Feed: a food systems podcast (TABLEdebates.org)

In the third episode on power in the food system, we speak with Dr Channa Prakash, professor of crop genetics, biotechnology and genomics at Tuskegee University in the United States. Channa has been actively involved in enhancing the societal awareness of food biotechnology issues around the world. We speak with Channa about who decides what ends up on our table, discuss how his personal story connects to the Green Revolution, and unpack how he sees ideology as getting in the way of science. We also learn how Channa approaches food systems debates as we discuss Golden Rice, the Green Revolution, and different efforts to promote Organic farming across South Asia.

For more info and transcript, please visit: https://tabledebates.org/podcast/episode22

Follow Channa on Twitter: @AgBioWorld

In this episode we explore the role of power in multistakeholder partnerships (MSPs) with two people who are no strangers to this topic - Herman Brouwer and Joost Guijt, at Wageningen University and Research. In this conversation we ask: what are MSPs, do they actually work, and what are the different ways that power plays out in them? We learn how different food stakeholders perceive MSPs differently, whether the UN Food Systems Summit could be considered a successful MSP, and what are some tips and tracks for dealing with power in MSPs.

For more info and transcript, please visit https://tabledebtes.org/podcast/episode23/

Joachim von Braun, former Chair of the Scientific Group for the 2021 UN Food Systems Summit, lays out the importance of an inclusive process and multi-disciplinary scientific collaboration to meet the calls for food system transformation. Dr von Braun joins us to talk about his experience as Chair, what he sees as the successes of the summit, and what work remains to be done. We also discuss who should be involved in knowledge production and how, and we hear his thoughts on whether we should create an Intergovernmental Panel for Food (not unlike the IPCC) that would have the power to work towards scientific consensus on food system issues.

For more info and transcript, please visit https://tabledebates.org/podcast/episode29

In this mini-episode, TABLE staff member Helen Breewood joins Feed co-hosts to talk about her new publication, "What is ecomodernism?" The explainer describes the values, goals, and practical solutions promoted by ecomodernists; what they would mean for land use and the food system; the history of the ideas that underlie ecomodernism; and the main contestations around the values and evidence underpinning ecomodernism. We ask Helen about the explainer, the challenging review process, and how she changed her views on the topic.

Read the full explainer here.

Register for the online event here.

On 8 December 2021, TABLE hosted an open-ended discussion about power in the food system with representatives from civil society, academia, media and the private sector.  At TABLE we recognise that our own biases and perspectives will influence how we think about power in the food system so the purpose of the event is to hear a range of different views and understandings of power. This kick off event helps us think about who and what shapes, controls and influences past, present and future food systems. 

Event panelists:

• Media: Eddy Wax - Reporter covering food and agriculture for POLITICO in Brussels.
• Academia: Wendy Godek - Professor of Politics and International Relations with focus on Latin American food and agriculture politics
• Civil society: Shefali Sharma - Director of Institute for Agriculture and Trade Policy (IATP) Europe
• Private: Sahil Shah - Co-founder of agri-tech company Sustainable Seaweed and policy consultant
• Moderator: Matthew Kessler, Project coordinator forTABLE at the Swedish University of Agricultural Sciences.

We're curious to hear your views about power in the food system. Continue the conversation on our community platform.

Has the increasing commodification of food and financialization of the food system left us more vulnerable to food crises? We speak with Jennifer Clapp about the 20th century history of food policy that led us to this moment, how the Covid-19 food crisis is different than previous ones, and how diversity, in all of its forms, is essential to building a resilient food system.

This episode was originally broadcast on 25 March 2021.

For more info and full transcript, please visit: https://tabledebates.org/podcast/episode5-rebroadcast

In our conversation with social anthropologist Elena Lazos Chavero (National University of Mexico), we discuss how her research interests were formed around rainforest conservation, food systems and indigenous rights in Veracruz, Mexico. Elena explains how local and global food systems as well as urban and rural communities are highly dependent on each other. We also explore what the food sovereignty movement in Mexico stands for today.

This episode originally aired on 19 April 2021.

For more info and transcript, please visit: https://tabledebates.org/podcast/episode7-rebroadcast

Tamsin Blaxter, researcher and writer at TABLE, joins Feed co-hosts to talk about her forthcoming publication: "Parsing Grindadráp". Grindadráp is a Faroese whaling practice that's understood both as important to local food cultures, and as barbaric, primitive and cruel. In this chat, we use grindadráp as a case study to explore: what is animal sentience? What's different about killing whales versus farmed animals? Where do older food traditions fit into the present? How does international media coverage impact local debates? And lastly, what does the evidence say about whether this is a sustainable practice?

Read Tamsin Blaxter's blog Parsing Grindadráp here

For more info and transcript, please visit: https://tabledebates.org/podcast/episode26

In this episode, Agricultural economist Jayson Lusk puts forward a vision of how science, technology and innovation are what we need for a sustainable food future, and what aspects of power he feels are getting in the way of this future. We discuss: whether having more information actually changes what food people buy; why Jayson is excited about venture capital flowing into the food system; and why he disagrees with some of the narratives and policy proposals put forward by the “food movement”. We also touch on some hotly debated topics like agricultural subsidies, GMOs, and true cost accounting.

For more info and transcript, please visit: https://tabledebates.org/podcast/episode27/

“Everyone has the right to have access to sufficient food” is written in the South African constitution. But how is that implemented, and who is responsible for making that a reality? Scholar-activist Busiso Moyo grapples with what ‘a right to food’ actually looks like in practice. In our conversation, he shares why he sees 'right to food as a valuable framework to build a just food system. We also cover various aspects of power in the food system including: agenda setting power; power of corporations; the power of paradigms; and who has power along the value chain.

For more info and transcript, please visit: https://tabledebates.org/podcast/episode28

This is not a typical conversation for Feed. We're still talking about food systems, and we're still talking about power, but we're focusing on the more-than-human world, specifically, mushrooms. Giuliana Furci, founder and executive director of the Fungi Foundation, joins us to talk about how fungi are as diverse as the animal and plant kingdom; what role fungi play in sustainable food systems; the contradicting lessons that you can learn from fungi; and what power do fungi have over humans and food systems?

For more info and transcript, please visit: https://tabledebates.org/podcast/episode30

TABLE staff member Walter Fraanje joins Feed co-hosts to talk about his new publication, "Rewilding and its implications for agriculture" co-authored with Tara Garnett. The explainer introduces the concept of rewilding, compares different rewilding strategies across the globe, explores their relationship with agriculture and unpacks some of the related controversies. We ask Walter how does rewilding differ from conservation, why might a farmer or fisher support or be against rewilding, and what does it mean to rewild your imagination?

Read the full explainer

Register for the Uppsala Health Summit

In our discussion, data scientist Vincent "Vinny" Ricciardi challenges the assumptions and evidence that are built into food systems debates. We talk about a few of the recent papers that Vinny co-authored, including one that asks how much of the world’s food supply is produced by smallholder farmers, a 50-year meta-analysis that compares how do small and large farms size up in terms of yields and biodiversity impact, and whether smallholders actually have access to broadband to become part of a data driven farming future.

This episode originally aired on 3 June 2021.

Transcript available

Register for the COP: Plating up the future of meat event

Blain Snipstal, former youth advocate for La Via Campesina, has thought a lot about power. We talk about how Blain sees the legacy of the plantation model of agriculture still lingering today; how the dialogues and exchanges between peasant farmers can uncover a deep analysis of the food system; and he shares from his many experiences as a farmer, an activist, and an organizer. We also touch on the power of collaborating across grassroots movements and whose knowledge counts in food debates.

For more info and resources, please visit: https://tabledebates.org/podcast/episode32

Who is investing in the food system and what are they investing in? What should the future of food, specifically protein, look like in sub-Saharan Africa? These are questions that Jeremy Brice explores in his new report: Investment, Power and Protein in sub-Saharan Africa. They are also highly relevant to the food and climate discussions happening now at COP-27 in Sharm-el Sheikh, Egypt (November 2022).

In our chat with Jeremy Brice, lecturer at Manchester University, we discuss why the issue of protein is important in sub-Saharan Africa; we unpack three different investor visions for this region; and we reflect on the consequences of how little agricultural investment there is in the region compared to the rest of the world.

This conversation is based on a newly published TABLE report by Jeremy Brice. Here you can read the executive summary or the full report.


For more info and transcript, please visit: http://tabledebates.org/podcast/episode33

Reginaldo Haslett-Marroquin is the founder and director the Regenerative Agriculture Alliance. He moved to the US from Guatemala in the 1990s. In our conversation we talk about the power of movements, why small-scale farmers in the United States are rarely successful, and the difference between ‘feeding’ the indigenous mindset versus the colonizer mindset.

For more info and transcript, visit: https://tabledebates.org/podcast/episode34

Sofia Wilhelmmson recently completed her PhD from  in 2022 from the Swedish University of Agricultural Sciences in the department of Animal Environment and Health. She researches a particular and especially stressful time for farmed pigs: the loading and transport of pigs on their way to slaughter.  She not only considers the welfare of the animals, but also the well-being of the pig transport drivers.  In our conversation we chat about the relationships that humans have with animals - both wild and domesticated; what food systems actors have the most power in the pig production system; and whether we can add incentives for animal welfare and human well-being in our food systems.

For more info and transcript, please visit our website: https://www.tabledebates.org/podcast/episode35

Jason Clay is the Executive Director of the Markets Institute at World Wildlife Fund. He comes with decades of unique experiences and a big picture view of global food systems. In our conversation we ask him how power needs to be shifted to transform the food system, what the future looks like for small farmers, and whether we should be intensifying agriculture and sparing land or extensifying agricultural production and sharing land with nature. Jason Clay also shares ideas around how to increase transparency for consumers, improve farmers livelihoods, and urgently scale up systems level solutions.

For more info and transcript, please visit: https://tabledebates.org/podcast/episode36

Subscribe to Markets Institute newsletter Rethink Food to stay updated on weekly trends in global food systems

What is the corporate food regime? And are we still living in it? We put these questions to our guest Phliip McMichael, emeritus professor at Cornell University who, alongside Harriet Friedman, coined the term Food Regime in 1989. In our conversation we talk about how a historical sociologist thinks about power, what voices were included and excluded in the dialogues leading up to the UN Food Systems Summit, and we flesh out Philip’s view of what a more relocalized food system would look like.

For more info and transcript, visit: https://tabledebates.org/podcast/episode37

Why does agricultural research often fall short of addressing food insecurity challenges in sub-Saharan Africa? In this conversation with Ken Giller, we explore this wicked problem from a systems perspective examining the diverse drivers and experiences of smallholder farmers and the socio-ecological systems in which they are embedded.

Ken provides a nuanced look at agroecological solutions and argues that relying solely on nature-based solutions would be inadequate to address food security problems in Africa. We also talk about the huge diversity of farmers that can be found under the banner of smallholders, an in-depth examination of the “yield gap,” and what gets lost when translating research into practice.

For more info and transcript, please visit: https://tabledebates.org/podcast/episode1-rebroadcast

As this season on power in the food system comes to a close, we wanted to focus on how food is consumed in institutions - places where people typically have less agency over their own food choices. In this episode we’re focusing on food in prisons in the United Kingdom and Denmark. We're joined by Lucy Vincent, Chief Executive and Founder of the charity Food Behind Bars in the UK, and Linda Kjær Minke, a criminology professor at the University of Southern Denmark who researches food dynamics in Danish prisons. We discuss how food in prisons is procured, prepared and eaten, and how these two systems of prison food can lead to very different results for the incarcerated, for those working in prisons and – potentially – for society as a whole.

For more info and transcript, please visit: https://tabledebates.org/podcast/episode38

For our last episode of the second season of Feed, we speak with TABLE director Tara Garnett of the University of Oxford, and TABLE strategic director Sigrid Wertheim-Heck of Wageningen University to reflect on our past 15 episodes.

We talk about what surprised us, what we learned, and what we missed across the season. Our wide ranging conversation covered the power of language, the power of imagination, the power of narratives, non-human power and more.

If you have any comments, questions or suggestions for the show, you can write us at podcast@tabledebates.org and don’t forget to rate and review us wherever you listen.

For more info and transcript, please visit: https://tabledebates.org/podcast/episode39

Here we present the first episode of a podcast that Feed co-host Matthew Kessler has been creating with TABLE and the SLU Future Food over the last year: Meat the four futures

Food has this incredible ability to bring people together. But it can also divide us. And how can it not? The same foods that some find so nutritious, that give us such a strong sense of who we are - are also believed by others to be at the center of so many existential concerns - global malnutrition, climate change, biodiversity loss, and inequality. 

Meat sits at the center of this controversy. But is it the problem or the solution? Well, that’s complicated. Meat: The Four Futures aims to bring us together on a journey where we can examine our past and our future, our decisions and the science that informs them.

The Meat the four futures podcast will explore four competing visions for meat and livestock: 1) Efficient meat 2.0, 2) Alternative "meat", 3) Less meat, and 4) Plant-based no meat. In this episode we set up the series and unpack the promises and pitfalls with each future.

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Visit the episode page with more resources: https://tabledebates.org/meat/episode1

Project webpage: https://tabledebates.org/meat

Take the values-based quiz: https://tabledebates.org/meat/quiz

Subscribe to the newsletter: https://tabledebates.org/meat/newsletter

Add your voice to the podcast: https://tabledebates.org/meat/contribute

Music by Blue dot Sessions and Epidemic sound.

Today we are presenting the second episode in the Meat: the four futures series.

What are your first thoughts when you see a piece of steak on a plate or a big pot of chicken soup - healthy meal? piece of animal flesh? comfort food? 

In this episode we explore how our values, ethics and where we live impacts our relationship with meat and livestock.

We dig into the history of the diet  humans evolved to eat, visit Burkina Faso and India to hear two different solutions to meet the surging demand for meat across the global South, and talk about the ethics of eating animals in the West, where we’re often distant and detached from where meat comes from.

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Visit the episode page with more resources: https://tabledebates.org/meat/episode2

Project webpage: https://tabledebates.org/meat

Take the values-based quiz: https://tabledebates.org/meat/quiz

Subscribe to the newsletter: https://tabledebates.org/meat/newsletter

Add your voice to the podcast: https://tabledebates.org/meat/contribute

Music by Blue dot Sessions and Epidemic sound.

We continue featuring the Meat: the four futures series with our first exploration of four different futures for meat - Efficient meat 2.0.

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Today we farm and eat meat at a scale not matched in human history. We raise 80 billion animals a year for food at a really low cost to the consumer.  Here we look at how technology, research, and innovation have made animal agriculture much more efficient. 

Do you see efficiency improvements in animal agriculture as essential for feeding a growing population?  Or do you think we should eat less meat, switch to plant-forward diets or create competitive meat alternatives?

We speak with agriculture economists, pig farmers, poultry geneticists, and others who make the best case for an efficient meat future.

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Visit the episode page with more resources: https://tabledebates.org/meat/episode3

Project webpage: https://tabledebates.org/meat

Take the values-based quiz: https://tabledebates.org/meat/quiz

Music by Blue dot Sessions and Epidemic sound.

We continue featuring the Meat: the four futures series with our second exploration of four different futures for meat - Alternative "meat".

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What do some entrepreneurs, venture capitalists, animal activists, and environmentalists have in common? They each envision a future where meat alternatives can tackle the environmental impacts and animal suffering caused by global livestock production.

But in this futuristic vision of replacing livestock with plant-based substitutes and cultivating meat in labs from animal cells - are we living in a utopia or a dystopia?

We speak with scientists, investors, and CEOs from across the world to better understand the motivations, scientific basis, and evidence that either support or raise concerns about the future of alternative "meat".

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Visit the episode page with more resources: https://tabledebates.org/meat/episode4

Project webpage: https://tabledebates.org/meat

Take the values-based quiz: https://tabledebates.org/meat/quiz

Music by Blue dot Sessions and Epidemic sound.

We continue featuring the Meat: the four futures series with our third exploration of four different futures for meat - Less meat.

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What if we had a more compassionate approach to farming animals, where we raised and ate fewer animals - and so meat cost more? 

We speak with farmers, researchers and campaigners who don’t see farmed animals only as producers of meat and milk, but instead highlight their ability to manage landscapes and to recycle waste and nutrients. They cannot imagine sustainable cropping systems without livestock.

Is this less meat future a win-win-win for animals, people and the planet, or is it an unrealistic and elitist vision?

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Visit the episode page with more resources: https://tabledebates.org/meat/episode5

Project webpage: https://tabledebates.org/meat

Take the values-based quiz: https://tabledebates.org/meat/quiz

Music by Blue dot Sessions and Epidemic sound.

We continue featuring the Meat: the four futures series with our fourth and final exploration of four different futures for meat - Plant based no meat.

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Should we remove animals from agriculture and our diets altogether? What if all the land that produces animal feed now could instead produce human food--or be rewilded? Would this be a planet friendly future--or impoverished and unnatural?

In this fourth and final scenario: the plant-based no meat future, we explore the motivations, the evidence and the arguments for adopting a diet that centers and celebrates plants. We visit a vegan restaurant in Stockholm, Sweden; a vegan food tech company in Lagos, Nigeria; and an animal free farm outside of Reading in the United Kingdom.

But is dietary change at a societal scale unrealistic? Is this the most sustainable, ethical and efficient approach to eating and producing food? We explore all this and more.

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Visit the episode page with more resources: https://tabledebates.org/meat/episode6

Project webpage: https://tabledebates.org/meat

Take the values-based quiz: https://tabledebates.org/meat/quiz

Music by Blue dot Sessions and Epidemic sound.

We continue featuring the Meat: the four futures series with episode 7.

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We've heard four distinct visions for the future of meat and livestock. But realistically, won't they all play a role? As we wrap up the series in the next two episodes, we’re going to review what’s in conflict between the four futures and how parts of them might co-exist.

In this episode we ask three experts to consider different arguments presented by the four futures as they relate to health, biodiversity and animal ethics. We ask a professor of diet and population health if it’s better to eat some, a lot, or no meat; we ask a biodiversity expert about how the different futures would help biodiversity to recover; and we ask an animal ethicist about the morality of eating animals and to interrogate the ethical cases put forward by the four futures.

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Visit the episode page with more resources: https://tabledebates.org/meat/episode7

Project webpage: https://tabledebates.org/meat

Take the values-based quiz: https://tabledebates.org/meat/quiz

Music by Blue dot Sessions and Epidemic sound.

The yield gap refers to the difference between the potential agricultural yield that could be achieved under ideal conditions and the actual yield that farmers harvest. In sub-Saharan Africa, the yield gap is in some cases 80% meaning that farmers have the potential to double, triple or even quadruple their harvests.

The causes of the yield gap are debated and so are the solutions to narrow it. In this conversation with Martin van Ittersum, a professor at Wageningen University, and Klara Fischer, an associate professor and senior lecturer at Swedish University of Agricultural Sciences, we discuss if increasing yield is the right entry point for reducing hunger in the region; if bottom-up or top-down interventions lead to a more resilient food system; and at what time-scale (short- or long-term) should we be focusing food systems solutions?

More info, resources and transcript found at: https://tabledebates.org/podcast/episode48

Presenting the Meat: the four futures series final episode.

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Over the last few months, we explored what the future of meat and livestock could look like. We’ve talked about how our values, ethics and where we live in the world can impact our desired futures for meat. And we did a deep dive into four potential futures - efficient meat, alternative “meat”, less meat and no meat.

To wrap up the series, we hear comments and thoughts from the listeners, and podcast host Matthew Kessler shares some personal reflections on what he learned about the future of meat and livestock after making this series.

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Visit the episode page with more resources: https://tabledebates.org/meat/episode8

Project webpage: https://tabledebates.org/meat

Take the values-based quiz: https://tabledebates.org/meat/quiz

Music by Blue dot Sessions and Epidemic sound.

There are over 2,000 types of insects that people eat across the world. Some of these species could have the potential to be cultivated at scale using less land, less water, and fewer greenhouse gas emissions while supplying a nutritious protein source to many. But what does scaling insect production look like, and will people actually eat them?

In this bonus episode, we dive deep into the world of insects as a potential food source. We visit a Swedish mealworm factory to understand the production process, and speak to researchers in Ethiopia and the Netherlands about the environmental benefits, ethical considerations, and likelihood of Europeans eating insects in the future.

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For more info and transcript, please visit: https://tabledebates.org/meat/episode9

Meat: the four Futures project webpage: https://tabledebates.org/meat

Take the values-based quiz: https://tabledebates.org/meat/quiz

Subscribe to: TABLE’s newsletter Fodder

Music by Blue dot Sessions.

Is CRISPR the solution to controlling the pest plaguing California’s wine industry? In this episode of A CRISPR Bite, we take you to a lab where researchers are using CRISPR technology to genetically modify a frightening insect called the Glassy-winged sharpshooter responsible for spreading a bacteria and killing vines.

CRISPR bites is five-part podcast series hosted by food anthropologist Dr Lauren Crossland-Marr. We're excited to share one episode from the series with you today.

Listen to A CRISPR Bite, check out show notes, transcripts and more information on the podcast's website here. 

For more info and episode transcript, visit here.

Around 6000 years ago in Northwest Europe, our ancestors transitioned from hunter-gatherer societies to sedentary farming. How did their diets change during this time? The field of archaeological sciences and chemistry teamed up to shed new light on this question.

In this episode, we ask Amy Styring, archaeological chemist at the University of Oxford, what's her take on a natural diet, whether we overestimate the role of meat in our past diets, and what lessons can we learn today if we have a better understanding of how people produced and ate food in the past?

This is the first of a two-part series. Next week we hear from a meal historian on the role culture plays in informing what we eat.

For more info and resources, visit: https://tabledebates.org/podcast/episode59

Guests

• Amy Styring, Associate Professor at the University of Oxford

Episode edited and produced by Matthew Kessler. Music by Blue dot sessions.

Food systems are finally getting more attention at global climate conversations. But who is at the table shaping our food futures?  We caught up with Jessica Duncan, Associate Professor on the Politics of Food Systems Transformations at Wageningen University, to hear her thoughts and concerns about COP 28.

Then we re-air our conversation with Jessica Duncan from May 2021, where we talk about dialogue and participation in food policy, why we shouldn’t always be seeking consensus, and the importance of bringing local actors into global policy conversations. We unpack Jessica and Priscilla Claeys' 2020 report Covid19, Gender and Food systems and discuss what is gained by "viewing the crisis from below".

For more info and transcript, visit here. 

People across the world are consuming more ultra-processed foods (UPFs). Will Latin American countries and elsewhere follow the path of the US and the UK, where over half of calories consumed now come from UPFs?  Dr Neena Prasad, director of Bloomberg Philanthropies’ Food Policy Program, joins us to talk about the power of and the power behind UPFs. We talk about the utility and harms of processing foods, the links between the tobacco industry and UPFs, and the public health measures advocated by the Food Policy Program. These include taxing UPFs, putting restrictions on marketing  (especially to children), advancing public sector health promoting policies, and front-of-package nutrition labeling.

For more info and transcript, visit: https://tabledebates.org/podcast/episode52

More info on Bloomberg Philanthropies' Food Policy Program

Read TABLE explainer on UPFs

Music by Blue dot sessions

What if we shifted our perspective from seeing some animal species as a problem to seeing them as an abundant and tasty source of food? Over the next few episodes, we’ll hear three "problems" in three regions: grasshoppers as pests in Mexico, invasive crayfish in London and overpopulated white-tailed deer in the United States.

With a rising trend for traditional foods, demand for grasshoppers has exploded in Mexico in the last decade--but is it sustainable? We ask sociologist-biologist Elena Lazos Chavero about the environmental, political, cultural, and health consequences of Mexico's appetite for grasshoppers.

For more info and resources, visit: https://tabledebates.org/podcast/episode56

Guests

• Elena Lazos Chavero, professor-researcher at the Universidad Nacional Autónoma de Mexico.

Episode edited and produced by Matthew Kessler. Music by Blue dot sessions.

Is it possible to eat enough white-tailed deer to keep their populations low enough to restore ecosystems? We posed this question to Bernd Blossey, professor at Cornell University who specializes in the management of invasive species and the restoration of disrupted ecological relationships.

In this episode, we look at the history of white-tailed deer in the eastern forests of the United States, how many we would need to harvest to keep the population in check, and whether the concept of ecosystem balance is scientific or a fantasy.

This is the third and final part of our series exploring whether we can eat our way out of the problems we’ve created. Let us know what you think by sending us an email or a voice memo to podcast@tablededebates.org.

For more info and resources, visit: https://tabledebates.org/podcast/episode58

Guests

• Bernd Blossey, Professor at Cornell University

Episode edited and produced by Matthew Kessler. Music by Blue dot sessions.

Imagine a world where nature reclaims its place in the landscape.  What would that mean for food systems? Walter Fraanje joins Feed co-hosts to talk about his new publication, "Rewilding and its implications for agriculture" co-authored with Tara Garnett. 

The explainer introduces the concept of rewilding, compares different rewilding strategies across the globe, explores their relationship with agriculture and unpacks some of the related controversies. We ask Walter how does rewilding differ from conservation, why might a farmer or fisher support or be against rewilding, and what does it mean to rewild your imagination?

Read the full explainer

For more info, please visit: 

“Is a microbe less natural than a cow?”

This season we ask scientists, farmers, technologists and philosophers about how natural our food systems should be. In this age where industrial technology has profoundly transformed our eating habits and the landscapes around us, we explore whether we should let nature be our ultimate guide or fully lean into the technological innovations reshaping our world.

From the traditional milpa systems of Mexico to the cutting edge laboratories of food scientists, we bring together voices across the spectrum: an economist, an indigenous leader, a food technologist and an agroecologist. Each presents their perspective on the benefits—or drawbacks—of 'natural' food systems for both human health and the planet's well-being.

For more info and resources, visit: https://tabledebates.org/podcast/episode55

Guests

• Anna Lappé, Executive Director of the Global Alliance for the Future of Food 
• Jayson Lusk, Dean and Vice President of Agriculture at Oklahoma State University
• Tania Eulalia Martinez Cruz, Director of the Food Sovereignty and Agroecology program at Land is Life
• Johan Jorgensen, Founder Partner at Sweden Food Tech

Episode edited and produced by Matthew Kessler. Music by Blue dot sessions.

What influences the meals we enjoy today? Meal historian and cultural researcher Richard Tellström from Stockholm University suggests that the surrounding natural environments and ecosystems only play a minimal role. Instead, he argues that our choices are primarily shaped by cultural, political and economic forces. This episode dives into the dramatic shifts in Swedish diets over the past century, highlighting how changes such as new food preservation methods in the 1970s, Sweden's entry into the European Union in the 1990s, and shifting cultural trends throughout have redefined what's fashionable, and therefore possible, to eat. 

This is the second installment of a two-part series, following our first episode with archaeological chemist Amy Styring who investigates what our ancestors ate during periods of significant societal transitions. Listen to Part 1.

For more info and resources, visit: https://tabledebates.org/podcast/episode60

Guests

• Richard Tellström, Associate Professor at Stockholm University

Episode edited and produced by Matthew Kessler. Music by Blue dot sessions.

Sofia Wilhelmsson researches a very specific and stressful time for farmed pigs: the loading and transport of pigs on their way to slaughter.  She not only considers the welfare of the animals, but also the well-being of the pig transport drivers. In our conversation we chat about the relationships that humans have with animals; what food systems actors have the most power in the pig production system; and whether we can add incentives for animal welfare and human well-being in our food systems.

For more info, please visit: https://tabledebates.org/podcast/episode54

Interested in more podcasts about the future of meat and human-animal relations, Meat the four futures (Table, 2023)
Barbecue Earth (Carnegie Endowment for International Peace, 2024)

If more and more gene-edited foods become common on our plates, is that a sign of a promising or worrying food future?  With Dr. Lauren Crossland-Marr, food anthropologist and host of the podcast A CRISPR Bite, we unpack whether it’s fair to call CRISPR a natural way of "speeding up the breeding" process, whether technological innovations such as gene editing are addressing root causes of food systems challenges, and if there’s space for middle ground on such a polarizing issue.

For more info and resources, visit: https://tabledebates.org/podcast/episode61

Guests

• Lauren Crossland-Marr, Assistant Professor at the University of La Verne

Resources

• First Fruit by Belinda Martineau
• Channa Prakash on GMs, Golden Rice and the Green Revolution

Episode edited and produced by Matthew Kessler. Music by Blue dot sessions.

Are invasive species natural? If we introduced them, do we have some responsibility to manage them? What if we could reduce their numbers through the natural process of eating?

In this episode, Jackie Turner (TABLE) joins crayfish trapper Bob Ring to see if we can eat our way out of one of the environmental problems we’ve created - the spread of invasive American Signal Crayfish into the river Thames. We ask if these invasive crayfish are ‘natural’, how they ended up in London’s iconic river in the first place, whether they offer a promising sustainable food source, and why it is so difficult to earn a living doing what Bob Ring sees as an environmentally and ethically beneficial act.

This is the second of a three part series exploring if we can eat our way out of the problems we’ve caused. The last episode featured grasshoppers in Mexico and the next will be on white-tailed deer in forests of the eastern United States.

For more info and resources, visit: https://tabledebates.org/podcast/episode57

Guests

• Bob Ring, Crayfish Trapper in London

Episode edited and produced by Jackie Turner. Music by William King and Blue dot sessions.

While many wonder about the technological hurdles preventing cultivated meat from entering commercial markets, fewer ask a more basic question: will people actually eat it, or will they find it too unnatural? In this episode, we're joined by Cor van der Weele, emeritus professor in philosophy from Wageningen University, who has had a front-row seat to the past 15 years of shifting perceptions of this technology. We'll dive into how a philosopher thinks about “naturalness”, what are the public concerns and the idealistic visions of a cultivated meat future, and why mixed feelings about this innovation could be a healthy sign of progress. 

For more info and resources, visit: https://tabledebates.org/podcast/episode62

Guests

• Cor van der Weele, Professor Emeritus Endowed Chair at Wageningen University.

Episode edited and produced by Matthew Kessler. Music by Blue dot sessions.

500 scientists from 60 countries gathered at the 5th Global Food Security Conference in Leuven, Belgium. Instead of saying, "you had to be there," we bring you voices and reflections from the conference. Host Matthew Kessler recorded dozens of interviews, asking experts what key messages they want to deliver to those with the power to change food systems, what are the economics of food systems transformation, and which solutions to make food systems more resilient deserve more attention.

This is Part 1 of a 3-part series, made with the support from ‘shout it out’, an instrument of the Global Minds program.

For more info and resources, visit: https://tabledebates.org/podcast/episode63

Subscribe to TABLE's newsletter Fodder

Guests

• Martin van Ittersum, Conference co-chair, Professor at Wageningen University
• Tessa Avermaete, Conference co-chair, Project Manager at KU Leuven
• Ramya Ambikapathi, Scientific committee member, Senior Researcher at Cornell U
• Gerard Govers, Programme committee mebmer, Vice-rector of Science, Engineering and Technology and Vice-rector of Sustainability at KU Leuven
• Joanna Trewern, Conference Keynote, Director of Partnerships and Institutional Engagement at Pro Veg International
• Maitre d’hotel at Coeur Catering, responsible for food served at the conference

Conference Organizers

• Elsevier
• KU Leuven
• Wageningen University and Research
• TABLE

Episode edited and produced by Matthew Kessler. Music by Blue dot sessions.

500 scientists from 60 countries gathered at the 5th Global Food Security Conference in Leuven, Belgium. Instead of saying, "you had to be there," we bring you voices and reflections from the conference. Host Matthew Kessler recorded dozens of interviews, asking experts what key messages they want to deliver to those with the power to change food systems, what are the economics of food systems transformation, and which solutions to make food systems more resilient deserve more attention.

This is Part 2 of a 3-part series, made with the support from ‘shout it out’, an instrument of the Global Minds program.

For more info and resources, visit: https://tabledebates.org/podcast/episode64

Subscribe to TABLE's newsletter Fodder

Guests

• David Laborde, Director of the Agri-food Economics and Policy Division at FAO
• Charlotte Janssens, Researcher at KU Leuven
• Koen Deconinck, Economist in Trade and Agricultural Directorate at OECD
• Steven Lord, Researcher at U Oxford
• Purnima Menon, Sr Director for Food and Nutritional Policy at IFPRI
• Ewout Frankema, Prof at Wageningen U

Conference Organizers

• Elsevier
• KU Leuven
• Wageningen University and Research
• TABLE

Episode edited and produced by Matthew Kessler. Music by Blue dot sessions.

The idea that more natural food – food which hasn’t been transformed by human and industrial intervention – is best for us is a powerful one. Psychologists have found a strong preference for that which is “natural”, even when people differ in what they understand that term to mean. But naturalness is a muddle – we are often signalled by advertising to see heavily manufactured foods as “natural”; the pioneers of cereal manufacturing were the greatest advocates of “natural” food in the early 20th century; and it’s rare that crops, which have been manipulated by human breeding over millennia, are seen as “unnatural”.
 
If naturalness is a slippery idea, though, it is still undeniably compelling. At the moment, nowhere is the preference for naturalness when it comes to the food we eat more prevalent than in concerns expressed over ultra-processed foods (UPFs). But does the idea that naturalness is inherently best set up a misleading dichotomy between nature and technology that doesn’t serve the interests of a more sustainable and equitable food future? Does a narrow focus on processing itself misplace bigger questions of power and agency on the one hand, and unhelpfully dismiss scientific techniques on the other?

TABLE writer and researcher Hester van Hensbergen explores these questions in our latest explainer, Nature Knows Best? Naturalness in the Ultra-Processed Foods Debate. She reads it out loud for you on the podcast.

You can find the written explainer here.

500 scientists from 60 countries gathered at the 5th Global Food Security Conference in Leuven, Belgium. Instead of saying, "you had to be there," we bring you voices and reflections from the conference. Host Matthew Kessler recorded dozens of interviews, asking experts what key messages they want to deliver to those with the power to change food systems, what are the economics of food systems transformation, and which solutions to make food systems more resilient deserve more attention.

This is Part 3 of a 3-part series, featuring six of the seven women scientists from the Global South awarded the 2023 OWSD-Elsevier Foundation Awards. This year's focus was on Food security. This episode was made with the support from ‘shout it out’, an instrument of the Global Minds program.

For more info and resources, visit: https://tabledebates.org/podcast/episode65

Help nurture food debates and take TABLE's 2024 survey

Watch the video featuring the Award Winning scientists

Guests

• Carla Fabiana Crespo Melgar, Researcher at Universidad Mayor de San Andrés
• Eugenie Kayitesi, Prof at University of Pretoria
• Yeyinou Laura Estelle Loko, Researcher at the National University for Science, Technology and Mathematic in the Republic of Benin
  Munkhjargal Tserendorj, Researcher at Mongolian University of Life Sciences
• Renuka Attanayake, Prof at University of Kelaniya
• Haneen Dwaib, Chairwoman of Clinical Nutrition and Dietetics Department at Palestine Ahliya University

Conference Organizers

• Elsevier
• KU Leuven
• Wageningen University and Research
• TABLE

Episode edited and produced by Matthew Kessler. Music by Blue dot sessions.

Philosopher and environmental researcher Ville Lähde (with the Finnish BIOS Research Unit) argues that we need to understand biodiversity differently at a fundamental level in order to preserve it. Biodiversity loss is much more than the list of extinct and endangered species. In our conversation, we talk about the myriad food systems and their different relationships with biodiversity, what are the hidden costs of simplifying biodiversity, and why Ville feels closest to biodiversity when working with his compost pile.

Read the Life Matters Everywhere essay

For more info, transcript and resources, visit: https://tabledebates.org/podcast/episode68

Guests

• Ville Lähde, Philosopher and environmental researcher at BIOS

Episode edited and produced by Matthew Kessler and Ylva Carlqvist Warnborg. Music by Blue dot sessions.

Environmental economist Adan L. Martinez-Cruz (Senior Lecturer at the Swedish University of Agricultural Sciences), argues that markets are a fundamental aspect of human society. He suggests that assigning a monetary value to natural resources can provide environmental benefits and create economic incentives to achieve them. In this episode, we discuss concept of non-market valuation, consider whether nature has inherent value, and examine whether markets are the best way to ensure fairness in the cost of food for both consumers and producers.

For more info, transcript and resources, visit: https://tabledebates.org/podcast/episode69

Guests

• Adan L. Martinez-Cruz, Environmental Economist at Swedish University of Agricultural Sciences

Episode edited and produced by Matthew Kessler and Ylva Carlqvist Warnborg. Music by Blue dot sessions.

How do philosophers, animal welfare scientists, and farmers differ in their understanding of what a good future for farmed animals looks like? TABLE researcher Tamsin Blaxter discusses the complex relationships between humans and non-human animals and how these connections shape our food choices. We talk about who gets to speak with authority on these topics, the connections between scientific research and animal welfare regulations, and our own experiences with eating and not eating meat. 

Read TABLE explainer: Animal welfare and ethics in food and agriculture (2024)

Register/watch TABLE event Rethinking animals in agriculture: welfare, rights and the future of food (10 September 2024)

For more info, transcript and resources, visit: https://tabledebates.org/podcast/episode70


Guests

• Tamsin Blaxter, Writer and researcher at TABLE, University of Oxford

Episode edited and produced by Matthew Kessler. Music by Blue dot sessions.

It feels like one of the biggest questions of our time: what do we do about meat? Rather than choosing either extreme – business as usual, or ruling out meat altogether – some people suggest the best approach is one of ‘less and better meat’. But how much less is ‘less’? And which meat is ‘better’? How do we even begin to answer these questions?

"Less and Better?" is an eight-part podcast series co-hosted by Katie Revell and Olivia Oldham at Farmerama Radio. Listen to the rest of the series here or wherever you get your podcasts.

More info, resources and transcript can be found here.

Are food systems allies or enemies in the fight to save biodiversity? With our planet facing a biodiversity crisis, the answer depends on who you ask and what forms of life we prioritize. We speak with farmers, biophysical modelers, and biologists to explore whether producing food and conserving biodiversity can be achieved at the same time. We also discuss how our diets impact biodiversity, whether farming without soil can be better for biodiversity at large, and what it would take to effectively "shrink" the food system.

For more info, transcript and resources, visit: https://tabledebates.org/podcast/
episode71

Guests

• Anna Lappé, Global Alliance for the Future of Food
• Els Hegger, Aardigh
• Silvia Quarta, La Junquera Farm
• Bernd Blossey, Assoc Prof at Cornell University
• Adrian Müller, Research Institute of Organic Agriculture (FiBL) 

Episode edited by Ylva Carlqvist Warnborg and Matthew Kessler. Produced by Matthew Kessler. Music by Blue dot sessions.

When we bite into a juicy apple, barrels of crude oil and natural gas cylinders might not spring to mind. But fossil fuels are the hidden ingredient behind all of our food. For every calorie that ends up on our plates, around 10 calories of fossil fuels are used. From the diesel powering the tractors to the fertilizer in the field and plastic packaging, fossil fuels are the lifeblood of the food industry.

What are the options to phase out fossil fuels in food and what are the powerful forces standing in the way? To find out, subscribe to Fuel to Fork.

This series is powered by TABLE, IPES-Food and Global Alliance for the Future of Food.

Learn more at https://fueltofork.com/

How did fossil fuels become so embedded in our food systems? We trace this journey from the industrial extraction of guano, through the game-changing Haber-Bosch process, to today’s globalized food system. Along the way, we uncover the hidden impacts on biodiversity, farmworkers, and our oceans—revealing the true cost of this reliance on fossil fuels.       

In Fuel to Fork, a new podcast series powered by TABLE, IPES-Food and the Global Alliance for the Future of Food, we expose and explore the fossil fuels in our food, speaking to farmers, chefs, food industry experts, scientists and campaigners. Each episode delves deep into a different step of the food supply chain.         

Guests

• Jennifer Clapp, IPES-Food
• Darrin Qualman, National Farmers Union Canada
• Pat Mooney, IPES-Food and Etc Group
• Navina Khanna, HEAL Alliance
• Rashid Sumaila, University of British Columbia

Produced by Matthew Kessler, Anna Paskal and Nicole Pita. Edited by Matthew Kessler. Audio engineering by Adam Titmuss. Cover art by The Ethical Agency. Music by Blue dot sessions.

“For many of us, how fossil fuels are integrated across the food chain is highly invisible.”   
When we bite into a juicy apple, barrels of crude oil and natural gas cylinders might not spring to mind. But fossil fuels are the hidden ingredient behind all of our food. For every calorie that ends up on our plates, around 10 calories of fossil fuels are used. From the diesel powering the tractors to the fertilizer in the field and plastic packaging, fossil fuels are the lifeblood of the food industry.     

In Fuel to Fork, a new podcast series powered by TABLE, IPES-Food and the Global Alliance for the Future of Food, we expose and explore the fossil fuels in our food, speaking to farmers, chefs, food industry experts, scientists and campaigners. Each episode delves deep into a different step of the food supply chain.         

Guests

• Anna Lappé, Global Alliance for the Future of Food
• Raj Patel, IPES-Food
• Errol Schweizer, IPES-Food
• Nnimmo Bassey, Health of Mother Earth Foundation
• Christine Delivanis, SystemIQ

Produced by Matthew Kessler, Anna Paskal and Nicole Pita. Edited by Matthew Kessler. Audio engineering by Adam Titmuss. Cover art by The Ethical Agency. Music by Blue dot sessions.

Since 2020, over 120 million tonnes of nitrogen fertilizer have been produced annually—a number set to rise by 50% by 2050. It’s easy to assume this is non-negotiable, that without it, we’d face a food crisis. But do we really need all this fossil-based input? As it turns out, there are many ways we can reverse this trend - from curbing overuse and adopting alternative technologies to rethinking our diets and transforming farming practices. We explore a range of options to ease our dependency on fossil fueled agrochemicals.

Register for our webinar: Fossil Fuels and Food Systems: A Policy Discussion for COP29

Visit the episode webpage for more resources.

This series is powered by TABLE, IPES-Food and Global Alliance for the Future of Food.

Guests

• Lisa Tostado, CIEL
• Joanna Larson, Prairie Gates Farm
• Christine Delivanis, SytemIQ
• Georgina Catacora-Vargas, IPES Food
• Mamadou Goïta, IPES 
• Swati Renduchintala, CIFOR-ICRAF
• Jennifer Clapp, IPES Food

Produced by Matthew Kessler, Anna Paskal and Nicole Pita. Edited by Matthew Kessler. Audio engineering by Adam Titmuss. Cover art by The Ethical Agency. Music by Blue dot sessions.

What are the hidden costs of our current food system and its deep reliance on fossil fuels, a system that burdens citizens with financial, health and environmental consequences? With Raj Patel, research professor at the University Texas at Austin and IPES-Food panel member, we cover this and Christopher Columbus's wicked legacy, middle-class environmentalism, and what a food system free of fossil fuels could look like.  

We thought this extended interview with Raj Patel was so compelling we wanted to share it in its entirety.

For more info and resources, please visit our episode webpage.

Guests

• Raj Patel, IPES-Food

Produced by Matthew Kessler, Anna Paskal and Nicole Pita. Edited by Matthew Kessler. Audio engineering by Adam Titmuss. Cover art by The Ethical Agency. Music by Blue dot sessions.

Fuel to Fork is powered by TABLE, IPES-Food and the Global Alliance for the Future of Food.

Fossil fuels are woven into nearly every aspect of modern agriculture - from powering farm machinery to creating plastics and supporting data-driven tech like precision agriculture. But what would it take to reduce or even eliminate their use on farms? We dive into both replacement technologies and transformative food production methods like agroecology, exploring the obstacles and limitations of scaling different solutions.

Visit the episode webpage for more resources.

This series is powered by TABLE, IPES-Food and Global Alliance for the Future of Food.

Guests

• Darrin Qualman, National Farmers Union Canada
• Pat Mooney, IPES Food
• Jennifer Clapp, IPES Food
• Swati Renduchintala, CIFOR-ICRAF

Produced by Matthew Kessler, Anna Paskal and Nicole Pita. Edited by Matthew Kessler. Audio engineering by Adam Titmuss. Cover art by The Ethical Agency. Music by Blue dot sessions.

When we talk about the future of food, we usually picture what's growing in the fields or what's on our dinner plates. But maybe we should pay a little more attention to everything happening in between. Processing and packaging consumes the largest share of fossil fuels in our food system— more than 40%. Our growing reliance on ultra-processed foods, and plastics across the supply chain is making food production more energy-intensive than ever before.

Visit the episode webpage for more resources.

This series is powered by TABLE, IPES-Food and Global Alliance for the Future of Food.

Guests

• Emma Priestland, Break Free From Plastic
• Errol Schweizer, IPES-Food
• Rachel Muncrief, International Council on Clean Transportation
• Georgina Catacora-Vargas, IPES Food

Produced by Matthew Kessler, Anna Paskal and Nicole Pita. Edited by Matthew Kessler. Audio engineering by Adam Titmuss. Cover art by The Ethical Agency. Music by Blue dot sessions.

Fossil fuels are hiding in plain sight in our kitchens—powering stoves and cooling refrigerators, plus they're fueling supply chains. They shape how we cook, eat and connect with food. In this episode, we explore how to reduce reliance on fossil fuels in home and commercial kitchens. What counts as a 'clean' cooking fuel in Malawi versus the United States? And what would it take to transform the energy grid powering our food systems? Researchers, chefs, and activists weigh in.

Visit the episode webpage for more resources.

This series is powered by TABLE, IPES-Food and Global Alliance for the Future of Food.

Guests

• Christa Roth, Cleaner Cooking Coalition
• Christopher Galarza, Forward Dining Solutions
• Gabriel Eckhouse, Uppsala University
• Galina Angarova, SIRGE
• Nnimmo Bassey, Home of Mother Earth Foundation
• Errol Schweizer, IPES-Food
• Georgina Catacora-Vargas, IPES Food

Produced by Matthew Kessler, Anna Paskal and Nicole Pita. Edited by Matthew Kessler. Audio engineering by Adam Titmuss. Cover art by The Ethical Agency. Music by Blue dot sessions.

What would a food system free of fossil fuels look like by 2050? What insights surprised the experts featured in this series? And what trade-offs must we navigate to shape this future? In our final episode, we shift from acknowledging the 'fossil fuel problem in food' to exploring actionable solutions.

Visit the episode webpage for more resources.

This series is powered by TABLE, IPES-Food and Global Alliance for the Future of Food.

Guests

• Raj Patel, IPES-Food
• Anna Lappé, Global Alliance for the Future of Food
• Darrin Qualman, National Farmers Union (Canada)
• Galina Angarova, SIRGE
• Molly Anderson, IPES-Food

Produced by Matthew Kessler, Anna Paskal and Nicole Pita. Edited by Matthew Kessler. Audio engineering by Adam Titmuss. Cover art by The Ethical Agency. Music by Blue dot sessions.

We gathered in Oxford to ask: Is a fossil free food system possible? 3 panelists: a farmer, an economist and biodiversity researcher, shared their expert perspectives. What technologies are on the horizon? What uncertainties do they bring? Is it better to farm differently, eat differently, plug in better tech, restrain environmentally damaging practices of food and agribusinesses, or all of the above?

Visit the episode webpage for more resources.

This series is powered by TABLE, IPES-Food and Global Alliance for the Future of Food.

Guests

• Helen Browning, Soil Association
• Rupert Simons, SystemIQ
• Emile Frison, IPES-Food

Produced by Matthew Kessler, Robbie Blake and Chantal Clément. Edited by Matthew Kessler. Audio engineering by Adam Titmuss. Cover art by The Ethical Agency. Music by Blue dot sessions.

View a 90 minute video of the full panel discussion 

Learn more about the Oxford Real Farming Conference
 

Is the battle over who controls and owns agricultural data one of the most important—and least discussed—fights in 21st-century farming? In this conversation, Jennifer Clapp (prof at the University of Waterloo and member of IPES-Food) explores the deep ties between fossil fuels and our food system, tracing their influence from fertilizers and pesticides to farm mechanization and digital agriculture. She unpacks how fossil-fueled inputs have shaped—and continue to shape—modern farming. 

For more info and resources, please visit our episode webpage.

Guests

• Jennifer Clapp, IPES-Food

Edited by Matthew Kessler. Audio engineering by Adam Titmuss. Cover art by The Ethical Agency. Music by Blue dot sessions.

Fuel to Fork is powered by TABLE, IPES-Food and the Global Alliance for the Future of Food.

What else should we consider when shifting to natural, whole foods—beyond just their health benefits? Feminist Food Journal co-founders Isabela Bonnevera and Zoë Johnson explore the deeper questions: whose labor makes these diets possible, who can afford them, and how culture and experience shape our food choices. We dive into these issues and uncover how a simple "natural foods" search on TikTok exposes striking gender dynamics.

For more info, transcript and resources, visit: https://tabledebates.org/podcast/
episode82

Guests

• Isabela Bonnevera, FFJ + ICTA-UAB
• Zoë Johnson, FFJ + GPPi

Host

• Jackie Turner, TABLE

Episode edited and produced by Matthew Kessler. Music by Blue dot sessions.

Can we have more honest conversations about the future of food and agriculture? That’s the plea from Ken Giller, recently retired professor at Wageningen University, after four decades of witnessing both progress and setbacks in supporting farmers worldwide. We discuss the dangers of populist narratives that oversimplify agricultural challenges, how to reshape research incentives to embrace complexity and nuance, why he opposes carbon credit schemes for farmers, and more.

For more info, transcript and resources, visit: https://tabledebates.org/podcast/
episode83

Guests

• Ken Giller, Wageningen University

Host

• Matthew Kessler, TABLE

Episode edited and produced by Matthew Kessler. Music by Blue dot sessions.

Can humanity feed nearly 10 billion people without frying the planet? That question is at the heart of journalist Michael Grunwald’s provocative argument in Sorry, This Is the Future of Food, his recent New York Times essay and the basis of his forthcoming book, We Are Eating the Earth. He warns that we’re clearing an acre of rainforest every six seconds to grow more food — and even if we quit fossil fuels, we won’t avert climate chaos unless we fix how we use land. In this episode, Grunwald makes the case that high-yield industrial agriculture, for all its flaws, might be our best chance to grow more food on less land. 

For more info, transcript and resources, visit: https://tabledebates.org/podcast/
episode84

Pre-order We Are Eating the Earth by Michael Grunwald.

Want to share your reflections on the episode? Send us an email or voice memo to podcast@tabledebates.org

Guest

• Michael Grunwald, Journalist and author

Host

• Jack Thompson, TABLE

Episode edited and produced by Matthew Kessler and Jack Thompson. Music by Blue dot sessions.

Why does agricultural research often fall short of addressing food insecurity challenges in sub-Saharan Africa? In this conversation with Ken Giller, we explore this wicked problem from a systems perspective examining the diverse drivers and experiences of smallholder farmers and the socio-ecological systems in which they are embedded.

Ken provides a nuanced look at agroecological solutions and argues that relying solely on nature-based solutions would be inadequate to address food security problems in Africa. We also talk about the huge diversity of farmers that can be found under the banner of smallholders, an in-depth examination of the “yield gap,” and what gets lost when translating research into practice.

For full show notes and transcript, visit: tabledebates.org/podcast-episode1

Have you thought about the system of trade that brings food to your market or grocery store? Do you wonder if that system of global food trade, where 25% of all agricultural products are now traded internationally, is a vulnerable or resilient one? Rob Bailey, climate director at Marsh & McLennan, has examined how potential disruptions to trading routes can have severe impacts on global food security.

Rob Bailey lays out the worst case scenario that could lead to a global food catastrophe. And while he paints a terrifying picture, we find that most parts of global food trade stood up remarkably well to the Covid19 pandemic. We discuss this, recommendations to increase resilience in our global food system, and more.

Check out Rob's report: Chokepoints and vulnerabilities of global food trade

For full show notes and transcript, visit: tabledebates.org/podcast-episode2

Introducing Feed, a food system podcast by TABLE. Co-hosts Matthew Kessler and Samara Brock tell you what you can expect when you tune in, and Tara Garnett introduces our focus for the first series of episodes: Scale in the food system!

We'll be exploring scale at multiple levels including spatial, economic, moral and temporal.  What is the right scale for a food system? Should it be local or global? When it comes to things like farms, food businesses and food system governance – is big bad, or better?

For more info, visit https://tabledebates.org/podcast

[transcript]

How do people and organisations work to transform the food system? Are there effective strategies to connect local movements across the globe? And is it the size or scale of their operations, that connects them to each other, or is it something else?

Lauren Baker, director of programmes at Global Alliance for the Future of Food, has been working to transform the food system for decades - in Canada, Mexico and across the world. While Lauren's work may focus on a more local or regional scale, she regularly traverses scales, reflecting how individuals and local food networks are embedded in larger systems, connected to broader political economic dynamics.

In our conversation, we discuss Global Alliance’s theory of transformation, the importance of relationship building in food systems work, and why Lauren finds it essential to link local and global scale to place.

For full show notes and transcript, visit: tabledebates.org/podcast-episode3

What role can seaweed and different technologies play in building a resilient food system? What are the potential tradeoffs when scaling these technologies? In our conversation with Sahil Shah, co-founder of Sustainable Seaweed, we examine how livelihoods might be impacted by scaling and whether marine-based solutions offer an alternative avenue for food production and climate change mitigation outside of terrestrial ecosystems.

For full show notes and transcript, visit: tabledebates.org/podcast-episode4

Has the increasing commodification of food and financialization of the food system left us more vulnerable to food crises? We speak with Jennifer Clapp about the 20th century history of food policy that led us to  this moment, how the Covid-19 food crisis is different than previous ones, and how diversity, in all of its forms, is essential to building a resilient food system.

For full show notes and transcript, visit: tabledebates.org/podcast-episode5

In this conversation with environmental geographer Jamie Lorimer, we discuss different ways of conceptualizing scale; how ideas of scalability, globalization, and homogenization have shaped food and other systems; and how the tiniest of actors, microbes, can potentially have huge impacts on these systems.

For more info, visit:  tabledebates.org/podcast-episode6

In our conversation with social anthropologist Elena Lazos Chavero (National University of Mexico), we discuss how her research interests were formed around rainforest conservation, food systems and indigenous rights in Veracruz, Mexico. Elena explains how local and global food systems as well as urban and rural communities are highly dependent on each other. We also explore what the food sovereignty movement fights for in Mexico today.

For more info and transcript, please visit: tabledebates.org/podcast-episode7

How can shifting towards a planet-based diet reduce biodiversity loss? In our conversation with Brent Loken, Global Food Lead Scientist, at the WWF, we unpack the 2020 report Bending the curve: The restorative power of a planet-based diet, and dive into the complexity and tradeoffs between different diets, and human and environmental health. We talk about different responsibilities of nations across the world, whether eating meat is really a problem, and why we shouldn't be betting on a single solution for transforming food systems.

For more info, visit: https://tabledebates.org/podcast-episode8

In our conversation with rural sociologist Jessica Duncan (Wageningen U), we talk about dialogue and participation in food policy, why we shouldn’t always be seeking consensus, and the importance of bringing diverse local actors into global policy conversations. We unpack Jessica and Priscilla Claeys' 2020 report Covid19, Gender and Food systems and discuss what is gained by "viewing the crisis from below".

For more info, visit http://tabledebates.org/podcast-episode9

In our discussion, data scientist Vincent "Vinny" Ricciardi challenges the assumptions and evidence that are built into food systems debates. We talk about a few of the recent papers that Vinny co-authored, including one that asks how much of the world’s food supply is produced by smallholder farmers, a 50-year meta-analysis that compares how do small and large farms size up in terms of yields and biodiversity impact, and whether smallholders actually have access to broadband to become part of a data driven farming future.

For more info and the episode transcript, please visit https://tabledebates.org/podcast-episode10

In our discussion with Klara Fischer (associate professor in rural development at Swedish University of Agricultural Sciences), we discuss how different smallholders in sub-Saharan Africa adopt and adapt different technologies, why new crop technologies are not scale-neutral, lessons to be learned from the Asian green revolution, and why it's important to work in interdisciplinary teams and be aware of the boundaries of our own knowledge.

For more info and an episode transcript, visit: https://tabledebates.org/podcast-episode11

In our conversation with Sophia Murphy (Executive Director of the Institute for Agriculture and Trade Policy [IATP]), we talk about the importance of trade at different scales throughout the food systems. Sophia discusses how ‘local’ systems have always been a part of extensive trading networks, how trade can meet the needs of diverse constituencies across the globe, and what needs to change in international governance for this to happen.

For more info and transcript, visit: https://tabledebates.org/podcast/episode12

In our conversation with Felipe Roa-Clavijo (author of The Politics of Food Provisioning in Colombia: Agrarian Movements and Negotiations with the State), we discuss different narratives around food provisioning in Colombia, and find out which groups are promoting these different visions - to feed the village, feed the nation and feed the world. We talk about what it was like to be in the room during the negotiations between agrarian movements and the government, how Colombia's food system compares to the rest of Latin America, and why food can offer a valuable entry point to addressing systemic issues.

For more info and transcript, visit: tabledebates.org/podcast/episode13

In our conversation today with three researchers from the Swedish University of Agricultural Sciences (Elin Röös, Robin Harder and Johan Karlsson), we discuss what food systems models can and cannot tell us about what type of future food system we'd like to create, previous projects modeling food systems at different scales (bioregion, country, continent), and how our values influence what questions we ask from a model and how we interpret its results.

For more info and transcript, please visit: https://tabledebates.org/podcast/episode14

In the final episode of our first season, we share our main findings and reflections from the past 14 conversations we had about scale in food systems. We present our guests' different views on whether local or global food systems are more sustainable and resilient, and whether that is even the right question to ask. We discuss the need for a diversity of scales and why both small and large farms and long and short supply chains are important. Finally, we examine whether large-scale elements of food systems make it difficult for smaller scale systems to survive and thrive.

For more info and transcript, please visit: https://tabledebates.org/podcast/episode15

Just three decades ago, the world looked very different: smartphones wouldn't appear for another 15 years, and in the world of food, the organic and local farming movements looked very different than they do today. Moving three decades into the future, what might food systems look like in 2050? We speak with Charles Godfray, director of the Oxford Martin School, and Pat Mooney, executive director of the ETC group, and ask what their ideal food future is, how to get there and what they are most concerned about.

For more info and transcript, please visit: http://tabledebates.org/podcast/episode16

To view the whole event: https://tabledebates.org/research-library/recording-table-launch-event-should-future-food-be-global-or-local

Why was food absent from the climate agenda in COP-26, the global gathering that took place in Scotland in November 2021? In this bonus episode, we speak with different people who attended or advocated at COP for food to be more central to the climate agenda. We hear from a youth activist (Vera Röös), a representative of civil society (Pete Ritchie at Nourish Scotland) and a politician (Secretary of International Affairs Marta Suplicy in São Paulo), who say we cannot reach emission reduction targets without looking at food systems. In part two of this episode we will speak to policy and finance experts to hear some other perspectives on COP-26.

For more info and transcript, please visit: https://tabledebates.org/podcast/episode17

What does it actually look like to influence large companies to change their practices? In this conversation with shareholder advocates Annalisa Tarizzo and Thomas Peterson from Green Century Capital Management, we discuss how food systems investors use their unique leverage and work with other stakeholders including agribusiness, NGOs and policymakers to build a sustainable food system. This episode is part two of three of a mini-series on COP-26.

For more info and transcript, please visit: https://tabledebates.org/podcast/episode18

In our second conversation exploring power in the food system, we speak with Julie Guthman, professor and food geographer at UC Santa Cruz. We ask her: how is Silicon Valley trying to transform the food system, who within Silicon Valley has the most power, and how does their vision compare with the Organic food movement? We discuss the different ways 'sustainability' is understood in these two different worlds and the broader structures that define or limit their competing visions. We also chat about how Julie's views on the Alternative Food Movement have evolved over time, and how Silicon Valley might be different if venture capitalists took her "101: Intro to Food and Ag'" class.

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For more info and transcript, please visit: https://tabledebates.org/podcast/episode20

In the first Feed episode about power we speak with Phil Howard, author of Concentration and Power in the Food System, a book that asks "who controls what we eat?" We dive right into big questions, asking whether Phil Howard’s ideal food future is compatible with capitalism. We also talk about the rise of organics, how is power distributed within corporations, how a US farmer’s prospects about staying a small and diversified operation has diminished over time, and how food corporations intent on growing cope with the fact that human stomachs remain the same size.

For more info and transcript, please visit: https://tabledebates.org/podcast/episode20

We kick off our second season introducing our new theme power in the food system. Across the season we’ll speak with researchers, farmers, activists and others to dig into what kind of power shapes food systems, if this needs to change, and how.

Send us an e-mail to podcast@tabledebates.org with what aspects of power you’d like to us to explore and which guests you’d like us to speak to.

For more info and transcript, please visit: https://tabledebates.org/podcast/episode19