The Truth About Trees: Across the Yard with Allison DeFord, S04EP26

What if the story you were taught about forests was wrong? For 40 years, an entire generation grew up believing that logging destroys nature and forests are disappearing — but forest growth has outpaced harvest every single year, and there are far more trees across North America today than there used to be. In this episode, Allison DeFord, Executive Director of the North American Forest Foundation (NAFF), joins Liz for round two to unpack why the industry stayed quiet about that truth for so long, and what it's costing the workforce today.

In this episode, you'll learn:

- Why Allison compares substitute materials like laminate flooring to TV dinners, and what that says about how the industry sells itself

- Why NAFF is racing to clear a waitlist of 1,300 teachers, the first waitlist in the organization's history, before a matching-donation deadline closes

- How a $100 donation, matched 2X through September 30, turns into a full classroom kit reaching 250 students

- The free, ready-made ways any business can act as an "ambassador" for the industry, from a white-labelled career day presentation to hosting a classroom visit

- A first look at what's coming next: a PSA-style poster campaign launching in October, and a new app aimed at closing the "junior high gap" in career education

- How Supply-Build Canada's own labour research ties into the same workforce urgency NAFF is working to solve

If you care about where the next generation of industry talent is coming from, or just want a better answer the next time someone says logging is bad for the planet, this one's worth your time.

Enjoy the show!

Links:

Allison DeFord: https://www.linkedin.com/in/allisondeford/