Real Food Reads

Alicia Kennedy's No Meat Required: The Cultural History and Culinary Future of Plant-Based Eating, delves into the subcultures and politics that have defined vegan and vegetarian cuisine in the United States—from tempeh production to vegan punk cafes. In this episode, Alicia talks to Anna Lappé about the feminist origins of her own veganism, how she eats in Puerto Rico, and how the cultural signifiers of meat and plant-based eating have shifted over time. SHOW NOTES: 3:18 | Alicia’s love of okra ​​4:28 | What Alicia hopes people will take away from her book about veganism and vegetarian politics 6:00 | Meat eating in the US culture wars 7:06 | The abundance of meat tied to United States as US as an “exceptional nation”; political tolerance for injustices like child labor in the meat industry; meat eating linked to ideas like masculine virility 8:40 | Link between vegetarianism and the feminist movement 10:10 | Lagusta’s Luscious’ vegan “Furious Vulva” chocolate 11:55 | Alicia on corporate fake meat alter

Can you believe five years have gone by since the last Farm Bill? It feels like a lifetime ago — SO much has changed politically. Bone up on your Farm Bill history and get ready to organize for a transformative Food & Farm Bill in 2023. This 2019 Real Food Reads interview with Dan Imhoff, farm policy expert and author of “The Farm Bill: A Citizen’s Guide,” is a great place to start. Follow Real Food Media wherever you get your podcasts. DIG DEEPER: Get the book - The Farm Bill: A Citizen’s Guide, https://islandpress.org/books/farm-bill HEAL Food Alliance’s Farm Bill 101, https://healfoodalliance.org/ “This Farm Bill Really Matters. We Explain Why.” by Lisa Held, Civil Eats, March 20, 2023 https://civileats.com/2023/03/20/farm-bill-explainer-2023-bill-snap-nutrition-climate-smart-farming-commodities-insurance-congress/ “HEAL Food Alliance Shows Up Big in DC for a Transformative Farm Bill” by Eloni Porcher, March 24, 2023 https://healfoodalliance.org/heal-food-alliance-shows-up-big-dc-for-a-transforma

Insects are the often-times invisible workforce that take on planetary care. According to Dave Goulson, author of Silent Earth: Averting the Insect Apocalypse, “they pollinate, break down waste and provide food for us and countless other species. If they vanished tomorrow, the apocalypse would begin the next day.” Today, insect populations are in rapid decline, with estimates of population loss ranging from 40-75% across regions. The main drivers? Habitat loss and widespread use of dangerous chemicals—both of which are linked with industrial agriculture. In this special Real Food Reads episode commemorating the 60th anniversary of Rachel Carson’s Silent Spring, Anna Lappé speaks with Dave Goulson about agrichemicals, biodiversity, and how we, together, can avert the insect apocalypse. SHOW NOTES 3:52 The importance of insects and the ecosystem services they provide 6:00 An example of insects at work in Australia 9:20 Unknown number of insect species, but we do know that insect populations are on the

When we speak of biodiversity loss, the climate crisis, and food injustice, we have to go to the root: colonialism. From the perspective and "voice" of the nutmeg, The Nutmeg’s Curse: Parables for a Planet in Crisis by acclaimed author Amitav Ghosh does just that. Ghosh was born in Calcutta and grew up in India, Bangladesh, and Sri Lanka and is now based in Brooklyn. He’s the author of numerous works of fiction and nonfiction including The Great Derangement: Climate Change and the Unthinkable. His most recent book, The Nutmeg’s Curse, opens with the Dutch Empire’s brutal war in the Banda Islands—a small archipelago that’s part of what is now Indonesia—to establish a monopoly on the nutmeg trade. From there, he takes us halfway around the world and back again, weaving together stories of colonial violence, human resilience, and non-human agency. SHOW NOTES: 2:32 | Why European navigators sailed off in search of spices in the 17th century 4:00 | Dutch colonialism and the 1621 Banda Massacre 9:46 | Nutmeg pro

Indigenous people make up 5 percent of the global population and steward 80 percent of the world's biodiversity, yet they aren’t centered in most discussions or actions for environmental justice. An Indigenous woman and scientist, Dr. Jessica Hernandez talks about the importance of Indigenous science (and scientists) in her new book Fresh Banana Leaves: Healing Indigenous Landscapes through Indigenous Science. In this conversation, Jessica talks about the importance of Indigenous-led stewardship projects, Black-Indigenous solidarity, and shares the moving story of how she came to the book’s title. SHOW NOTES: 1:51 | The difference between an interdisciplinary scientist and an Indigenous scientist 3:50 | What is Indigenous science? 5:50 | Indigenous people support 80% of the world’s biodiversity 10:15 | Conservation as a Western construct and the trouble with the original concept of National Parks 12:44 | The importance of #LandBack and Indigenous-led stewardship projects 17:49 | The impact of bana

There is a broad consensus around the “endangerment” of crop diversity—among scientists, advocates, policymakers, and corporations, actors who tend to disagree on a number of other issues. But Helen Anne Curry says: not so fast. Where does this endangerment narrative come from? Whose interests does it serve? And what assumptions does it make? Conventional approaches to crop conservation largely center on conserving seeds off-farm in gene banks, as opposed to protecting the livelihoods, communities, and farming systems of the peasants and Indigenous peoples who developed and steward those seeds. In this conversation, Curry delves into the history and science of seed conservation—and its implications for the future of food. SHOW NOTES: 2:23 | What is the “endangerment narrative”? 6:11 | Origins of endangerment in the early history of plant breeding and industrial agriculture 14:35 | Endangerment as an outgrowth of settler colonialist & racist assumptions 19:01 | Defining ex situ (off site) vs. in situ (on site

Colonialism is at the root of the problems we see in our food system, and, as the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change recently stated, it is also at the root of the climate crisis. By cultivating diversity within the soil and amongst farmers, we can work towards a liberated future. “Healing Grounds: Climate, Justice, and the Deep Roots of Regenerative Farming” by Liz Carlisle shares the stories of Black, Indigenous, Latino, and Asian-American farmers around the United States who are using their ancestral agricultural traditions to heal the soil, build climate resilience, connect with their culture, and create pathways for racial justice. Tiffani’s conversation with author Liz Carlisle and scientist Aidee Guzman highlights what is possible when we focus on diversity above and below ground. SHOW NOTES: 02:25 | The four per mille study and why regenerative agriculture has sparked hope in recent years. 04:35 | What’s possible when you take “regeneration” and regenerative agriculture to heart 06:25 |

Taste Makers: Seven Immigrant Women Who Revolutionized Food in America by James Beard award-winning author Mayukh Sen gives us an intimate look into the lives of seven women who’ve changed the way we think about food in the US, while sharing some unique insights into how food media shapes our appetites.

Frances Moore Lappé's groundbreaking book in 1971 exposed the true cause of hunger while also changing the way many people eat, for the better. 50 years later, she released a new edition with an updated introduction that speaks to her ethos, what has changed in the last 50 years, and what's next.

The Covid pandemic, mass uprisings against injustice around the world, raging forest fires... Our bodies, societies, and planet are inflamed, argue Raj Patel and Dr. Rupa Marya. Their epic and timely new book "Inflamed: Deep Medicine and the Anatomy of Injustice" will forever change the way you think—not only about food—but about the ruptures in the web of life that have wrought so much damage on our health and relationships. Rupa is a physician and professor of medicine dedicated to healing the wounds of colonialism through food medicine, story, and learning; and Raj is the best-selling author "Stuffed and Starved," "The Value of Nothing," and co-author of "A History of the World in Seven Cheap Things." For more on this episode, visit: https://realfoodmedia.org/portfolio/inflamed/ Join the Real Food Reads book club: https://realfoodmedia.org/programs/real-food-reads/

The story of humankind is usually told as one of technological innovation and economic influence—of arrowheads and atomic bombs, settlers and stock markets. But behind it all, there is an even more fundamental driver: food. In this episode, Anna Lappé and Mark Bittman dive into how food has shaped our past, but also how we can transform it to reclaim our future. For more on this episode, visit: https://realfoodmedia.org/portfolio/animal-vegetable-junk/ Join the Real Food Reads book club: https://realfoodmedia.org/programs/real-food-reads/

“Black Food Matters: Racial Justice in the Wake of Food Justice” centers the Black experience within the US food system: what is missing and what is possible. Edited by Dr. Ashanté M. Reese and Hanna Garth, this anthology features voices and experience from around the nation.

Ken Meter is one of the most experienced food system analysts in the United States. He's promoted local food economies in 143 regions in 41 states, two provinces, and four tribal nations. In Building Community Food Webs, he makes a strong argument for reversing the extractive economy and weaving “food webs” that restore local wealth, health, capacity, and connection.

Meet: the Food Justice League. No, they’re not superheroes. They’re a growing community-based movement based in Gainesville, FL, that’s working to abolish exploitation and prison slavery from the food system. They’ve launched a public campaign to pressure the University of Florida to ditch the exploitative food service company Aramark—and commit to buying more ethical and sustainable food. Learn about the Food Justice League’s strategies and movement-building efforts in the Season Two premiere of Foodtopias.

Like many Caribbean and Central American nations, Belize is a place where healthy, diverse farming systems have been violently replaced with sugar plantations. The legacy of that dispossession is yet another sugar-related violence: diabetes. Cultural anthropologist Amy Moran-Thomas contextualizes diabetes within a long history of racial capitalism in her book "Traveling with Sugar: Chronicles of a Global Epidemic."

Carey Gillam’s 2017 book, Whitewash, exposed the dangers of the world’s most popular weedkiller: Monsanto’s Roundup. Gillam’s new book, The Monsanto Papers, tells the riveting story of the man who became the face of a David-and-Goliath showdown against one of the world’s biggest agribusiness corporations.

Allinee ‘shiny’ Flanary—founder of Come Thru Market, a Black, Indigenous, and People of Color(BIPOC) producer farmer’s market in Portland, OR—joins us for the season finale of Foodtopias to talk about the origins of the market, what it looks like to offer meaningful support, and the role of abolition in food sovereignty. This conversation was a part of The Power of Community-based Food Systems with The Wallace Center.

A veteran journalist and former farmer, Tom Philpott cracks open US agriculture—and where it went horribly wrong. Highlighting scientists documenting the damage and the farmers and activists pushing back, Perilous Bounty is a must-read for eaters and activists alike. This Real Food Reads episode breaks down key food system concepts like no other.

The global peasant leader and food sovereignty activist Elizabeth Mpofu speaks to us about growing up in a farming family in Zimbabwe, practicing climate resilient agriculture, and how rural women are impacted by Covid-19. Mpofu is General Coordinator of the international peasant confederation La Vía Campesina and founder and chairperson of the Zimbabwe Smallholder Organic Farmers Forum (ZIMSOFF). This conversation was part of the Hunger for Justice series from A Growing Culture. View the full broadcast at: http://www.agrowingculture.org/hfj/

Centuries of colonization have disrupted Indigenous communities’ ability to control their own food systems. But throughout the United States, projects are underway to reclaim and protect the land, water, plants, animals, and food & farming practices that underpin Indigenous self-determination and wellbeing. Native Choctaw scholar Devon Mihesuah joins us for this special Indigenous Peoples Day episode.