To mark 50 episodes on the podcast, I share my own evolving thoughts on food. I reflect on the state of agriculture and on what sustainability might mean in the food movement today. My experience over the last half decade engaging with the food movement has been that debates are all too often reduced to soundbites on social media. Complex arguments are reduced to 280 characters on Twitter, angry posts on Facebook, and rants on YouTube. We're talking past each other. That's unhelpful.  By sharing my thoughts, I hope to encourage more honest, open and nuanced discussions with whoever is lis ..read more

Guilt and shame are deeply present in our relationship with food. How do we harness these emotions for good? When it comes to eating animals, can guilt and shame positively influence our behaviour or those of corporations to reduce our environmental foodprint?   We are joined by Dr. Jennifer Jacquet - Associate Professor in the Department of Environmental Studies at NYU. Jennifer does interdisciplinary research on globalized environmental problems, including the wildlife trade, fisheries, and climate change. She is the author of the book "Is Shame Necessary? New Uses for an Old Tool ..read more

From its more humble origins to its modern-day status as a dominant yet destructive wonderbean, the story of soy concerns us all.   Soy is much more than tofu or tempeh. It's a global commodity crop: the driving force of animal agriculture and a hidden fuel of growing importance for our cars.   In this episode, we deep dive with Dr. Christine M. Du Bois into the history of soy and the vital role it continues to play in our lives.   Christine M. Du Bois is a former co-manager of the Johns Hopkins Project on Soy. She is the author of The Story of Soy (2018) and Images of West Indi ..read more

The EU Common Agricultural Policy (CAP) has become Europe’s problem child.   Vested interests behind one of the Union’s oldest policies threaten to derail Europe’s ambitious new climate, biodiversity and food strategies.   In this episode, we deep dive into the controversial CAP - over €350 billion of taxpayer money spent on European farming - and discuss if there is still any hope in reforming a policy that continues to baffle and disappoint many of Europe’s citizens, farmers, and scientists.   We are joined by conservation biologist Dr. Guy Pe’er from the German Centre for Int ..read more

What is the future of protein, and of animal agriculture? Can we raise animals sustainably or should we move beyond meat? To feed a growing world population, we need protein. For many, protein means meat. As our reliance on animal products grows, so does its destructive impact on the natural world. Mass deforestation, biodiversity loss, and significant greenhouse gas emissions of livestock put our dietary habits into the spotlight. In this panel discussion, I am joined by Nathalie Rolland (Cellulaire Agriculture France & ProVeg), Andrew deCoriolis (Farm Forward) and Patrick Holden (Sustain ..read more

Everything begins with a seed. Seeds are both a story of loss and a story of hope in our food system. On the one hand, we are rapidly losing seed diversity, and with it, perhaps the single best weapon agriculture has to withstand an increasingly volatile climate. When we lose biodiversity, we lose our ability to be resilient. What (or who) is causing this loss?  On the other, seeds are central to resistance and hope. From seed saving, sharing and storing to embracing indigenous farming practices and knowledge, seeds are central to food justice and resilience of our food system to a changi ..read more

2019 was the year of climate strikes. Animal rights activists, emboldened by a new wave of mass civil disobedience, are determined to end industrial animal agriculture. Millions of ordinary people took to the streets in 2019. They put their bodies on the line, engaging in mass civil disobedience to demand climate action. In an era where food is produced in factory farms with an immeasurable scale of suffering and destruction, what role should animal rights activists play in the transition towards a just food system? In this episode, we talk with Jeff Sebo (New York University), Nico Stubler (D ..read more

To transcend infighting in the food movement, finding our common ground is as important as targeting our common enemy. The food movement is amazingly diverse. From personal health and animal rights to protecting worker’s rights and precious ecosystems, our why’s for wanting to radically transform our food system widely differ. So do our tactics and our strategies.  That diversity may just be the food movement's greatest strength, yet it also risks being its biggest weakness.  Infighting is as invasive as it is destructive. The ‘circling fire squad’ - where people with common enemies ..read more

The continued expansion of industrial-scale chemical-intensive agriculture around the world relies on one central powerful myth: only industrial agriculture can feed the world.   Timothy A. Wise - author of Eating Tomorrow - joins us to discuss why, despite overwhelming evidence to the contrary, governments continue to invest in a model of farming that is devouring the natural resources on which future food production depends. By choosing the path of industrial agriculture today, we are, quite literally, “eating our collective tomorrows”. Tim and I discuss: Who actually “feeds ..read more

We are on the cusp of a post-antibiotic era. The golden age of miracle drugs may be coming to an end. To understand why, award-winning author Maryn McKenna joins us on the show to discuss the long intertwined history of antibiotics and industrial animal agriculture.  We discuss: What antibiotic resistance is and why it’s ‘the greatest slow-brewing health crisis of our time’ Why bacteria are winning and why Big Pharma are dragging their feet The birth of antibiotics and how it enabled industrial livestock production Why chicken lies at the centre of the story of antibiotics and industrial ..read more