish your run?

That's from Curt in Madison.

8-5-5-7-5-2-4-8-4-2.

Whizzler, you got 20 seconds.

Whizzler, what do you got?

Well, I'll tell you what, Todd.

I think that Tommy should join the Lincoln project.

Right?

I appreciate that,

Whistler.

Yeah,

I mean, I wish

he would, but unfortunately, he's been on the Trump train as of late.

We shall see.

Sean, watching on YouTube, says Dale Schultz would make a terrific governor.

I agree.

I also will tell you he ain't gonna run.

Come on back after this.

We'll talk about the Trump tariffs and what it means to Wisconsinites on the Civic Media Rady

Network.

across the state of Wisconsin from Lake Michigan to Lake Superior, Green Bay to the Mississippi River, and all points in between to the title ball show on the Civic Media Ready Network.

Aaron Zommer and Spinner of the Tunes on the board.

off the playlist of our guests this half hour.

Please have them join us via StreamYard on the Facebook, Twitter, YouTube, and all over the air here as well.

He is Kyle Lafon, founder and president and CEO of Natural Contract Manufacturing in American Province and a member of Main Street Alliance here in Wisconsin.

Kyle, good afternoon.

Thank you so much for joining us.

Todd, great to be here.

Thanks for having me.

I really appreciate the opportunity.

Well, it's our pleasure.

And it means a lot to me personally because one of the things we try to do this show is take these issues that are international or national and nothing wrong with with national news and coverage.

But I think for a lot of Wisconsinites out there, what I hear when I go on the road and listen to folks is they say, Todd, I just can't do it because it's overwhelming and depressing.

And I get it.

So one of the things we like to do is put this in a Wisconsin context and you being a small business owner here in Wisconsin, I want to talk a little bit about these Trump tariffs, new round of them, allegedly.

We'll see if it happens this time going back into effect here in a few days.

So I appreciate a real discussion about that.

But as we do with everybody who's new here on the show, Mr. LeFond, tell us a little bit about yourself and how you got into the manufacturing world.

Yeah, thanks.

It's a long and very twisted story actually.

I

actually began my career at the Wisconsin Department of Natural Resources where I worked as a wildlife biologist.

In that role, I spent a lot of time in schools talking to kids about principles of wildlife management, biology, chemistry, you name it.

I really enjoyed that aspect of the job.

So I went back and got another degree.

Then I taught middle school and high school science for a number of years.

When I was teaching, I developed this project where I taught my students primarily in the middle school environment how to make their own personal care and wellness products using primarily household ingredients.

You know, I was sick of all my younger students.

basically dousing themselves with Axe Body Spray and other products that were loaded with all kinds of chemicals and preservatives.

After developing this production in class, I basically stole all of my students' best ideas and launched my first company.

That's

great.

Yeah, the company is called American Provenance.

It's all around.

It's a deodorant brand you're going to find.

Primarily on Amazon at this point.

And then during the pandemic, we launched a second division called Natural Contract Manufacturing.

So now

Not only do we make products for our own brand, but we make products for about 60 other brands.

And a number of celebrities and athletes and influencers, they're all looking to capitalize on, again, their name and popularity.

I think this is great.

And we just did a show last week out in Southwest Wisconsin at Six Springs Farm, Joe Thomas's venture in Hall of Fame beef.

And he was talking about this is basically what led him going from football into farming.

As he said, you know, as I aged in football and got closer to the end of my career in the NFL, my body physically and mentally was taken as tall.

And a lot of this was from the crap that I was.

You know, I consider myself a healthy guy.

I'm paraphrasing, he said.

But but he said.

wanted to provide healthy food, meat for my family and friends, and that's how it started.

It sounds much the same way your impetus was watching what your students were putting on their bodies, chemicals, and saying, hey, how can we do this better more naturally?

That's exactly it.

And as an aside there, Joe's actually a good buddy.

I've been out there

at his

farm a few times.

Yep.

I've been out there looking for morels and ramps in the spring.

even screwed on other occasions.

So yeah, Joe is a wonderful example.

What a great ambassador for the state of Wisconsin.

You know, you nailed it on the head.

And what I said, I'm writing a piece right now on a column about done.

And yeah, part of the takeaway, you know, the story, you know, he said, I'm not going to the draft, even though I'm number three, because I'm an official, my dad.

But what what really struck me having the privilege and honor to hang out with them for two hours on the air and off was how truly invested.

He is in farming in Southwest Wisconsin.

This isn't some, oh, I'll live in a city far away and come out here once a month and take photos.

No, no, no, no.

He's on the gator.

He's on the tractor.

He's sawn down trees.

He's feeding cattle, whatever he has to do.

And he's really invested in the economic growth of Southwest Wisconsin.

That's just it.

I mean, people don't give Joe enough credit.

I think the one word I really like to use when describing Joe is sophisticated.

You know, and you wouldn't think that word in regards to a professional football player, but Joe is a very sophisticated guy, kind of.

Uh, a rural Renaissance man, you know, he's

one of

those guys where, uh, my grandfather always told me he should never trust anybody that doesn't have calluses on their hands.

And, uh, Joe understands that.

He goes out and he gets the work done.

So more

parts.

You don't have to disclose this if you don't want to.

I'm just curious.

How do you, how do you know him through, through football or what?

Uh, through Chris Borland, actually.

So yeah, Chris

and I had been friends for many, many years.

Really?

Um,

Yeah.

And then our circles of friends have just kind of intertwined and gotten a chance to meet a few other folks through Chris and expand my network there.

And yeah, Joe is just a wonderful guy.

And again, I can't believe we're fortunate to have him as an ambassador here for the state and especially Southwest Wisconsin.

Small world indeed.

We're talking to a Kyle LeFond, the founder, president and CEO of Natural Contract Manufacturing and American Province.

So back to your story, I think that

as a small business person who did this for all the right reasons, got into this for the betterment of health and people.

Now you're looking, when you sell your, I'm gonna ask you two things.

A, where are you selling your product most to?

And B, where are you getting the, I'll say I'll use the word ingredients or materials to produce and ship your product.

And then how are these Trump tariffs going to affect your business?

Yeah, great question.

So there was a time prior to the pandemic where you could find our own brand branded products, American Providence products on about 10,000 shelves nationwide.

That included 1400 Walmarts, a whole bunch of Whole Foods regions, and pretty much every significant regional grocery you could imagine.

Um, during the pandemic, of course, brick and mortar really just fell apart.

You know, if people were going to the grocery store, they're going to buy foods.

They weren't going to buy personal care and wellness products.

So at that point we pulled out of brick and mortar.

Now the brand itself is online orders, online only.

Uh, so just on Amazon and a handful of other sites, most of our clients are online only as well.

A lot of these folks don't have the resources to take their product and put it on a shelf somewhere.

Putting a product on a store shelf is very, very expensive, very, very time consuming.

So a lot of folks can just turn to Amazon or fair or other online outlets to sell their goods.

In terms of our inputs and how the tariffs are affecting us, because we're making products for all kinds of other brands and athletes, celebrities and whatever else,

And especially since we're in the personal care and wellness space, we get a lot of our ingredients, a lot of our inputs from overseas.

So we're talking about Thailand, we're talking about China, we're talking about Indonesia, some of our stuff from South America as well.

You know, if you're talking about personal care and wellness products, a lot of it tends to be a coconut oil and shade butter.

Last time I looked, there's not a lot of palm trees here in Wisconsin.

So for us.

What we're seeing, even a lot of our scents, our essential oils, of course, those are all distilled down from plants that are primarily in temperate zones around the equator, right?

So what we found with a lot of our ingredients, there were significant price increases overnight when tariffs first started being...

to be talked about.

In some of our ingredients, I can tell you that pretty much overnight, they just about doubled, which is just crazy when you think about it.

When we talk about tariffs, a lot of folks tend to think about finished products.

There's a lot more beyond that.

A lot of manufacturers here state side, we get our inputs, we get our raw materials, our ingredients from foreign nations, and we have to pay those tariffs to get those products here to make the products you enjoy at home.

We can't absorb all those costs, so of course we're going to have to pass them on to the consumer.

So I think it's foolish for anybody to think that tariffs aren't going to affect the prices of American manufacturing goods because, yeah, a lot of stuff that goes into American manufacturing goods is required overseas.

Talking to Kyle Lafond here, founder and president and CEO of Natural Contract Manufacturing in the American province, based in beautiful Middleton, Wisconsin, just outside the Madison City limits where we are at.

Kyle, how many roughly, so to speak, how many people do you employ in your businesses?

We're a small and lean operation.

Right now, there's only four of us full-time permanent employees.

And we do have upticks and we do rely on some outside staffing to help us out.

And during the summertime, I do have the privilege of having some of my friends and their kids help out when we're a little behind schedule, which is great.

Summer is usually a very busy time for us.

So having kids that are not enrolled in school and have some time on their hands to come help us out has been wonderful.

I think this is great because

As I travel, I grew up in Richland Center, Wisconsin, a ton of 5,000 people travel.

I have the privilege of being able to travel around for this show.

We talk and listen to a lot of folks.

I think that you're representative of so many small business people in this state.

You think about the bakeries, the coffee shops, the cafes, the woodworkers, the photographers, the people that take our photographs for kids in your pictures.

They're not employing hundreds of people.

It is a couple of families, but all of them added up together have a huge impact because my guess is, Kyle, you're also spending locally in your community.

And so it's a ripple effect.

And not enough people understand that that's the backbone, agree or disagree of Wisconsin's small business.

That's just that.

I mean, you think about over 90% of Wisconsin businesses are small businesses and those are 50 employees or less.

So you think about, you know, you walked down Main Street and like you said, you look at a cafe or a bakery or a butcher shop.

That's three or four people.

And those are folks that are making a living, putting back in the community.

You know, we want to continue to spend our dollars here as close to home as possible.

We're not huge proponents of purchasing stuff on Amazon, even though our clients utilize it as a selling format.

Don't get me started about monopolies

and

all kinds of stuff like that.

That's another conversation for another day.

But happy to have that one.

There is

I think a growing sentiment, especially among young people, they get it.

They want their dollars to stay local.

They don't want to ship it overseas.

So I think we're going to see a sea change here over the course of the next, who knows, 10, 12 years when people really wake up and realize that, you know, this consumer spending that we've gone crazy with since the pandemic needs to change and come back to Main Street.

About a couple of minutes left here before we have to step away, then we'll finish up on the other side.

But.

Again, to get back to the impacts that these tariffs are going to have, agree or disagree, it's not just the tariffs themselves.

It's this complete uncertainty for a small business owner like yourself.

How do you plan for that?

That's a great question as well.

So we're always onboarding new clients.

And so every year we anticipate we've got 20 to 25% of our clients turning over.

Either they go out of business or they get too big and go on to a larger contract manufacturer that has more advanced capabilities than what we have.

What we're finding is that with all this talk of terrorists and all this uncertainty, all these folks that were talking about launching brands or products earlier this year, guess what?

they've kind of completely fallen off either postpone or delayed or decided not to pursue business whatsoever.

You know, anytime we have this amount and this kind of uncertainty, it's not good for any business.

If you're thinking about launching something and you don't have solid answers on funding,

We don't have solid answers, but interest rates or consumer demand or the threat for recession are going to be or tariffs.

Those are all things that potential business owners need to keep in mind.

And adding those up, a lot of folks have decided to shy away from launching brands or expanding product portfolios.

And I think that's the untold story here in the national headlines is that

You know, I had a couple of different small coffee shops over the course of my life.

I was in business with a couple of business partners.

And it's like, you just want, you just want to know what were the others.

So you can play it.

It's the uncertainty, I think, that kills, that kills you as a small business person because you don't know how much to have a reserve.

You don't know what the forecast for next year.

It just locks you up.

That's exactly it.

And as now a business owner for the past 10 years, I can't believe it's been 10

years.

But having a business for that long and going through my own trials and tribulations, yeah, you want those certainties.

That makes everything so much easier in terms of planning and execution.

Anytime you have things that are unknown, that's why I always tell folks the only thing I'm really scared of

is not knowing what I don't know.

That may sound crazy,

but yeah, folks are in that situation.

Yeah, no, absolutely.

I agree 100 percent.

We got to step away.

Do a little business as they say we're to come back.

Talk more with Kyle LeFond on the other side, not just small, small business in Terrence, Wisconsin, but also about PBS and the implications of the cuts to the Corporation for Public Broadcasting.

Don't go anywhere.

It's the all ball show across Wisconsin on the Civic Media Radio Network.

fun doing it.

Welcome back to the town of all show on the civic media ready to work eight minutes now before the hour of three o'clock at the top of the hour.

ABC or CBS News followed by a check of weather.

Mike Clemens, a great sports reporter with a report from Packers training camp and also the Brewers continue their winning streak back underway in Atlanta tonight.

Brewers now three games ahead of the dreaded Chicago Cubs.

That's fantastic news Michael updates on that and then our two of what's worse coming up in our two grocery store items What's worse store bought grocery tomatoes or non-dairy milk?

We'll discuss those hot topics in hour number two, but right now something more serious.

Kyle Lafon joins us via StreamYard from here in Dane County, the founder and president and CEO of Natural Contract Manufacturing in American Province.

Now, Kyle, before we get into PBS.

many of your products here, natural products, skin care, healthcare products.

Now, what should a guy like me who tends to be sweaty, unfortunately, I'm right guard is my go-to.

It seems to work the best.

What sort of natural deodorants should I actually be using that are more healthy and not so chemically prone?

Well, I'll share with you the same information I've been sharing with folks for many, many years.

You should never, ever, ever wear an antiperspirant.

You should

always

wear a deodorant.

Yes, there's a big difference there.

So with antiperspirants, they often contain some type of chemical.

They usually aluminum or metal to basically clog your pores to prevent you from sweating.

But what happens when you sweat, you're also expelling all kinds of toxins from your body, right?

So if you're clogging your pores, those toxins and chemicals tend to accumulate in these very sensitive areas around

your lymph nodes.

So you want to sweat.

Sweating is healthy.

It's your body's way of cooling itself down, but also expelling all these minerals and toxins and everything else.

So if you're clogging your pores, those are staying in your system, and you don't want to do that.

So deodorants are great.

Deodorants are just meant to basically mask whatever your body odor may be, or antiperspirants again block your pores.

So never, ever,

ever

wear an antiperspirant.

Always wear a deodorant.

There you go.

I've learned something new already today.

That's fantastic.

And this is great.

These products, these natural products like yours are being manufactured right here in the state of Wisconsin.

I appreciate the discussion prior to on the Trump tariffs.

I wanted to get into something else that came out of the White House last week that I know you're the president.

I believe the Friends Board of PBS here in Wisconsin.

Did I get that right?

That's correct.

That's the 501c3 that is responsible for fundraising for PBS Wisconsin

So it was announced last week that by the Trump administration Well, I guess by the corporation for public broadcasting that they were going to shut down essentially by the end of September

because of not just the cuts in the Trump reconciliation bill, but also the fact that Congress, Republican-led Congress, as directed by Trump, clawed back over a billion dollars and previously allocated and approved funds for the Corporation of Public Broadcasting.

Tell us just, if you will, a little bit, Kyle, what impact in reality is this going to have for places like Wisconsin Public Television and Wisconsin Public Radio?

Well, it's going to be

significant.

I mean, there's no way to hide that whatsoever.

We were hoping for a much different outcome.

We had some, what I thought was very good news, heading into discussions around the rescission package.

Unfortunately, those did not come fruition.

So what that's going to mean with this cut in funding is right now Wisconsin public media, we get about 10% of our annual budget from the federal government.

So we're going to have to make that up somehow.

One thing that we've seen only here in Wisconsin, but nationwide are a lot of these stations putting together some very aggressive campaigns and basically bring on more dollars from their friends, their sponsors, and just fans.

So now more than ever, we're going to have to rely on all of our supporters that have been behind PBS for years and years.

to really kind of help us out even more than they ever have before.

So we are doing some restructuring.

We're looking at some programs, but a lot of this is going to come down to alternative ways to raise funds through fundraising efforts and maybe some unique and novel ideas that have been on the back burner for a while, but maybe coming to fruition in the next couple of years.

Unfortunately, about three minutes left.

We'd love to have you back on another time if you're willing.

But in the time we have left here, it's not just PBS.

And those are very, very important, in my opinion.

But it's also local radio across the state of Wisconsin that receives some of those corporations, public broadcasting funds.

It could be native radios on our reservations and in parts of Wisconsin that don't get a lot of media over the air because of topography, geography.

But it's also just community radio folks that rely on that local news.

This is going to impact them.

Am I correct?

That's just it.

So the corporation public broadcasting realistically is more or less a clearinghouse.

So they're the ones that received the funds from the federal government and then they go ahead and dictate how much funding goes to each particular television station, radio station, what have you.

So there are some stations out there in primarily rural areas.

You mentioned the tribes that may get 40, 50, maybe even 60% of their funding from the corporation public broadcasting.

So without funding being cut, guess what?

That means a loss of on-air talent.

That means a loss of programs.

That means a lot of repetitive.

that means a loss of a lot of services that folks come to rely on.

People don't realize it, but public media touches every corner of the state of Wisconsin.

You know, we're here to not only educate and inform, but also protect the first warrants system, the safety system that alerts for potential or severe weather.

That's all broadcast first by public radio and public television.

So these are going to have some dramatic consequences in terms of health, safety, communication, education and just

community.

Kyle, one minute left, what have I not asked you that you want to make sure people know either about the tariffs or about PBS?

That's a good question as well.

I think one of the things that has been on my mind lately is what does the end of the year look like?

You know, as a business owner, I'm always trying to forecast and look ahead.

And there are some signs out there that are a little concerned to me.

way back when I had an old mentor tell me that if you really want to know what's going on, talk to the truck drivers.

Don't listen to the folks that have the fancy degrees from the Ivy League schools.

Talk to a truck driver.

I've always taken that to heart and I've always done it.

One of the things that was shocking to me just last week, I had a gentleman show up to basically drop off a loader at our warehouse.

A gentleman I had never seen before and I'm familiar with all our truck drivers.

I asked him what was going on.

He said, well, we had to furlough a bunch of drivers.

I've actually been behind the desk for the past eight years.

This is my first time behind the wheel since.

So if these trucking operations and logistic companies are going through furloughs now, that's a bad sign.

You know, I also used to hear that anytime you saw four or more semis per 10 cars on the interstate, new things were going well.

Three or less, not so hot.

So keep an eye on that for the rest of the year here.

Kyle, you nailed it.

One of the best educations of my life was going from Chicago to Oklahoma City to San Antonio with Brooke Dobbs on a long haul truck experience.

They are 100% right.

You nailed it.

Kyle Lafon, thanks for being a part of what makes Wisconsin great.

We'll love to talk to you again soon.

Have a great day.

From the Civic Media World Headquarters in Madison, Wisconsin, it's the Todd Alba Show.

And now, pursuing truth wherever it may lead, here's your host, Todd Alba.

On Cross Wisconsin on the Civic Media Radio Network.

and streaming worldwide on the Civic Media app.

Good afternoon, everybody.

Todd Alba, along with Mr. Aaron Zommers, our producer and engineer.

Welcome into hour number two of the big broadcast here.

It is the fifth of August, 2025, a Tuesday, a great day to be Wisconsinite.

Welcome in hour number two, world headquarters of Civic Media, downtown Madison on State Street.

Cloudy sky, smoky skies.

On top of old smoky all covered with cheese.

Remember that song?

Yes, I did.

You ever sing that in Boy Scout camp summers?

I don't know.

I don't remember if we did in Boy Scout camp, but I know I was saying it.

I just can't remember where.

The forest fires is what's causing this, not just in Canada.

Tom Tiffany settled down, but out west here in the United States as well.

So they're saying the smoke will eventually clear here in the last couple of days.

So hang in there.

But like many of us, maybe you got a sore throat, but if you're somebody that really struggles with autoimmune or breathing issues, might want to stay inside or limit your time.

Outdoors but all not too bad comfortable temperatures humidity not too bad and comfortable temperatures So yes, that's the one upside of the smoke.

Yes keeps temperatures and the humidity down So hopefully you're enjoying your Tuesday as we said tomorrow gonna be broadcasting from La Crosse, Wisconsin looking forward to that talking about fusion voting It sounds like something at the state fair the fusion voting Slicer Dicer does this, you know

State fair going on right now down in West Dallas, but no we'll be in La Crosse at the leader ethics seminar Talk if you will Should be a good time by all starts at 12 30 tomorrow You're welcome to join us all the folks there for free won't cost you a dime if you're in La Crosse tomorrow Come on down to the Black River Beach Neighborhood Center starting at 12 30.

Here's the thing does not cost anything to attend

It's free, but you must register in advance.

In order to register, go to leaderethics.us.

Leaderethics.us.

Zomeros will have that in the show notes.

If you're not in the La Crosse area and you still want to participate, you can watch the live stream.

Again, go to leaderethics.us tomorrow at 1230.

Leaderethics.us tomorrow at 1230.

It should be a great program.

Lee Rush.

is going to be there.

Also, former Democratic sheriff of Dane County, Dave Mahoney, former Republican Senate Majority Leader, Dale Schultz, Christine Andrews, the executive director of United Wisconsin and Rusty Cunningham, publisher and executive editor,

with the La Crosse Tribune and River Valley News.

Gonna be the moderator tomorrow.

Gonna be talking to several of them.

Trigby Olson will be along from Lithuania, an international show tomorrow.

He's been involved in United Wisconsin as well, and Pat Critello, host of Mornings and Pat Critello every morning from six until nine, will be on his Wednesday time slot as per usual.

Should be a great show.

on location tomorrow.

So join us from La Crosse talking about, we'll tell you, we'll break it down.

We'll tell you what, and I get it.

Look, I get it with all the Frank choice voting, final five voting, fusion voting, people like, what is this?

And why does it matter?

Well, we'll do our best to, as the late great judge Weisman from Tennessee was fond of saying, we're going to put it down there where the chickens can get at it.

Is that it mr. Gold want to put it down there where the chickens can get at it?

All right, I'll What are the best the best court proceeding I was ever in I was I was on the on the jury team Well kind of sort of I got to sit behind the the lawyers I was I helped to put together the the briefing book and that sort of thing

That was my extent of working.

I'm like, I'm no Jim Santel.

I'm no Maggie Dawn.

I'm no Matt Flynn.

I don't have, but I did for a time briefly work for a law firm.

So there you go.

More than

I could say.

In my resume, speaking of great people, Kyle Lafon, how about that guy?

He's fantastic.

Yes.

I think we should definitely have him back.

He

has

a wealth of experience and knowledge to share on.

It seems like a lot of things.

Really well grounded person, great guy.

Many thanks to Luke Mathers for helping book him.

And also thanks to the Main Street Alliance.

Kyle is part of that Main Street Alliance.

Great to have real Wisconsin business people talking about how these big things affect them.

And affect their customers, aka

us.

Right, all of us.

All of this as it turns out.

So many things for, uh, for Kyle for being here, going to get into what's worse here a little bit.

And then also talk about Donald Trump quietly saying the five things you did this week.

Yeah, not so much.

And also a little bit about an update for you on what's happening in Texas and why it continues to be important here in Wisconsin in terms of trying to redraw maps down there, but I want to spend a couple of minutes on the brew crew.

How about that?

Milwaukee Brewers another win last night in Atlanta three to one over the Braves.

And they play again tonight pregame show around 545 first pitch around 615 Wisconsin time.

And they continue to have a three game lead now on the Cubs in the L central.

A lot of these people that are like, you know, who are these guys?

So over the weekend on Sunday, Mizorowski, Jacob Mizorowski, the Miz was supposed to pitch, but he got hit in the leg by a ball in that last cup series in Milwaukee.

It still bruised pretty bad.

So they put him on the 15-day IL to rest up.

Might not need that long, but seems like he's going to be okay.

But out of an abundance of caution, as they say, they put Miz on the 15-day IL.

And so they called up another guy here, Logan Henderson.

who was kind of a back and forth trying to break through, was down in the minors, was pitching and was getting set to pitch in Scranton, Pennsylvania.

When he got the call, he was going to need it that night or the next night rather in DC.

Here's Logan Henderson talking to the gaggle, the press gaggle here after the game about how he got to the aforementioned DC game.

When did you get in?

Sorry?

You

get in

today or last night?

I got

in last night, yeah.

Parents actually drove me, my dad and stepmom were in Scranton, and there were no flights available last night, so it was a full circle moment having my parents drive me here, and yeah, it was special.

Is there a certain skill you guys have staying connected to what's going on here, and if you're not moving, if you're going back and forth, how do you keep one forth in here when you're not physically?

Yeah, I think that's the toughest battle to be quite honest is, you know, it's trying to feel a part of the team up here when you're down there.

But, you know, it just kind of, it fuels you more, you know, it makes you want to get back up here.

And you just want to be ready for any opportunity.

And like you just said, you expect it.

I did not at all.

So, but I was ready for it.

So.

Yeah, I mean, again, we're all, I mean, I feel watching, watching the boys went up here and it's been really fun.

We all want to

contribute and that is the goal.

Logan Henderson on getting to DC from Scranton had his parents, his dad and stepmom, drove him to the Major League game because there was no flights available.

And I just think it's cool because how many kids are driving their high school kids to games right now, to AAU games, whatever it might be.

And even in college like you know if your kids played in college you'll you'll if it's not too far away You'll try to get to those those games those matches But here he is in the big leagues and he needs a ride to the game of mom and dad Jumping the car.

That is pretty funny.

I think but it's so indicative so so representative Maybe it's the better word and and manager Brewer manager Pat Murphy talked about this yesterday or the day before a little bit that these guys he's called them the average Joe's of the

Major League Baseball that you know, they're not the big all-stars.

I mean you got yellow check horse, but These are not household names the payroll is one of them not the lowest in Major League Baseball and they're atop the major leagues right now because they're so hungry The guys are just like why I don't want to sit too long.

I want to get back out there.

I want to make a run I want to make steel, you know, whatever it is and it is this fire that Pat Murphy has ignited

The other thing that Murph has done has been a couple minutes on this he's kept him loose and our friend Kelly Collins and Sean Hannish the Producers and director respectively of the great film just to been outside the story the 1982 Milwaukee Brewers run to the world series in their great film

They capture from the 82 team part of the magic of that 82 team that led him to the World Series was that Harvey Keen came in and he was an older manager and Ted Simmons tells this great story because Harvey Keen had a peg leg had it don't don't app me the PC crowd because he didn't want a Plastic he

wanted a wooden peg.

Thank you.

Yes.

He didn't want the process He won the wood.

So so so Simmons tells this story

Shortly after Harvey Dalton had put Harvey Keane or Harry Dalton put Harvey Keane in charge of the team that that Keane came down the down the hallway to the brewers locker room and Ted Simmons tells it much better than I can.

He said, you heard this pop if you're his peg leg coming down and he came in and he said, boys, I got two things.

Number one, I hate meetings.

Number two, this meeting's over.

He walked out and he's intense ever says it was the best meeting I'd ever been in and Harvey Keene said I just want you guys to play quit quit being so serious Just you know what to do play and he kept him loose Murph is doing the same thing he talked to I'd give her credit.

I don't or name.

I'm sorry.

It's the the Reporter that goes down the dugout for Fan duel

the new TV network or whatever it does.

And she's talking to Pat Murphy in the dugout over on the nationals game about what he has in his pocket and what he's eating.

Here we go.

I like a lot of different things during the game.

There's pancake.

I got it.

Actually, actually, I got a little pocket pancake right here that I munch on.

They're wonderful.

You want some?

So

he had a pocket like we used to call them silver dollar pancakes

right right

and apparently they planted they got the National League chef or the Nationals chef at the ballpark to make a paint a small pancake and Murph had it in his pocket which that

is amazing

pulls out today.

It's a pocket pancake.

I should start doing that

So in the postgame presser it came up again.

Here's Pat Murphy

pancakes

in your pocket

Watch out for pancakes, pizza.

I mean, stuff I like.

And have a little carbs during the game to wash down and have some of the element.

How does one keep pizza in your pants without causing long-term damage to the plant?

He just took a bite of the pancake.

He's washing.

Right.

No, pizza wins cold pizza and then you fold it up like a sandwich.

Got you.

You know what I mean?

Yes, that makes sense.

You need it during the game and when I wear a hoodie, I have a pocket right here and that's full of crumbs.

Do you have toppings?

Toppings?

Sausage.

The cold pizza and then the cheese, the sauce doesn't, you know, it's cold.

Yeah,

I was just thinking of a hot slice of pizza, but that makes me think of a slice of pizza.

You know, I usually get them out of the hotel when you walk down the people.

Do you have pizza boxes outside?

Yeah.

And all these links and slices.

People leave their pizza boxes outside their hotel room and Pat Murphy picks them up and puts them in his pocket.

This is the best interview I've

ever seen.

He has the winning this team in Major League Baseball and he's talking about pocket pizzas and pocket pancakes.

You're

like, do you really do this?

He's like, sometimes.

And Terry Barr says, Murph also told the reporter he put pizza in his hoodie.

Oh, there you go.

I think this is great.

I mean, this is the way you win.

You got to do what you got to do.

Hats off to Pat Murphy, the Brewers.

They kick off tonight on several stations on Civic Media 545 for the pregame, 615 against the Braves.

Come on back.

What's worse is next on the Civic Media Radio Network.

Homegrown tomatoes, homegrown tomatoes.

Up in the morning, out in the garden, get your riplein'.

Don't get a heartin'.

Plant them in the spring, eat them in the summer.

All winter

without a succulinary bummer.

I forgot all about the sweatin' and the diggin'.

Every time I go out and pick me a

biggin'.

Homegrown tomatoes, homegrown tomatoes.

What a life be without homegrown tomatoes.

Only two things that money can't

buy.

That is a fantastic song.

You're hot, Somers.

You're hot today.

Welcome back to the title of our show on the Civic Media Radio Network.

23 now past the hour of three o'clock.

Who is singing that?

That's Homegrown Tomatoes by John Denver.

Is that John Denver?

That's John Denver.

Wow.

Shout out to Junie, president of the John Denver Fan Club back in Richland Center.

Homegrown.

What's better?

He's right, Bill.

What's better?

than a homegrown tomato.

Not a lot, nothing.

I mean, and it's the time of year I haven't done this yet.

I need to coordinate it.

One of my favorite all time meals is a fresh garden tomato grown and picked hours beforehand, sliced up little pepper and salt.

maybe some fresh Wisconsin mozzarella and a little spring of basil.

And then you have fresh sweet corn that was picked an hour before you cook it.

And then you got a Wisconsin beef steak.

That's my favorite summer meal right there.

Maybe a glass of, either a glass of wall or shime wine in Wisconsin or a spotted cow.

from Nuglaris Brewery.

By the way, after the show, Zommer's got to get out of here right away, because I got to get down to Nuglaris to take care of my

meat.

That relates to a text we just got.

Mark in Prairie to Sack says, is that a pancake in your pocket, or are you happy to see me?

No!

What's a matter, you people?

I have to go down to Hoseley Meats in Nuglaris, Wisconsin.

Uh, great, great local locker.

Hosely meets.

I'm meeting Kurt down there because once again, we have gone in and I believe my sister and brother law are, we bought a portion of a steer.

A local, this is great.

Badger ethanol down in Monroe, Wisconsin, which Kurt is the plant manager for the owners there.

And how great is this?

Again, local business, uh, badger ethanol owners.

They go to many, like the green county fair, the, the Lafayette County fair.

And these kids, the 4-H groups, they have their beef, their steers, their hogs, and they raise these as 4-H projects.

And a lot of work goes into these.

And they're grass-fed, they're locally grown.

Just what Joe Thomas was saying about Waigu beef out at Six Springs Farm.

But these are for the kids.

And so the owners of Badger's Day ethanol, they go and they bid this up, and they pay a big price.

The kids get the money.

in their pocket, they use it for scholarships to go to school or whatever they want, maybe their project for the next year.

And then Badger State says, hey, to their employees, we'll offer this to you and you just pay what the market price is when we take it to the locker and then we'll take care of the rest of the cost that we paid the kid.

So for the last couple of years,

Kurt and I now I think Heather and Mike are going in and we're buying part of a steer and maybe there's rumor of a hog involved as well this year.

And then we, so you got locally grown meat, you're helping out your 4-H kids, and a great meat packaging group like Hosely Meats in Nouglaire.

So I got the text this morning, the meat is ready.

Am I?

Just gotta

get

the fresh tomatoes

to go with it.

Exactly, and the corn, and we're set to go.

So I gotta head out of here down to Hoasley Meats.

8-5-5-7-5-2-4-8-4-2.

8-5-5-7-5-2-4-8-4-2.

Mark, imperative sack.

Mark, what do you got for us, my friend?

Well, I got the cherry tomatoes coming in a little bit.

You know, I got a few cherry tomato plants up there.

So just whatever you can go up there and pick a hand, you know, a bowl full of cherry tomatoes, slice them in half and put some fresh basil that I had grown too and maybe a little feta cheese and a little olive oil and...

red wine vinegar or soy wine vinegar and mix that up and pour that over it.

And that's a good appetizer for supper.

Mark, you are making me hungry.

Me too.

I love it.

That's fantastic.

This is the time of year, right?

Just the food in Wisconsin can't be beat for all the reasons you just said, Mark.

Love it.

Appreciate it.

And then the cucumbers coming in, you know, they don't get very big, but they usually don't make it to very big sizes, rinse them off

and,

and just eat them like you would an apple.

Right.

Oh yeah.

Right from the garden.

Appreciate it Mark.

Thank you so very much Tom in New Berlin listening on WAU case as fresh picked tomato sliced on a bread toasted with mayo Mmm, or grill them whole that's another you grill tomatoes are fantastic sure.

Yeah Wow, that's that's like fantastic Matt in Richland Center Says like that sounds like you almost said.

Oh hit the ball earlier Yeah, Chris Casper on Chris Casper on MDX says the brewer is the only team in the league

over 600 right now.

Imagine that's, that's fantastic.

Also, Eau Claire Mikey, brother-in-law, watch on YouTube says we're all in for local meats, right?

It's fantastic.

Look, and this is great.

The great part about it is, and Pam Yankee, I heard her this morning earlier on the radio on the Midwest Farm Report, which you can hear on many stations here on Civic Media.

Pam Yankee was talking about these young people, these 4-H kids are down at the state fair right now, West Dallas.

And this is a huge deal.

And to take your animal down there, and to show it, and to get an award, and then to have it auctioned off, it's a really big deal for these young people, and I hope that people all across the state of Wisconsin will continue to support them.

So, there you go, great conversation.

I guess we have time, should we do it now, or should we do it when we come back?

I mean, we can start

asking.

Should we open the thing?

Yeah, we can open and have people call in.

All right, we're gonna open the thing.

Time once again for what's worse, let's go.

What's

worse, nothing to give away, no prize money involved, but it is your chance to have your voice heard on all 10 news, talk, and sports stations across the Civic Media Reading Network.

All right, enough buildup.

The category today, what's worse?

Grocery store tomatoes or non-dairy milk?

Grocery store tomatoes.

or non-dairy milk, 855-752-4842, 855-752-4842, or you can text us on the Civic Media app.

Could be a big debate, much like yesterday.

We'll find out.

Get your calls and now, speaking of Pam Yankee, Farm News Update, weather right now, gonna come back and discuss this.

What's worse, grocery store tomatoes or non-dairy milk on the Civic Media radio network.

Don't touch me tomatoes, please.

Don't touch me tomatoes.

Touch me, pop me apple potatoes.

Gonna say don't you touch me tomatoes.

Don't touch me tomatoes, please.

Don't touch me tomatoes.

Touch me, pop me apple potatoes.

Don't touch me tomatoes.

It's 35 past three o'clock.

Welcome everybody Zomers is he's on he's on today on the board Glad to have you along here.

Welcome back to the show in civic media talking about what's worse grocery store tomatoes or non-dairy milk Well, what was that song Zomers?

Don't touch me tomatoes by Josephine Baker

Josephine Baker well done Sounds like I should be doing a salsa or something or

Definitely does or eating eating a salsa and doing the salsa what's worse tomatoes what's worse grocery store tomatoes or non dairy milk 8 5 5 7 5 2 4 8 4 2 8 5 5 7 5 2 4 8 4 2 you can also text us on the aforementioned civic media app if you don't have it download it today your Apple Android device simply go to the search bar on your app store type in civic

CIVIC media, it'll pop up.

Click on the CM logo.

Takes less than a minute to download.

It's free.

It's what CBS's Gale King calls a deal.

The Civic Media app, get it today because you're going to want to have it on Friday.

It's going to be doing the show in Chateau on Friday, but have no fear.

Free ticket Friday will be here anyway, no matter where we are.

Your opportunity to win four

These are just not one of the mill seats.

These are four club level seats to a Milwaukee Brewer's game to be named later.

I know we'll tell you what it is on Friday.

These are cushy seats.

They have padding on them.

You can order food right from your seat via your phone if you want.

There's an air conditioned concourse behind you.

Nice bathrooms just for that section.

It's beautiful.

You could have opportunity to win those tickets, tune in all day on Friday, starting with Pat Krightlow at six o'clock in the morning, then Jane McNair and Greg Bach starting at nine.

Even Tom Hartman, after he sells you some crypto, he'll give you a word.

And you can call in to enter in, and then we come along from two to four, and then Maggie Dawn will have a word between six and eight.

All you have to do is listen to those shows.

We'll give you the word and then text it in via the Civic Media app and the computer will pull randomly from the correctly typed and entered in entries and somebody will be going to a Milwaukee Brewer's Game courtesy of Civic Media.

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Be listing on Friday.

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Speaking of, let's go to the app.

What's worse, grocery store tomatoes.

or non-dairy milk, 855-752-4842, 855-752-4842, or via the Civic Media app where Brett has weighed in in brown deer via WAUK.

Brett says non-dairy milk is worse because it's always non-dairy milk, but sometimes you do find good grocery store tomatoes.

I, I don't want to reveal my answer yet, but I'm with you, Brett.

I think that's a great, that's a great take on it.

Uh, Mark in prayer to sack says in Europe, I don't think you could call the non dairy milk milk anymore.

I think you might be right about that.

And there's been a lot of controversy here in Wisconsin and in the United States about this.

And look, I, I know that some people are just having allergy to, to dairy products and, and I get that.

But boy, I.

Regular listeners of the show know I I've been in the coffee shop business before and You get some pretty picky people.

I mean, yeah, well for a while we tried to have whole milk 2% skim Almond milk soy milk and oat milk Because those are all things people and then in the second iteration of the shop we kind of said look we're gonna have whole 2%

and oat, and that's it.

At end, we always did it at our shop, we always did organic, for a while we did Organic Valley, and then we also used Sassy Cow Creamery here in Dane County, which was, we used the organic version of theirs.

So we always had organic dairy at the coffee bar, and then we just basically did a high-end oat milk as well.

Here's an interesting, the hitherto unknown fact, for people that like almond milk,

I once had a guest come in and had a through a I just said I'm sorry We don't carry almond milk and she threw a huge hissy fit and started and monishing me that I was being I was being like I don't know Anti thank you.

Yeah something something about that, you know How dare I not have almond milk on the coffee bar?

I let her go for a while and finally I said I I get that you care because she had a big thing about dairy and it was inhumane to cows or whatever

And I said, you know where almond milk comes from?

Well, I mean, from almonds.

I said to you realize that almond milk is one of the worst things you can consume for the environment.

Because

there's so much water.

For the amount of water that it takes to create almond, all the water that goes over the almonds to extract it because almond milk doesn't come just from like squeezing the almond nut.

It actually you have to put all kinds of water and soak it and then extract it.

And then the water that doesn't get used for.

the quote unquote almond milk, you can't put it back into, you can't like put it on a field.

Like it's basically toxic.

Well, maybe that's just too strong of a word, but it can't be reused.

So I said almond milk is one of the worst things you could possibly do to consume that for the environment.

And she looked at me with her indignant look and she said, you have absolutely ruined my day.

Didn't come back.

I am

not surprised.

So anyway, I think people kind of go overboard on this and also I Agree, I don't think that if it's not dairy, I don't think it should be called milk to call it something.

I don't soy juice Almond

juice.

I don't know in in Europe a lot of them are renamed to like oat drink,

right?

There you go.

Oh drink But not milk.

Yeah, I mean it's not to see