Thought About Food Podcast (Ian Werkheiser)

We spoke with Robert Skipper about the social construction of obesity and some justice issues associated with that social construction, its roots in ancient philosophy, and obesity as a public health crisis. We also discuss the way he teaches philosophy of food to students, food as an aesthetic object, and more! It was a fascinating, wide-ranging conversation that I think you’ll really like.

Show Notes:

• Follow us on Twitter at @FoodThoughtPod, and you can drop us a line at ThoughtAboutFood on Gmail. Rate our podcast and leave us a review wherever you get your podcasts! It helps people find the show.
• We have a YouTube channel! It features more conversations about the meaning of food in our lives, and includes some great recipes to boot. Check it out here and subscribe! The most recent video at the time of recording was made by a former student in Ian's Philosophy of Food class, talking about Alfajores and the meaning those cookies have for her.
• Robert Skipper is Professor of Philosophy, Affiliate Professor of Environmental Studies, and Fellow of the Graduate School at the University of Cincinnati.
• Skip is our first guest to share a cocktail recipe, and he's shared two! As he says, "They’re originals, at least as far as any cocktail can be original."  

  Honey's Applejack

  1.5 oz Laird's Applejack .75 oz lemon juice .5 oz Benedictine .5 oz simple syrup 2 dashes of Fee Bros Whisky Barrel Aged Bitters

  Combine ingredients in a shaker with ice and, well, shake. Strain into a coupe. Garnish with apple.

  There are some good flavors of apple, honey (from the Benedictine) and cinnamon (from the bitters).

  The Armchair

  1.5 oz Old Overholt Rye 1 oz China-China liqueur .75 oz Punt e Mes vermouth 4 dashes of 1821 Havana and Hide bitters

  Combine ingredients in an ice-filled mixing glass. Stir for 30 seconds or until arctic. Strain into coupe. No garnish needed.

• The intro and outro music is "Whiskey Before Breakfast" which is both a great traditional song and a nice way to start a day that can continue with the recipe suggestions above. It was performed and shared by The Dan River Ramblers under a Creative Commons license.

This episode we spoke with Megan Birk about the history of "Poor Farms" in the US.

Show Notes:

• Follow us on Twitter at @FoodThoughtPod, and you can drop us a line at ThoughtAboutFood on Gmail. Leave us a review! It helps people find the show.
• Megan Birk is an Associate Professor of History at UTRGV.
• Megan has written the book Fostering on the Farm: Child Placement in the Rural Midwest, and her new book is The Fundamental Institution: Poverty, Social Welfare, and Agriculture in Poor Farms which is under contract at University of Illinois Press.
• The main article about Poor Farms which we discussed in the interview was The better the farm, the better the food: institutional diet, agricultural practices, and nutrition in U.S. almshouses
• Megan shared a recipe for Chocolate Mayonnaise Cake (!) Here's what she has to say about it:

  "This is a cake that my mom used to make regularly when I was a kid, and I make it for friends, family, and holidays because it's delicious and people love it.  It's also very Midwestern to use mayonnaise as a shortcut in baking 

  Chocolate Mayonnaise Cake 

  1 and a half cups white sugar

  1 and a half cups mayo (do not use miracle whip) 

  4 TBS baking coco 

  ---- mix together 

  3 cups cake flour

  3 tsp baking soda

  1/4 tsp salt 

  ----- add these to mix above

  1 and a half cups warm water

  2 tsp vanilla

  ----- add to above and mix ---- the mixture will be pretty loose (or runny) that's ok

  I grease and flour a cake pan before pouring in the mix and baking at 350 degrees for 25-30 on the top rack

  Frost with whatever you're into, I don't make my own frosting because I hate the texture of powdered sugar on my hands (I know I'm a weirdo) "

• The intro and outro music is "Whiskey Before Breakfast" which is both a great traditional song and a good thing to try before baking Chocolate Mayonnaise Cake. It was performed and shared by The Dan River Ramblers under a Creative Commons license.

This episode we spoke with Paul Thompson about some of the possible futures for farming in the US.

Show Notes:

• Follow us on Twitter at @FoodThoughtPod, and you can drop us a line at ThoughtAboutFood on Gmail. Leave us a review! It helps people find the show.
• Paul Thompson holds the W.K. Kellogg Chair in Agricultural, Food & Community Ethics at Michigan State University
• Paul has written a number of excellent books, including From Field to Fork, and his new book Sustainability: What Everyone Needs to Know
• Paul shared a recipe for migas; check out the recipe because he included a great story at the end:

  "Here’s a recipe for migas. 1 cup chopped onions; 2 cloves minced garlic; 1 medium tomato chopped; 4-6 tomatillos, chopped; ½ to 1 ½ cup chopped peppers (jalapenos, poblanos, serranos, anaheims—your choice depending on desired heat—in pinch I’ll use green peppers, but I won’t like it); 8 eggs, lightly beaten; 2 cups broken corn chips (not too small) 1½ cup mild melting cheese (Colby jack, you add queso fresco, too, but you need a good melter); peanut or safflower oil to cover the bottom of a large skillet.

  Heat skillet and saute the peppers, onions, garlic and tomatillos

  Lower heat and add eggs, stirring constantly. When the mixture starts to thicken add chips and continue to stir; after all chips are covered add cheese and keep stirring. When the eggs are solid (but not rubbery) turn off the heat, add the tomato, stir briskly and cover. They will be ready to eat in two minutes. Serve with tortillas. Some people add chorizo, but I’m usually cooking for a vegetarian or two (not vegan, obviously) and I’ve come to prefer it without meat.

  Here’s a story to go with the recipe: One of legendary San Antonio restaurants is Mi Tierra, open 24 hours a day in Market Square next to the wholesale farmers market. When I first started going there in the early 80s, breakfast between 5:00 am and 9:00am was their busy time. I always ordered their chiliquiles and fresh squeezed orange juice. (It’s mentioned in Gary P. Nunn’s “What I Like about Texas”.) As Market Square has become more and more of a tourist destination, Mi Tierra has  been upgraded several times and they introduced a simplified and gringofied menu. Now you stand in line anytime between 11:00 am and midnight. When I was there eating alone at 7:00 am in about 2005, the place was almost deserted, but there was a table of about eight mid-30s white guys pestering the waitress with numerous questions about the menu (which no longer mentioned either chiliquiles or fresh squeezed orange juice). When the poor waitress got to me I said I’ll have chililquiles and fresh orange juice. She just wrote it down and didn’t say a thing. Before she could get back to me with my food (and Yes, I did get chiliquiles and fresh orange juice), a gentleman with a graying mustache at the table near mine poked me on the shoulder and said, “We don’t need no stinking menus!”

   

  One of the great moments in my life.

   

  You can get into the difference between migas and chiliquiles, but as you probably know, there are about as many theories on that as there are on barbeque, and like barbeque, everyone is completely convinced that their theory is the right one.

• The intro and outro music is "Whiskey Before Breakfast" which is both a great traditional song and a nice thing to keep you occupied while you make those migas. It was performed and shared by The Dan River Ramblers under a Creative Commons license.

This episode we spoke with Tony Chackal about "supper clubs" -- how you can start one, and the political, social, and cultural implications of the practice of providing food as a host or receiving food as a guest.

Show Notes:

• Follow us on Twitter at @FoodThoughtPod, and you can drop us a line at ThoughtAboutFood on Gmail. Leave us a review wherever you get your podcasts! It helps people find the show.
• Tony Chackal is a philosopher and Visiting Assistant Professor in the Philosophy Department at Miami University.
• Tony kindly agreed to create a playlist to listen to with your supper club. Take a listen, and if you start a supper club, let us know!
• The book I couldn't come up with the name of was obviously Bowling Alone
• The intro and outro music is "Whiskey Before Breakfast" which is both a great traditional song and a possible inspiration for a "pre-breakfast club" that you could also consider starting. It was performed and shared by The Dan River Ramblers under a Creative Commons license.

We spoke with Galina Kallio about regenerative agriculture, relationships of humans to the soil, and alternative forms of organizing self-reliant food economies

Show Notes:

• Follow us on Twitter at @FoodThoughtPod, and you can drop us a line at ThoughtAboutFood on Gmail. Rate our podcast and leave us a review wherever you get your podcasts! It helps people find the show.
• Galina Kallio is a co-founder of the Untame Research Lab which we talked about in the interview. Check it out! It hasn't yet been fully translated to English, but the google translation works well, and an English version is coming in the future.
• Galina was also kind enough to share a recipe with us! It's for a vegan cabbage dish called solyanka. As Galina says, "My grand-aunt used to make me this when I was a little girl, and I still remember the taste of this dish made with fresh cabbage from our allotment garden. The original recipe included sausages, but I have modified this to my current dietary habits.

  • Cabbage (preferably white but you can vary with other colours & varieties)

  • Carrots

  • Garlic

  • Onions

  • Chili (if you like, not necessary) 

  • Salt & Pepper Cut

    Cut everything in thin slices, and carrots you can grate. Use your favourite oil (olive, rapeseed)  and fry (lightly) chili & garlic in the pan, add onions. When onions have softened and gained a bit of colour add cabbage and stir & fry, after the cabbage has softened a bit add carrots. If the ingredients are dry you can add some water or broth (e.g. nettle broth!). Add salt and pepper. Stir until ingredients almost resemble 'stew' – they must be soft but not too soft! If you want to make this a bit more filling, you can use e.g. beans, tofu, or mushrooms. This can be used as a meal on its own or as a side dish."

• The intro and outro music is "Whiskey Before Breakfast" which is both a great traditional song and an interesting way to have a relationship with agriculture and the non-human world! It was performed and shared by The Dan River Ramblers under a Creative Commons license.

This episode we spoke with Keith McHenry about Food Not Bombs, Anarchism, and the radical potential of feeding people as a political act.

Show Notes:

• Follow us on Twitter at @FoodThoughtPod, and you can drop us a line at ThoughtAboutFood on Gmail. Leave us a review! It helps people find the show.
• Keith McHenry is one of the founders of Food Not Bombs
• Keith has written a number of books, including Hungry For Peace: How you can help end poverty and war with Food Not Bombs and The Anarchist Cookbook (not the one you're thinking of, but a "real anarchist cookbook" as Keith says).
• To find a local Food Not Bombs near you, or for resources on starting one, check out the Food Not Bombs website. The one nearest to me is the Food Not Bombs RGV branch.
• The intro and outro music is "Whiskey Before Breakfast" which is both a great traditional song and not an impediment to getting served by Food Not Bombs if you're hungry, because they serve anyone, sober or not. It was performed and shared by The Dan River Ramblers under a Creative Commons license.

This episode we spoke with Joey Aloi about his work with just transition and sustainable agriculture organizations in West Virgina, working to make Appalachia's food system more resilient, the history of that state and its relationship to food and energy, the aesthetics of experiencing natural beauty, and more! Even more than most episodes, I strongly recommend you check out the show notes for this episode.

Show Notes:

• Follow us on Twitter at @FoodThoughtPod, and you can drop us a line at ThoughtAboutFood on Gmail. Leave us a review! It helps people find the show.
• Joey Aloi publishes on field philosophy at the intersection of Philosophy with Environmental and Appalachian Studies.
• One of the organizations Joey works with is Paradise Farms. Here's an interesting news article about Paradise Farms and the good work it does.
• Paradise is one of several non-profit farms that are core members of the Turnrow Collective -- a food hub in West Virginia and a few adjacent Appalachian counties. Here's a good brief video introduction to Turnrow; here's an article about how Turnrow handled the early days of the pandemic, which we discussed in the interview; and here's Turnrow's own website.
• The article of Joey's we discuss is Coal Feeds My Family, on the history of Appalachia through the lens of energy and food.
• Here's a zine on issues in modern Appalachia you might enjoy: The Cornbread Communism Manifesto. It even has a recipe!
• The recipe Joey brought for discussion was Anchovy Cauliflower Pasta. As he said in the interview, this is both a new and old tradition for his family, and we discuss Albert Borgman's work on focal practices like these. Here's the recipe!

  Ingredients: • olive oil • Flat leaf Italian parsley • One head of cauliflower (or broccoli if you like) • 2 tablespoons or a quarter cup of raisins • 2 tablespoons or a quarter cup of pinenuts • a half pound of pasta • a medium sized onion • A can of anchovies (or substitute capers, or porcini mushrooms, or sun-dried tomatoes, or a little bit of miso, or whatever gives you a nice salty umami flavor) • As much garlic, salt, black pepper and chili as you like 

  1. Toast the pinenuts whatever shade of brown you like (but don’t burn them!) 2. Boil just a small amount of water, and pour it over the raisins so they can soak and get plump 3. Cut the cauliflower into bite-size chunks, or break by hand. I usually just use the florettes, but you can toss the stems in if you want something that’s more difficult to chew 4. Put the cauliflower in a steamer and start steaming it 5. While you’re waiting on the cauliflower to start steaming, chop up the onion and begin to fry it in the olive oil. a. If you don’t wanna go overboard on the oil, make sure to open the anchovy can and pour all the oil out of it to cook the onion in before adding any more oil from the bottle 6. When the onions are beginning to get translucent, open the anchovy jar and distribute the anchovies across the pan. I usually pull them each apart so that each one sets on the onions individually. Use your wooden spoon or whatever spatula you have to break up the anchovies and mix them around with the onions. You basically want to get rid of any chunks of anchovies, and just have it all be mixed thoroughly into the onion. 7. Take the cauliflower out of the steamer and mix it in with the onion. a. You can reserve the water from steaming for the pasta, but you’ll probably need more water as well. b. Mixing the anchovies into the onion should’ve giving your cauliflower enough time to finish steaming, but make sure it’s pretty soft 8. Toss the raisins and pinenuts in with the cauliflower and onion, and turn the heat down 9. Salt pasta water so that it tastes like the sea, bring it to a boil, and then cook the pasta al dente 10. I usually wait until I’m draining the pasta to add the garlic, salt, pepper, and any chilies, but you could add the garlic at the beginning instead if that’s your thing. a. I often cook this without any chilies at all, especially when it’s cauliflower and not broccoli. When I do use them, I usually just use red pepper flakes, but sometimes I’ll throw in Aleppo Pepper instead. Fresh peppers alter the flavor & texture.  11. Chop up the parsley as fine or coarse as you like 12. Put the pasta on the plate, top it with the cauliflower and onion, and then with the parsley. 13. You can add salt, pepper, or any kind of cheese (like Parmesan or whatever; don’t add provolone or ricotta.)

• The intro and outro music is "Whiskey Before Breakfast" which is both a great traditional song and a nice companion to your aesthetic experience of nature. It was performed and shared by The Dan River Ramblers under a Creative Commons license.

This is Part 1 of an interview with Josh Milburn about his new book Just Fodder: The Ethics of Feeding Animals. In this part of our conversation, we talk about his inspiration for the book, and focus on ethical issues with what we feed the cats, dogs, and birds that live with us.

Show Notes:

• Follow us on Twitter at @FoodThoughtPod, and you can drop us a line at ThoughtAboutFood on Gmail. Rate our podcast and leave us a review wherever you get your podcasts! It helps people find the show.
• We have a YouTube channel! It features more conversations about the meaning of food in our lives, and includes some great recipes to boot. Check it out here and subscribe!
• Dr. Josh Milburn is a Lecturer in Political Philosophy and a British Academy Postdoctoral Fellow at Loughborough University. You can learn more on his website or by following him on Twitter.
• Josh's new book is Just Fodder: The Ethics of Feeding Animals from McGill-Queen's University Press. Check it out! 
• The intro and outro music is "Whiskey Before Breakfast" which is both a great traditional song and at least one thing that should definitely not be served to our companion animals. It was performed and shared by The Dan River Ramblers under a Creative Commons license.

We spoke with Amy Hay about about her new book The Defoliation of America: Agent Orange Chemicals, Citizens, and Protests. In it, she examines protests over the use of the phenoxy herbicide for agriculture and other purposes by different groups of citizens (scientists, religious groups, Vietnam veterans, and environmental/health activists) in post-1945 America.

Show Notes:

• Follow us on Twitter at @FoodThoughtPod, and you can drop us a line at ThoughtAboutFood on Gmail. Rate our podcast and leave us a review wherever you get your podcasts! It helps people find the show.
• We have a YouTube channel! It features more conversations about the meaning of food in our lives, and includes some great recipes to boot. Check it out here and subscribe! The most recent video at the time of recording was made by a former student in Ian's Philosophy of Food class, talking about Arroz con Leche and eating it late at night with his grandmother and listening to stories from her childhood in Mexico.
• Amy Hay is an Associate Professor in the Department of History at the University of Texas Rio Grande Valley. Her research interests focus on 20th-century United States, Women/Gender History, and the histories of American medicine, public health, and the environment.
• Amy's new book is The Defoliation of America: Agent Orange Chemicals, Citizens, and Protests. Check it out!
• Amy shared a recipe for jambalaya which she says is the first recipe she really internalized and made her own. Here's the original, so take a look and modify it to suit you!

  "94121 Jambalaya Serves 4 or more from Roger Ebert’s The Pot and How to Use It: The mystery and romance of the rice cooker (Kansas City, KS: Andrews McMeel Publishing, LLC, 2010), 84.

  Ingredients:

  ½ onion, chopped

  Olive oil

  3 cups rice

  ½ cup white wine

  3 cups salted water or vegetable broth

  1 – 14 ounce sausage, cut into rounds

  Bok choy

  1 to 2 cups chicken

  Add as desired: Worcestershire sauce, Piment d’Espelette, red pepper flakes, or anything New Orleans-y such as shrimp or bell pepper.

  Method:

  1. Sauté the onion in olive oil in the Pot

  2. Add the rice and mix in unit until coated and moist

  3. Throw in some white wine if your wife isn’t looking

  4. Add the water or stock to the 3-cup line

  5. Brown 1 sausage, chopped into rounds

  6. After 10 minutes add the bok choy, sausage, and the cooked chicken

  7. The cooker should flip off after 15 minutes or so. Toss the ingredients and let sit another 10 to 15 minutes. Serve."

• The intro and outro music is "Whiskey Before Breakfast" which is both a great traditional song and something to study for its medicinal value as part of the popular epidemiology you're doing with your friends. It was performed and shared by The Dan River Ramblers under a Creative Commons license.

This episode we spoke with Ben Almassi about his new book, which looks at reparative justice for our relationship with non-humans, including other animals and entire ecosystems. We talked about a lot of topics and quite a lot of other interesting works and people for you to explore, so check out the show notes!

Show Notes:

• Ben's book is called Reparative Environmental Justice in a World of Wounds, and is available for pre-order.
• Follow us on Twitter at @FoodThoughtPod, and you can drop us a line at ThoughtAboutFood on Gmail. Consider leaving us a review wherever you found the show!
• I'm organizing an online workshop with my colleague Michael Butler. It's called Digital Worlds, and the goal of the workshop is to interrogate the way modern digital technology enhances, hampers, or alters our experience of our lived worlds. If you're interested in participating or just attending, check out the website for the workshop at digitalworldsworkshop.wordpress.com
• Ben Almassi is an Associate Professor of Philosophy at Governors State University in Chicago's Southland.
• Margaret Urban Walker's work on Reparative Justice is an important influence on Ben's book. One place you could read more is in the book Moral Repair: Reconstructing Moral Relations after Wrongdoing.
• Eric Katz wrote a response to some of Ben's ideas, which as he says in the podcast he was able to respond to in his book (as always: if you think you don't have access to this article, you actually might through your library etc. Email the podcast if you'd like some advice on how to find out if you can actually access it).
• Ben mentions a number of other thinkers and writers, including Aldo Leopold on being in relationship with ecosystems; Annette Baier on trust; Robin Kimerrer on ecological restoration and gratitude; Edith Brown Weiss on our duties to past and future generations; Charles Mills on ideal and non-ideal theory; Deborah McGregor on responding to environmental racism; Arthur Fine and the importance of engaged, responsive philosophy; and an extended discussion about Kyle Powys Whyte and his work on Traditional Ecological Knowledge, particularly for its governance value.
• We also discussed an important case study in Ben's book of the Chicago Wilderness alliance. Check them out!
• Ben defends Kale and the surprisingly delicious but often maligned Kale salad as the food he shares with us. Isa Chandra Moskowitz has two phenomenal kale salad recipes you might want to check out, one for kale Caesar salad, and one for a kale, lentil, and butternut squash salad for a colder day.
• The intro and outro music is "Whiskey Before Breakfast" which is both a great traditional song and a good way to cope with living in a pandemic but not a homemade alternative to a vaccine. It was performed and shared by The Dan River Ramblers under a Creative Commons license.

This episode we spoke with Christopher Carter about faith, black veganism, and soul food.

Show Notes:

• Follow us on Twitter at @FoodThoughtPod, and you can drop us a line at ThoughtAboutFood on Gmail. Leave us a review! It helps people find the show.
• Christopher Carter is an Assistant Professor and Assistant Chair of the Theology and Religious Studies department at the University of San Diego and a Faith in Food Fellow at Farm Forward.
• Christopher's forthcoming book is The Spirit of Soul Food: Race, Faith, and Food Justice from the University of Illinois Press.
• Christopher mentions that his use of Black Veganism is directly inspired by Aph Ko and Syl Ko's book Aphro-ism: Essays on Pop Culture, Feminism, and Black Veganism from Two Sisters
• Christopher shared a recipe for red beans and rice, one of the first that he successfully "veganized." This also counts as a teaser for his book, since this recipe and others are included throughout the text (something I wish more academic books on food would do!): Red Beans & Rice For me, a Black man whose American ancestry begins in Mississippi and Louisiana, the foundational soul food dish will always be red beans and rice. This recipe was a staple in my childhood, something we could eat on special occasions and when our budget for food was slim. For me, red beans and rice feels like home. When the pervasive reality of racism knocks me offcenter, red beans and rice can be the ground from which I can regain my sense of self and remember myself as beloved by my community and beloved by the Ultimate source of compassion. Despite all the stress, micro, and macro aggressions I may face, sitting down at the dinner table and eating red beans gives me a little something to help me keep-on-keeping-on, as the elders would say. If we think about the history of Black foodways as a window into the racism that was and continues to be foundational to our domestic food system, we realize that Black foodways have a deeper meaning that can easily be overlooked. Knowing this history and finding ourselves within this story prompts theological reflection and response. Decolonial analysis seeks to unsettle the notion that theory and praxis are necessarily separate from each other—theory is thinking, and thinking is doing, and praxis necessarily requires thought-reflection on actions. Both my Christian faith and my identity as Black man influence the analysis, arguments, and constructive proposals that I put forth in this book. What some might see as a provocative suggestion, black veganism, is rooted in these two identities. However, what follows in this book is not a straightforward argument for veganism. My own path to veganism was not straightforward, it  was a complicated and challenging transition and it would be foolish to expect otherwise from anyone else but especially Black people given the ways that our foodway is racialized. Black veganism is a process of being and becoming, knowing who we are and what tools we need to use so that Black foodways can be a source of abundant life for Black communities. When I became vegetarian and subsequently transitioned to veganism, I feared that my evolving diet compromised my ability to feel like I was a part of my community when we sat down for meals. Moreover, if I could not eat red beans and rice, I wondered, “what kind of Black person would I be,” could I still claim to be standing on the culinary shoulders of my ancestors? Finding a vegan version of this dietary staple opened my eyes to the creativity one can have cooking soul food. Preparing it and serving it to my family revealed that this delicious version conjures the same familial memories as its nonhuman animal meat-based alternative, and thus possesses the strength to become a foundational family dish too. Because of this, red beans and rice is the first dish we set out upon our vegan soul food table. Ingredients: Two 15oz. cans of Kidney beans, rinsed and drained 4 cups of broth made from Better than Bouillon Vegetable base 4 vegan sausages (I highly recommend Field Roast Apple Sage, Italian, or Mexican Chipotle) 1 tablespoon of grapeseed oil (or any high heat oil) 1 large white onion, diced medium 6 six-inch celery stalks, diced small 6 garlic cloves, minced 1 teaspoon chili powder 1 teaspoon Cajun seasoning 1 teaspoon dried thyme 1 red bell pepper, cored, seeded, and chopped ½ cup of green onions Directions Heat a 4-5 quart stew pot over high heat, add the oil and wait until it shimmers. Add the onion and celery and cook, stirring with a wooden spoon, until translucent, about 10 minutes. Add the garlic and cook about 2 minutes more. Add the sausage, chili powder, thyme, broth, beans, and bell pepper. Bring to a simmer and cook for 10-15 minutes, stirring frequently. Season with salt, pepper, and your favorite hot sauce. Serve over a bed of rice, garnish with the green onions.
• The intro and outro music is "Whiskey Before Breakfast" which is both a great traditional song and an interesting interpretation of "praxis." It was performed and shared by The Dan River Ramblers under a Creative Commons license.

This episode I talk with Jenny Venable about Cajun cultural identity, and the role food plays in the stories we tell ourselves about who we are and who is and isn’t in our culture.

Show Notes:

• Louisiana has been hit hard by Hurricane Laura, including Lake Charles where Jenny currently lives (you can read about it here: https://on.natgeo.com/3mGHufL and here: https://nyti.ms/2RQbc3J). Please consider donating to https://www.the15whitecoats.org/. Their usual work is providing resources for students of color in medical school (which is a great cause on its own!), but one of their founders is actually from Lake Charles and donors can now earmark donations for Hurricane Laura relief.
• Follow us on Twitter at @FoodThoughtPod, and you can drop us a line at ThoughtAboutFood on Gmail. Consider leaving us a review wherever you found us!
• Jenny Venable was our guest today. Here's a link to her article on Cajun culinary imaginary that we talked about today. (If you don't think you have access to scholarly articles, email the podcast and I might be able to help you. A lot of people have access to journals and don't know it.)
• The intro and outro music is "Whiskey Before Breakfast" which is both a great traditional song and a good sentence to put on a vision board. It was performed and shared by The Dan River Ramblers under a Creative Commons license.
• Here's Jenny's recipe (which by the way was fantastic!):

  "Growing up, meatball stew was one of my all-time favorite dishes, which my mama made pretty frequently. It was always served over white rice, and we often had sliced cantaloupe, canned green beans, and corn on the side. I chose to share this particular recipe because it is now one that I make pretty regularly for my family. I went many years after first becoming vegetarian without eating the comforting traditional recipes that I had grown up with because meat is often the main ingredient in Cajun dishes. But one day, when I was really missing some of my favorite meals, I decided to try my hand at veganizing them. Not only did making vegan Cajun food give me a strong sense of nostalgia, but they came out delicious. Since then, I have been veganizing my favorite Cajun recipes, which have always reminded me of home. At this point, I am trying to rethink traditional Cajun dishes in a way that is more sustainable and ethical, while recognizing and honoring the power that particular foodways continue to have in maintaining important cultural and social connections to our historical memories, our familial relationships, and to the land."

   

  Vegan Cajun Meatball Stew

   

  Ingredients:

  • 1 ½ cups peeled and chopped potato
  • 1 cup of chopped carrot
  • white rice cooked according to instructions

   

  For the meatballs:

  • 16 oz beefless ground (2 packs of beyond meat burgers OR 1 pack of beyond meat “beyond beef”)
  • ¼ finely chopped onion
  • ¼ cup chopped green onion
  • ⅓ cup breadcrumbs
  • 1 tbsp. minced garlic
  • ¼ tsp. liquid smoke
  • 1 tsp. Tony Chachere’s (or other Cajun seasoning)
  • 1 tbsp. flaxseed meal 
  • 3 tbsp. Water
  • ½ tsp. black pepper

             

  For the gravy:

  • 2 tablespoons oil
  • 1 onion finely chopped
  • 1 bell pepper finely chopped
  • 4 cloves of garlic finely minced
  • ½-¾ cup dark roux (depending on how thick you like your stew)*
  • 2 quarts water
  • 2 tbsp. better than chicken (or beef) bullion (make sure to find the vegan version!)
  • 2 tsp. garlic powder
  • 2 tsp. onion powder
  • 1 tsp. smoked paprika
  • 1 tbsp. vegan Worchestire
  • salt and pepper to taste

   

  Directions:

  1. Mix meatball ingredients well and form walnut sized balls. At medium-low heat, add 1 tbsp. of oil to a nonstick pan and turn meatballs to brown all sides (about 10-15 minutes). Remove from heat.
  2. In a medium sized pot at medium heat, add remaining oil, and cook onions, bell pepper, and garlic for gravy. Stir often until the onions are translucent and browning and bell pepper is soft. 
  3. Add roux and mix well with the onions, bell pepper, and garlic. 
  4. Stir in water and bouillon paste and bring to boil stirring often (you do not want to burn your roux) until roux is entirely dissolved. 
  5. Add garlic powder, onion powder, smoked paprika, vegan Worchestire, and salt and pepper to the pot.
  6. Stir in carrots and potatoes, partially cover, and simmer until almost fully tender (about 30-40 mins). You might need to add a bit more water. 
  7. Add cooked vegan meatballs to stew and cook on low for 15 minutes.
  8. Adjust spices.
  9. Serve over white rice.
  10. Sprinkle chopped green onion to garnish (optional).

   

  *If you are making your roux from scratch, here is a recipe.

  *To purchase roux, you can find my favorite, Savoie’s, here.

  Note: Cajun stews always taste better the next day, once all the spices and vegetables have had time to meld together!

   

We spoke with Julia Gibson about being a philosopher living on a multi-generational farm co-owned by their extended family since 1795. As you might imagine, a lot of issues come up in a situation like that! We talk about how decisions are made for the farm, their current attempts to get a conservation easement to protect the farm into the future as the surrounding countryside gets developed, issues of justice involved with owning a farm on land that was originally stolen from indigenous people, and (in a connection to the last two episodes) her work as a vegan living on a farm with livestock and hunting, to think through animal rights, animal welfare, and how to talk about these things with her family. It's a great conversation; check it out!

Show Notes:

• Follow us on Twitter at @FoodThoughtPod, and you can drop us a line at ThoughtAboutFood on Gmail. Rate our podcast and leave us a review wherever you get your podcasts! It helps people find the show.
• We have a YouTube channel! It features more conversations about the meaning of food in our lives, and includes some great recipes to boot. Check it out here and subscribe! The first video we've uploaded was made by a former student in Ian's Philosophy of Food class, talking about carne asada and the meaning that food has for him.
• Julia Gibson is a philosopher who works at Antioch University New England while living on their family farm.
• Julia has a blog about "Life on Ryder Farm" that's well worth reading!
• Julia shared a recipe for vegan Buffalo Tofu Pizza. As she says, "I was trying to find a recipe using food on the farm, but my relationship to food on the farm is that I'm so happy to have fresh food that I just eat it. I wanted to share something I'm working on. The first time I made this it looked like a transporter accident. It was delicious! But hideous. I really love buffalo sauce, and I love that vegan buffalo sauce is just as easy as regular buffalo sauce. Recipe for Buffalo Tofu Pizza Pizza dough: homemade or store bought. Recipes abound online. I recommend using one that calls for half 00 flour and weighing it out. White Sauce: -1 cup raw cashews -3/4 cup vegetable broth -2 tbsp olive oil -1 tbsp lemon juice -1/4 nutritional yeast (or more to taste) -3 cloves garlic (or more to taste) -1/2 cup chopped white onion  -dash dried rosemary -dash black pepper   1. Soak cashews overnight. 2. Drain cashews and blend in food processor with broth, oil garlic, lemon juice, onion, nutritional yeast, and herbs.   Buffalo sauce: It’s just original Frank’s RedHot and melted earth balance. Roughly 1:1, with a smidge more hot sauce than butter. Between 6-8 tbsp should do. You can always make more.    Tofu: -16oz firm or extra firm tofu -1/4 apple cider vinegar -2 tbsp tamari -1 tbsp toasted sesame oil -2 tsp garlic powder -1 tsp liquid smoke -dash black pepper   1. Preheat oven to 350 2. Cut tofu into 6-8 slices and arrange in single layer in a 8x8 glass baking dish. 3. Combine other ingredients. 4. Pour over tofu.(Flip once to get both sides.) 5. Bake 30 minutes and flip. Bake 30 more minutes or until desired texture is achieved. 6. Cube slices and toss with Buffalo sauce.    Ranch (makes more than you need): -1.5 cups Vegenaise or other vegan mayo -1/4-1/2 cup plain, unsweetened nondairy milk (I prefer WestSoy) -1.5 tsp apple cider vinegar -3 cloves garlic, crushed or minced -dash dried parsley -dash dried dill -dash onion powder -pinch paprika -pinch black pepper -salt to taste   Assembly:   1. Preheat oven (and pizza stone if you have one) to 475.  2. Roll out pizza dough. 3. Top with white sauce and cheese (I use daiya mozzarella). 4. Scatter tofu on top. Drizzle with half of the remaining sauce. 5. Bake for 8-12 minutes until crust is golden brown. 6. Drizzle with more Buffalo sauce, ranch sauce, and chopped fresh dill. "
• The intro and outro music is "Whiskey Before Breakfast" which is both a great traditional song and a nice way to start a day of rambling around a farm. It was performed and shared by The Dan River Ramblers under a Creative Commons license.

This episode we’re talking to a friend of mine, Joey Tuminello. Joey, like me, works on a number of quite different questions in philosophy, so our conversation covers a lot of ground. We talk about the difference between food and drugs; eating invasive species; animal ethics and food ethics in the Jain religious and philosophical tradition; and we finish up by talking about his work for the activist group Farm Forward, and how that work connects back to his philosophical commitments.

Show Notes:

• UPDATE: Joey Tuminello, our guest on this episode, teaches at McNeese State University. Louisiana has been hit hard by Hurricane Laura, including Lake Charles where the school is located (you can read about it here: https://on.natgeo.com/3mGHufL and here: https://nyti.ms/2RQbc3J). Please consider donating to https://www.the15whitecoats.org/. Their usual work is providing resources for students of color in medical school (which is a great cause on its own!), but Joey tells me one of their founders is actually from Lake Charles and donors can now earmark donations for Hurricane Laura relief.
• Follow us on Twitter at @FoodThoughtPod, and you can drop us a line at ThoughtAboutFood on Gmail. Consider leaving us a review wherever you found us!
• Joey Tuminello was our guest today. Check out his writing on Academia.edu and he said you can email him if you have questions about this episode at JosephT at farmforward.com.
• We spent a lot of time talking about Farm Forward, where Joey is a program coordinator. Check out their work!
• We talked about a lot of books! Probably the main one though was Eating Animals by Jonathan Safran Foer.
• Food Philosophy: an Introduction by David Kaplan (I'd love to have him on the show some time) is a great book we also discussed.
• Joey also mentioned the book Cooking Eating Thinking edited by Deane Curtin and former guest on this podcast Lisa Heldke.
• Here are some other books we talked about
  • I Drink Therefore I Am: A Philosopher's Guide to Wine
  • Nutritionism: The Science and Politics of Dietary Advice
  • The New Wild: Why Invasive Species Will Be Nature's Salvation
  • Invasion Biology: Critique of a Pseudoscience
  • The Ethics and Rhetoric of Invasion Ecology
  • On Animals
• The "invasivore" movement's website we discussed was eattheinvaders.org
• The intro and outro music is "Whiskey Before Breakfast" which is both a great traditional song and the title of an autobiography I would definitely read. It was performed and shared by The Dan River Ramblers under a Creative Commons license.
• Here's Joey's recipe (which by the way I made in a regular pressure cooker and can attest it was delicious!):

  "Instant Pot Vegan Louisiana-Style Red Beans & Rice (adapted and veganized from Camellia Brand Beans' recipe)

  I chose to share this recipe because it represents my own trajectory towards veganism after growing up in south Louisiana. We have some of the best-tasting food in the world, but much of it is steeped in meat and animal products. This also comes along with a lot of assumptions about authenticity and the perceived need to include meat, animal fat, etc. in our traditional dishes. Part of my interest in food ontology stems from my continual reflection on the concept of authenticity in Louisiana cuisine, as well as my view that we can retain and even enhance and develop our cultural identities without the need for animal products. Plus, I cook this all the time and it's delicious, easy, and perfect for leftovers.

  Ingredients:

  · 1 tablespoon oil

  · 1 pack of Beyond Sausage Original Bratwurst (14 oz.), or other vegan sausage

  · 1/4 stick (or 1/8 cup) vegan butter or margarine

  · 2 cups chopped seasoning blend (onions, celery, green bell peppers, parsley flakes)

  · 1 tablespoon minced garlic

  · 1 lb. dried red kidney beans

  · 6 cups water

  · 4 bay leaves

  · 6 tsp. Better Than Bouillon vegetable base (or other stock/bouillon cubes)

  · Salt to taste

  · Creole/Cajun seasoning to taste (e.g. Tony Chachere's)

  · 1/8 tsp. cayenne pepper (to taste)

  · 1/4 tsp. liquid smoke

  · 1.5 tsp. vegan Worcestershire sauce

  · Start with 1 tsp. of each of the following (add more to taste):

  · garlic powder, onion powder, smoked paprika

  · Green onions (for garnish)

  · Hot cooked rice

  Directions:

  1. Rinse and sort beans (no need to soak overnight).

  2. Press the Sauté button on the Instant Pot, add oil to pot. Add sliced sausage, and sauté for about 5 minutes or until browned. Remove sausage to a paper towel-lined plate and reserve.

  3. Add 1/4 stick vegan butter to Instant Pot, along with chopped seasoning blend and garlic, and cook until onions turn soft and clear.

  4. Add cooked sausage back to pot, along with the beans, water, bay leaves, and Better Than Bouillon vegetable base. Stir.

  5. Turn Sauté mode off. Cover, twist to lock the lid, and turn the valve to sealing. Press the Manual button and set to 100 minutes at high pressure.

  6. When the timer beeps, allow the pressure to release naturally for 30 minutes. Then, turn the valve to venting.

  7. Remove lid, and use a spoon or potato masher to mash beans to desired creamy consistency. Add salt, cayenne pepper, liquid smoke, vegan Worcestershire sauce, garlic powder, onion powder, smoked paprika, Creole/Cajun seasoning based on above amounts.

  8. Serve over hot cooked rice.

  9. Garnish with green onions."

This episode we talk to my friend Anne Portman. Anne is working in an ecofeminist framework, and we discuss what that term means as well as what insights ecofeminism has about food sovereignty, our relationships with animals we might eat, and what it means to think of ourselves as things that can be eaten.

Show Notes

• Follow us on Twitter at @FoodThoughtPod, and you can drop us a line at ThoughtAboutFood on Gmail. Consider leaving us a review wherever you found us!
• Anne Portman was our guest today. Check out some of her informal writing on philosophy, parenthood, race, politics, and living in the urban American South on her blog.
• We primarily discussed Anne's paper "Food Sovereignty and Gender Justice" which you might be able to read here. If you don't have access to it, email the podcast and we might be able to help you. Many people have access to a lot of academic articles (through libraries etc.) they don't know they do.
• We also discussed the chapter she wrote for the book Food Justice in US and Global Contexts: Bringing Theory and Practice Together, which I edited with Zachary Piso.
• Here's the article by Val Plumwood on being almost eaten by a crocodile, and thinking of ourselves as prey.
• The intro and outro music is "Whiskey Before Breakfast" which is both a great traditional song and an example of prioritizing values in an emergency. It was performed and shared by The Dan River Ramblers under a Creative Commons license.
• Here's the cookie recipe Anne shared with us: "My family bakes and paints cookies every holiday season. Here is the recipe share by my Aunt Dee, who also has the most extensive cookie cutter collection.

  The Cookies:

  (From Cookie Craft by Valerie Peterson and Janice Fryer)               

                  3 cups all purpose flour

                  ½ teaspoon salt

                  1 cup unsalted butter, softened

                  1 cup sugar

                  1 large egg

                  2 teaspoons vanilla (or 1 teaspoon vanilla + zest of 1 lemon)

  1. Whisk together flour and salt in medium bowl, set aside
  2. With mixer, cream butter and sugar, add egg and vanilla (and lemon zest) until well blended
  3. With mixer on low speed, gradually add flour mixture to butter mixture, mixing until thoroughly blended
  4. Turn dough out onto the work surface, divide into 2 or 3 equal portions, form each portion into a disk shape
  5. Magic step: roll out the dough between sheet of waxed paper. Do not chill first. Works best to use “cookie slats,” about ¼” thick slats of wood to keep the thickness even, but that is optional.
  6. Stack the rolled out sheets flat on a cookie sheet and chill in the refridgerator, 20-30 minutes
  7. To cut out the cookies, remove the top layer o waxed paper, cut out the cookies, transfer to cookie sheet using a flat spatula. (If too soft or sticky to move, chill again.
  8. Gather the scraps together, roll out between the waxed paper, chill, repeat
  9. Bake at 350 degree – watch carefully. They’re done with the edges are light golden. These cookies do not spread.
  10. Remove immediately from cookie sheet, cool on a cookie rack

   

  The Icing:

                  1 lb bag confectioner’s sugar

                  6 tablespoons water

                  2 tablespoons lemon juice

  Beat with a mixer, a lot, until desired consistency

  For piping, put a small amount of icing into snack-size plastic bags. Add a small amount of food color and squeeze (carefully) to mix. To pipe, cut a very small hole in the corner of the bag.

  For spreading icing, put in small cups or bowls, mix in color. Use knifes or toothpicks to decorate.

  Use the icing before it gets too hard.

  Be creative, have fun, and eat your mistakes!"

We spoke with Clement Loo about food justice and food security, including food insecurity among college students, and how academics can be engaged with communities. We also talked about his podcast, Just Sustainability.

Show Notes:

• Follow us on Twitter at @FoodThoughtPod, and you can drop us a line at ThoughtAboutFood on Gmail. Rate our podcast and leave us a review wherever you get your podcasts! It helps people find the show.
• Clement Loo hosts one of my favorite podcasts, Just Sustainability. You can listen to it wherever you get your podcasts, or on its own website. I suggest listening to the other half of our conversation there when he interviewed me!
• Clement was kind enough to share a recipe that he grew up eating, updated with modern cooking technology: "Below is how I cook jook (which is the Cantonese name for Congee) in my Instant Pot.    This is a recipe for a dish that's a cultural food for my family, something that I really hated when I was a kid, but has now become a comfort food (particularly when I don't feel well).    When I think about jook I think about my identity as a Chinese-Canadian/American from a family that has inconsistently hung onto Cantonese (or, to be more specific, Taishanese) culture. Our ancestors first immigrated to Canada and China in the latter-half of the1800s and over that time my family has developed a hodge-podge of traditions that mixes Chinese, Anglo-Canadian, and Euro-American. This recipe, while in some ways is super traditional, is executed in a way that would be probably unrecognizable (and would be probably considered incorrect) to someone from Guangzhou.    Ingredients (serves anywhere between 2 to 4 people): 1 cup of long-grained white rice (though medium grain rice works as well) 6 to 8 cups of water (depending if you like a thicker or runnier gruel) 1 Chinese sausage (i.e. lap cheong) finely diced (optional and fine to exclude if you're a vegetarian or vegan) 1 chicken or 1/2 turkey carcass (or, if one is without a carcass or don't eat carcasses, you can replace the water with an equal amount of vegetable stock or chicken stock) pickled vegetables to taste, finely diced (I tend to use kimchi because it's the easiest to find but my dad uses some sort of Chinese pickles -- I think pickled radishes) 1 century egg, finely diced (also can be excluded if one is vegan or just is thrown off by fermented eggs that are dyed black -- they have a strong sort of acetone/ammonia sort of undernote so consider yourself warned if you haven't tried them before. That said, they are terrific if you know what to expect -- they have a really complex and unique flavor) ginger to taste, peeled and finely chopped salt to taste (I tend to salt just before serving because it's hard to tell prior how much seasoning the jook will require) 1/8 teaspoon of five spice   Instructions: I put everything into the Instant Pot and set it to pressure cook for 30 minutes followed by a slow pressure release (i.e. I don't release the pressure but wait for it to reduce pressure on its own). Then I scoop it into a big bowl and eat it. My dad doesn't do it that way. He wouldn't add the pickles or century egg into the pot and, instead, add them as a garnish just prior to serving. Doing it my way is easier, doing it my dad's way would provide you with more textural variety (which some people might appreciate). If you use a carcass, be careful to look out for small bones when you're eating."
• The intro and outro music is "Whiskey Before Breakfast" which is both a great traditional song and a great accompaniment to listening to Clement's podcast in the morning! It was performed and shared by The Dan River Ramblers under a Creative Commons license.

This episode we talk to Shane Epting about Food Sovereignty, Participatory Budgeting, Time Banks and other interesting proposals in Philosophy of the City.

Show Notes:

• Follow us on Twitter at @FoodThoughtPod, and you can drop us a line at ThoughtAboutFood on Gmail. Consider leaving us a review wherever you found the show!
• Shane Epting is an Assistant Professor at Missouri University of Science and Technology.
• The article of Shane's we were primarily discussing was Participatory Budgeting and Vertical Agriculture: A Thought Experiment in Food System Reform. As always, if you think you don't have access to the article but want to check it out, send an email to the podcast and we'll see if we can help you find it. People often have access to more scholarly articles than they think they do.
• The example of a promising model of a vertical farm Shane referenced was Sky Greens. 
• Shane mentioned "Food Sovereignty in the City: Challenging Historical Barriers to Food Justice" by Samantha Noll, a chapter in the book Food Justice in US and Global Contexts: Bringing Theory and Practice Together, which I edited with Zachary Piso.
• We discussed participatory budgeting as a "technology for democracy." Interestingly the person who introduced both of us to that movement is the philosopher Michael Menser.
• We also discussed time banking as a way to build community while also addressing immediate needs in people's lives, and Shane recommended the work of Mary Carmen Marcos as a good place to see someone doing academic scholarship as well as activism on the topic.
• Ian mentioned a documentary on Havana specifically and Cuba in general working to achieve food sovereignty. It's called The Power of Community: How Cuba Survived Peak Oil, and is often available online if you google it.
• Here's Shane's "Healthy, go-to snack for late nights: Spectacular Peanut Butter and Banana Toast

  Ingredients: 1 ripe banana, 2 large slices of whole-wheat bread, 2 tablespoons plant-based butter, 2 tablespoons of peanut butter, 1/2 tablespoon of honey

  Garnish (optional):  1 tablespoon of powered sugar, 1 orange slice

  Instructions:  Toast the bread in a toaster or toasting device. Spread butter on the back of each slice, then place the buttered side down on the plate. Spread peanut butter over the top of each bread slice using a butter knife or similar device, covering its surface evenly. Take the peeled banana and place it in the palm of your hand or on a clean surface area such as a cutting board. Smash said banana with your other hand or on the clean surface until it is flattened.  Use a rolling pin or another smashing device if necessary. Smashed banana should be about .5 inch (127 mm) thick.  Place the smashed banana on top of the peanut butter, fanning out the pieces from the center to the crust. Take the honey and drizzle it in a back-and-forth motion until it is evenly distributed across the bread. Serve open-faced with a fork and knife.

  To garnish: place powdered sugar in a circular pile on the edge of the plate, slightly larger than the orange slice. Place the orange slice on top of the powdered sugar."

• The intro and outro music is "Whiskey Before Breakfast" which is both a great traditional song and the perfect aperitif to Shane's peanut butter toast in the morning. It was performed and shared by The Dan River Ramblers under a Creative Commons license.

We spoke with Tovar Cerulli about his journey from someone who unreflexively ate what he grew up eating, to a vegan, to someone who tries to mindfully eat animal products and even hunts and fishes. We also discuss justifications versus reasons, the importance of knowing how things we use and depend on come to us, the importance of mindfulness, and how groups (like hunters and vegans) react to perceived marginalization. Also there's the first wild game recipe in the history of the podcast! Check it out in the show notes.

Show Notes:

• Follow us on Twitter at @FoodThoughtPod, and you can drop us a line at ThoughtAboutFood on Gmail. Rate our podcast and leave us a review wherever you get your podcasts! It helps people find the show.
• Tovar Cerulli is a vegan-turned-hunter who has worked as a public speaker, consultant, and collaborative thinking partner. He is committed to building bridges and understanding across ideological and cultural differences, especially as they relate to food and the larger-than-human natural world.
• Tovar's book is The Mindful Carnivore: A Vegetarian’s Hunt for Sustenance
• Tovar shared a recipe with us that uses ground venison; it's certainly the first recipe on the podcast for game you hunted! Tovar says: 

  "We'll be talking, at least in part, about hunting, so I have to share a venison recipe. I considered sharing a recipe for Venison Steak Diane, both because it's a favorite and because—whatever the actual origins of the dish and name—"Diane" always makes me think of Diana or Artemis, the goddess of the hunt.

  Instead, I landed on a simpler recipe that I put a small twist on. One winter day a year or two ago, I was assembling a cottage pie and decided it needed a little spicing up, so I swapped out a few of the seasonings for some curry powder. That moment of inspiration transformed a somewhat bland dish into something extraordinarily savory. It turns out that many similar recipes already exist but I'm grateful to have stumbled onto it myself.

  I make this with venison, of course, but I'm sure wonderful vegetarian or vegan versions could also be created.

  Curried Venison Cottage Pie

  1 lb. ground venison Olive oil 1 onion, minced 1/4 t. salt 2 t. curry powder (more if you prefer spicy over savory) 1 c. stock (venison, chicken, beef, or vegetable)

  3 medium potatoes, cubed 3/4 c. milk Paprika

  4 T. butter 2 carrots, sliced 2 celery stalks, sliced 1/4 lb. mushrooms, sliced 1 c. frozen peas

  In a pot or skillet, heat a couple of tablespoons of olive oil over medium heat. Brown the ground venison and set aside. Add a bit more oil to the pot, plus the onion, salt, and curry powder, and saute for several minutes, stirring regularly, until the onion turns translucent. Add the browned venison back to the pot, mix thoroughly, then add the stock and simmer until the liquid is nearly gone.

  While the curried venison is simmering, boil and drain the potatoes, then mash with one tablespoon of butter and the milk. In another pot or skillet, melt two tablespoons of butter and saute the carrots, celery, and mushrooms, adding the peas at the end.

  Pour the curried venison into a casserole dish. Layer on the vegetables. Then spread the mashed potatoes over the top, dot with the remaining butter, and sprinkle with paprika. Bake at 375F for 30 minutes or until lightly browned.

  Enjoy! Perfect for a cold winter evening."

• The intro and outro music is "Whiskey Before Breakfast" which is both a great traditional song and something that can be enjoyed mindfully. It was performed and shared by The Dan River Ramblers under a Creative Commons license.

This episode we spoke with Shanti Chu about the ways our identity and what we eat interact. We also talk about the different ways philosophers can talk about philosophical issues inside and outside academia.

Show Notes:

• Follow us on Twitter at @FoodThoughtPod, and you can drop us a line at ThoughtAboutFood on Gmail. Leave us a review wherever you get your podcasts! It helps people find the show.
• Shanti Chu is a philosopher living and working in Chicago. To see some of the cool things she's working on, you can visit her personal page, her vegetarian/vegan blog ChiVeg, her YouTube page, and her Instagram.
• Shanti was kind enough to share a recipe with us that's meaningful to her -- Hearty Tofu Paprikash. As she says,

  "Being half Hungarian, I grew up eating delicious and flavorful Hungarian food.  My Hungarian upbringing has influenced me to the extent of using Paprika in most of my dishes because I can’t live without the flavor.

  While some Hungarian classics are meat-heavy, they can easily be veganized.  For example, chicken paprikash is a staple of the Hungarian diet and it is a very remarkable, comforting dish but it has a lot of meat and dairy in it.  Just because you are vegetarian or vegan doesn’t mean you have to stop eating your Hungarian favorites.  Why not make this Hungarian staple vegetarian friendly with all the scrumptious tomato/paprika flavor?"

• The intro and outro music is "Whiskey Before Breakfast" which is both a great traditional song and a great way for me to express my identity. It was performed and shared by The Dan River Ramblers under a Creative Commons license.

We spoke with Zane McNeill about his new book Vegan Entanglements: Dismantling Racial and Carceral Capitalism and what “carceral veganism” and “anti-carceral veganism” means and looks like. We also discuss his other new book, Y’all Means All: The Emerging Voices Queering Appalachia.

Show Notes:

• Follow us on Twitter at @FoodThoughtPod, and you can drop us a line at ThoughtAboutFood on Gmail. Rate our podcast and leave us a review wherever you get your podcasts! It helps people find the show.
• We have a YouTube channel! It features more conversations about the meaning of food in our lives, and includes some great recipes to boot. Check it out here and subscribe!
• Zane McNeill is an activist and author who has published anthologies on anti-carceral veganism and queer and trans liberation with PM Press, Sanctuary Press, and Lantern Publishing and Media. They are also a contributing writer with Sentient Media and Law@theMargins.
• Zane's new book is Vegan Entanglements: Dismantling Racial and Carceral Capitalism from Lantern Press Media, and his other new book is Y'all Means All: The Emerging Voices Queering Appalachia. Check them out!
• Zane shared a recipe for Butternut Mac 'n Cheez that he had early in his career to being vegan that his mom made. Check it out, and we both recommend the Oh She Glows website generally.
• The intro and outro music is "Whiskey Before Breakfast" which is both a great traditional song and a not-straight-edge but certainly punk way to start the day. It was performed and shared by The Dan River Ramblers under a Creative Commons license.

In this second episode I talk with Stuart Haniff from the Food Bank of the Rio Grande Valley about food insecurity during the pandemic and its economic fallout. We talk about the way food security is manifesting itself right now by looking at this local context, as well as some ways you can help directly.

Show Notes

• Follow us on Twitter at @FoodThoughtPod, and you can drop us a line at ThoughtAboutFood on Gmail. Consider leaving us a review wherever you found us!
• Stuart Haniff is the director of the Food Bank of the Rio Grande Valley. 
• You can support the Food Bank RGV on their website, but here's the link to directly address the surge in need from Covid 19. The money raised goes directly to emergency food assistance in the RGV.
• As I mentioned in the intro, the book Borderlands / La Frontera: The New Mestiza is an excellent and highly influential book on the nature of borderlands, but focusing particularly on the RGV, where Gloria Anzaldúa is from. (she's an alumna from the legacy institution of the UTRGV where I teach! I should have mentioned that in the episode, but she'll come up again in future podcasts no doubt.)
• Also as I mentioned in the intro, the RGV has been discussed in a lot of national and international media as an example of an area struggling with the various effects of the pandemic. Here's an example from the New York Times.
• The intro and outro music is "Whiskey Before Breakfast" which is both a great traditional song and self-care advice for the pandemic. It was performed and shared by The Dan River Ramblers under a Creative Commons license.

This episode we spoke with Carolyn Korsmeyer about taste and the aesthetics of food, replicating ancient meals found in tombs, leaving sticky fingerprints on cookbooks, writing fiction novels as a philosopher, and a lot more in this wide-ranging conversation. 

Show Notes:

• Follow us on Twitter at @FoodThoughtPod, and you can drop us a line at ThoughtAboutFood on Gmail. Leave us a review! It helps people find the show.
• Carolyn Korsmeyer is an author of numerous books, and Research Professor of Philosophy at the University at Buffalo, State University of New York. 
• One of the important early works on taste that we discussed was by David Hume. You can check out a version of this very interesting and influential work here, prepared by Early Modern Texts, which adapts important older texts to an easier, more modern version of English.
• The recipe Carolyn brought for this episode is for gingerbread. As we discussed this episode, cookbooks with all their material reality of notes and stains connects us to the past, and are aesthetic objects in their own right. So rather than transcribe the recipe here, I've uploaded the scan of her cookbook as this episode's image.
• The intro and outro music is "Whiskey Before Breakfast" which is both a great traditional song and a good way to set the stage for some gingerbread in the morning. It was performed and shared by The Dan River Ramblers under a Creative Commons license.

In Episode 1, I said that conversations about food can turn into conversations about anything. That’s particularly true in this wide-ranging conversation with philosopher Dr. Lisa Heldke. We discuss how looking through the lens of food shows us that everything is always chomping and being chomped on, and that this has some profound implications on our diets, our bodies, and the world around us. We also discuss a lot of other things, including eating food from other cultures, baking, eating at a restaurant where you’re blindfolded, and many more topics besides!

Show Notes:

• Follow us on Twitter at @FoodThoughtPod, and you can drop us a line at ThoughtAboutFood on Gmail. Consider leaving us a review wherever you found us!
• Lisa Heldke was our guest today. You can find more of her work on her PhilPapers page.
• Her two books that we mentioned in our talk were Philosophers at Table: On Food and Being Human and Exotic Appetites: Ruminations of a Food Adventurer.
• I mentioned the book Fortune Cookie Chronicles: Adventures in the World of Chinese Food.
• Lisa mentioned the book Making Sense of Taste: Food and Philosophy by Carolyn Korsmeyer, which has (among other things) a very interesting conversation on food as art.
• Lisa also mentioned a couple baking books, Tartine Bread and Bread : A Baker's Book of Techniques and Recipes.
• Here are the sourdough projects Lisa discussed happening at NC State: the Wild Sourdough Project, and Sourdough Project 2.0.
• You can take a virtual tour of the sourdough library in Belgium!
• As we mentioned, there are a lot of good recipes on King Arthur Flour's website.
• XKCD's (non-serious) theory that sourdough is in a complicated symbiosis with the Coronavirus
• The intro and outro music is "Whiskey Before Breakfast" which is both a great traditional song and a good item to add to your weekend to-do list. It was performed and shared by The Dan River Ramblers under a Creative Commons license.
• In the podcast, we accidentally called Scott Gilbert a philosopher of biology. In actual fact he's a well known biologist (this is what happens when two philosophers get talking to each other!).
• Here's Lisa's recipe: "My challenge is that too many recipes mean things to me. So, I'll go with what's on my mind right now.  I've been baking bread and giving it away (probably about 60 loaves since we went into Stay at Home). My sourdough has never been happier. I've also given away about six wads of my sourdough, to people across the baking spectrum. I'm using a recipe that Tartine Bakery put at the front of its book on bread. I just keep making it over and over, not like a prayer or a meditation or anythying. Like a Lutheran who believes that she is the only thing that stands between her friends and starvation or something. But I guess that's actually the way a Lutheran would meditate. Anyway, the recipe is probably deeply protected, but here's Martha's link to it."  

This is Part 2 of an interview with Josh Milburn about his new book Just Fodder: The Ethics of Feeding Animals. In this part of our conversation, we talk about our responsibilities toward and for wild animals that come under our care, such as in zoos or when we rescue wild predators.

Show Notes:

• Follow us on Twitter at @FoodThoughtPod, and you can drop us a line at ThoughtAboutFood on Gmail. Rate our podcast and leave us a review wherever you get your podcasts! It helps people find the show.
• We have a YouTube channel! It features more conversations about the meaning of food in our lives, and includes some great recipes to boot. Check it out here and subscribe!
• Dr. Josh Milburn is a Lecturer in Political Philosophy and a British Academy Postdoctoral Fellow at Loughborough University. You can learn more on his website or by following him on Twitter.
• Josh's new book is Just Fodder: The Ethics of Feeding Animals from McGill-Queen's University Press. Check it out! 
• I was a guest on Josh's podcast Knowing Animals. If you haven't heard it before, take a listen to episode 157, in which we discuss Precision Livestock Farming.
• The intro and outro music is "Whiskey Before Breakfast" which is both a great traditional song and at least one thing that should definitely not be served to our companion animals. It was performed and shared by The Dan River Ramblers under a Creative Commons license.
• Appropriately, this time Josh shared a recipe with us for a vegan suet feeder from the book Happy Vegan Christmas, though as he warns us, results may vary depending on the ambient temperature where you are (specifically, is coconut oil solid where you live). Take a look! "Suet Cups for Winter Garden Birds 500g / 1lb. 2 oz. coconut oil 100ml / 3 1/2 fl. oz. / a generous 1/3 cup canola oil 700g / 1lb. 9oz. / 5 cups mixed wild bird seed Melt the coconut oil in a pan and stir in the [canola oil] and seeds . Scoop the mixture into old cups (or other vessels such as milk bottles or plastic containers). To make sure the birds can sit and enjoy picking their seeds, I insert a stick into each cup. Leave the fat to set. Tie string or a ribbon around the cup's handle and hang it up in a tree or at a bird feeding station. For my chickens, I make seed cups without inserting the sticks."

This episode we talk with Lisa Oliver King and Estelle Slootmaker from Our Kitchen Table about food justice, food sovereignty, and the great projects OKT does to implement those concepts in the world.

Show Notes

• Follow us on Twitter at @FoodThoughtPod, and you can drop us a line at ThoughtAboutFood on Gmail. Consider leaving us a review wherever you found us!
• Lisa Oliver King and Estelle Slootmaker work for Our Kitchen Table, a grass-roots, nonprofit organization serving greater Grand Rapids.
• Our Kitchen Table does amazing work, and they have resources for replicating those programs in your own organization or community. Check them out!
• Our Kitchen Table was featured in the book Food Justice in US and Global Contexts: Bringing Theory and Practice Together, which I edited with Zachary Piso.
• The intro and outro music is "Whiskey Before Breakfast" which is both a great traditional song and an increasingly common practice for parents helping their children with remote schooling. It was performed and shared by The Dan River Ramblers under a Creative Commons license.
• Since we had two guests, we were lucky enough to get two recipes! Lisa Oliver King's heartily endorses Bryant Terry's recipe for greens in our episode. She also writes, "Bryant joined us for an event a few years back and has remained dear to our hearts. I always share his cookbook when we table at events.  https://www.sunset.com/recipe/garlicky-mustard-greens"
• And here's Stelle’s recipe:

  "I love making this soup for my hubby and me. This big pot of soup lasts us two or three meals. I make and freeze vegetable broth from stalks, stems and leaves of vegetables we get from our CSA share all summer. If I don’t have sweet potatoes, it works just as well with winter squash, which we also freeze a lot of. This soup recipe launched my passion for making hearty soups, which have become a mealtime staple for us. I got this recipe when my daughter, Caitlin, worked at the People’s Food Co-op. I have lots of good memories of meeting her and her brother, Rob, there for lunch of coffee when I visit Ann Arbor." People’s Food Coop of Ann Arbor West African Peanut Soup • 1⁄2 T olive oil This big pot of soup lasts us two or three meals • 1 1⁄2 C Spanish onion peeled and chopped • 1⁄4 T minced fresh ginger • 1⁄2 t sea salt • 1⁄4 t cayenne to taste • 1 1⁄2 C sweet potatoes, chopped • 2 1⁄2 C veggie broth (may need more) • 3⁄4 C creamy peanut butter • 3⁄4 C tomato juice

  1. Sautee onions in oil until transparent. Add carrots and spices. Continue sautéing about 5 minutes more. 2. Add sweet potatoes and broth. Simmer until veggies are cooked through. 3. Remove from heat. Add tomato juice and peanut butter. Process until smooth. Adjust consistency with more broth or tomato juice. 4. Soup will thicken as it cools.

This episode we spoke with Ilana Braverman about the Better Food Foundation and how to affect people's choices around food.

Show Notes:

• Follow us on Twitter at @FoodThoughtPod, and you can drop us a line at ThoughtAboutFood on Gmail. Leave us a review! It helps people find the show.
• Ilana Braverman is Director of Outreach for the Better Food Foundation, and leads the DefaultVeg campaign. You can listen to Ilana's Tedx talk here, Moving Beyond a Hamburger Default World.
• You can visit the Better Food Foundation's website to get involved, or the direct site for their project DefaultVeg.
• The intro and outro music is "Whiskey Before Breakfast" which is both a great traditional song and an interesting morning default. It was performed and shared by The Dan River Ramblers under a Creative Commons license.

This episode we spoke with Josh Milburn about high-tech alternatives to meat, whether strict vegetarianism is immoral, if we morally should eat road kill or shellfish, and a lot of other topics besides, so check out the show notes! 

Show Notes:

• Follow us on Twitter at @FoodThoughtPod, and you can drop us a line at ThoughtAboutFood on Gmail. Consider leaving us a review wherever you found the show!
• Josh Milburn is a moral and political philosopher at the University of Sheffield.
• Josh also interviewed me over at his podcast, Knowing Animals. Check it out! I mostly talk about Precision Livestock Farming and other high-tech methods of agriculture, but we also touch on the responsibility of academics to non-human animal harm, and my origin story of how I first started thinking about food.
• I'm not endorsing them and I certainly don't have any kind of deal worked out with them, but Josh mentioned that if you're in the US you can get cellular agriculture/3-D printed milk right now at Perfect Day. Would you check it out? I'm not sure.
• When the episode was recorded you couldn't buy cellular agriculture meat, but just a few weeks later, you now can (at least in Singapore) 
• The recipe Josh shared was "Sweet Cranberry Glazed BBQ 'Ribs'" by Gaz Oakley. This episode was recorded a little before Christmas and now it's a bit after Christmas, but I think it would be good any time you're in the mood for ribs, or for "ribs".
• The intro and outro music is "Whiskey Before Breakfast" which is both a great traditional song and a good way to try out some of the cellular agriculture discussed in this episode. It was performed and shared by The Dan River Ramblers under a Creative Commons license.

This episode we spoke with Jennifer Molidor about food justice and sustainable agriculture, and how that can be pursued in public policy, activism, and changing individual diets. We also talk about pursuing alternatives to academic careers. It's a lot of fun, and really interesting.

Show Notes:

• Follow us on Twitter at @FoodThoughtPod, and you can drop us a line at ThoughtAboutFood on Gmail. Rate our podcast and leave us a review wherever you get your podcasts! It helps people find the show.
• Jennifer Molidor is a senior food campaigner at the Center for Biological Diversity. That organization also has a website devoted to food issues called Take Extinction Off Your Plate, and you can follow her on Twitter @JenniferMolidor
• Jennifer was kind enough to share a recipe with us. It's a family-favorite vegan sandwich, and I can report it's great! Here's what she had to say:

  "I had a hard time choosing something, from power bowls to smoothies to my renowned guacamole, but I’ll go with a simple sammich because mom-life means a lot of sandwiches that are packed with protein and deliciousness. It’s a smushed chickpea sandwich and measurements are all to taste:

  • Toasted bread
  • Plant-based mayo
  • Lightly toasted mustard seeds
  • Dijon mustard
  • Small chopped red onion
  • Small chopped leek
  • 1 tsp Himalayan salt
  • 1 pinch black pepper
  • 1-2 cans of chickpeas, drained
  • 1 cup chopped celery
  • 1 cup chopped pickles
  • 4 cloves minced fresh garlic
  • 2 tsp apple cider vinegar
  • 2 tsp lemon juice
  • Pinch of cayenne

   

  Use flavors to taste, but be generous with salt and mayo. Mash chickpeas, mustard and mustard seeds, add in onions, garlic, leek, pickles, celery, and other spices (mash with fork or masher). Add in mayo, lemon juice, vinegar. Taste, adjust as necessary. If you want, you can add nori sheets or yeast to make it more savory/tuna-like. Add parsley or cilantro if you’re into that kind-a thing. This is great alone or in sandwiches and lasts a few days refrigerated. I add avocado slices and tomatoes on my sandwiches with this to keep it juicy."

• The intro and outro music is "Whiskey Before Breakfast" which is both a great traditional song and a great starter before a chickpea sandwich in the morning. It was performed and shared by The Dan River Ramblers under a Creative Commons license.

We spoke with Danny Shahar about the arguments in his new book, Why it's OK to Eat Meat. As a vegan myself, I thought his arguments were quite thought-provoking, and surprisingly sympathetic to the concerns of vegans and vegetarians given the title. We also talk about the coordination problem and individual action in activism, why people sometimes agree with multiple positions that contradict each other, how to improve your red beans and rice game, and more. Check it out!

Show Notes:

• Follow us on Twitter at @FoodThoughtPod, and you can drop us a line at ThoughtAboutFood on Gmail. Rate our podcast and leave us a review wherever you get your podcasts! It helps people find the show.
• Danny Shahar teaches in the Public Policy, Ethics & Law program at the University of New Orleans and is a member of the Urban Entrepreneurship & Policy Institute.
• Danny's new book is Why It's OK to Eat Meat, and is published by Routledge.
• Danny also shared a recipe with us! In our talk he argued strongly for making a dark roux, so be sure to listen to that as well. As he says:  "For my recipe contribution, here's how to make vegan red beans and rice that even meat-eating New Orleanians will happily consume:   Ingredients 1/4 cup vegetable oil 1/4 cup all-purpose flour 1 large onion 1 green bell pepper 3 stalks celery 1 clove garlic, minced 1 tsp. salt 1 tsp. smoked paprika 1 tsp. garlic powder 1/2 tsp. ground black pepper 1/2 tsp. onion powder 1/2 tsp. oregano 1/2 tsp. thyme 1/4 tsp. chipotle powder 1 bay leaf 1 lb. dried kidney beans 6 cups water 2 tsp. white vinegar 1/2 tsp. liquid smoke 3 green onions, sliced 1/4 cup flat-leaf parsley, chopped White rice   Instructions
  1. Combine the oil and flour in a heavy pot or Dutch oven and cook over medium heat until the color of peanut butter, stirring constantly. (This will take a while).
  2. Stir in the onions, bell pepper, and celery and cook until translucent.
  3. Add the garlic, salt, smoked paprika, garlic powder, black pepper, onion powder, oregano, thyme, chipotle powder, and bay leaf and stir for about a minute.
  4. Stir in the kidney beans, water, vinegar, and liquid smoke. Bring to a boil and cook over low heat, stirring every half hour or so, until the beans are very soft. (Make sure to scrape up the bottom of the pot so you don't end up with a burned-on layer.)
  5. When the beans are ready, stir in the green onions and parsley and remove from heat.
  6. Serve over white rice with a Louisiana-style hot sauce (ideally Crystal Extra Hot)."

   

• The intro and outro music is "Whiskey Before Breakfast" which is both a great traditional song and something we can all agree is a good thing to do, whatever our views of how much meat to have at breakfast are. It was performed and shared by The Dan River Ramblers under a Creative Commons license.

In this first episode, I talk with Dr. David Leichter about "edible memory", the idea that memory is embodied in food and the act of eating. That includes our own personal memories as well as social, communal memories around food. That leads to a wide-ranging conversation about food tourism, religious food, and more!

Follow us on Twitter, @FoodThoughtPod, and if you have a topic you’d like to see discussed, drop us a line at ThoughtAboutFood@gmail.com.

Show Notes:

• Follow us on Twitter at @FoodThoughtPod, and you can drop us a line at ThoughtAboutFood on Gmail. Consider leaving us a review wherever you found us!
• David Leichter was the guest in this inaugural episode. You can find some of his work at his PhilPapers page.
• The focus of our conversation was the chapter he wrote for the book Food Justice in US and Global Contexts: Bringing Theory and Practice Together, which I edited with Zachary Piso.
• The intro and outro music is "Whiskey Before Breakfast" which is both a great traditional song and a pretty interesting suggestion. It was performed and shared by The Dan River Ramblers under a Creative Commons license.
• Here's the recipe that David brought to share:

   

  "The following recipe for moong dal is one taken from Julie Sahni's Classic Indian Vegetarian and Grain Cooking. This is one of the first recipes I learned after graduating from college. I was living with my partner at the time, just outside of Detroit, MI. We had to learn how to cook for ourselves, and I figured that the way to do it was to cook Indian food. I'm not sure why, but I thought that cooking meat was too easy. I was looking for something about how to layer flavor, trying to eat a bit more healthy and mindfully, and thought that Indian food was the way to go. So, I found this cookbook and, in the last 20 or so years, I have cooked most things in it. What I like about it is that it's simple and easy - it can be made while doing other work, it can be made while hungover to cure it, and it can be made attentively. It works on a cold night, a warm evening, and anything in between. By itself the dal is a little bland, but the spiced oil (tadka) is what really makes it sing:

  1 cup moong dal

  1/4 tsp turmeric

  3 1/2 cups water

  1 tsp. salt

  3-4 Tbsp. ghee or light vegetable oil

  2 tsp. cumin

  1 Tbsp. ginger

  2-4 green chilies

  1 Tbsp. lemon juice

  4 Tbsp. cilantro

  1. Wash & rinse dal and put into a pot with the turmeric, water and salt. Bring to a boil, reduce heat to low and partially cover, cooking for about 35-40 minutes. The dal should be soft. Whisk until it turns into a thick puree. Keep on low heat while

  2. Heat ghee/oil in a separate pan over medium high heat. Add cumin and stir until they turn brown (~15 seconds), then add ginger, chilies until the oil is laced with the scent of the ginger, chilies, and cumin. Pour into dal. Add lemon juice and fold in the cilantro. Add a little cayenne pepper or kashmiri pepper if desired."