AnthroDish - 53: How Can We Create Win-Win Systems for Food Systems & the Environment? with Dr. Phil Loring

53: How Can We Create Win-Win Systems for Food Systems & the Environment? with Dr. Phil Loring

10/08/19 • 35 min

As the conversations and concern about the climate crisis continue to grow on a global scale, can be overwhelming on a personal level thinking about solutions. Sometimes we feel an individual burden around our choices when it comes to food, waste, or consumerism. My guest this week, Dr. Philip Loring, is someone I always look to when I need a mental reset about how to approach climate and human wellbeing in meaningful ways.

Phil is the Arrell Chair in Food, Policy, and Society with the Arrell Food Institute, and an associate professor in the department of Geography at the University of Guelph. Phil’s research focuses on the intersection of ecosystem health, human well-being, and sustainability. His research has taken him to such locales as Alaska, Mexico, the Canadian Prairies, Ireland, and Thailand, which we’ll hear a bit more about today. Additionally, he has a forthcoming book called “Finding Our Niche” that explores the potential for win-win scenarios in our food systems, out in fall 2020.

Today we’re exploring the idea of sustainability and what that really means within food systems, the ways in which reconciliation movements connect with food systems and research partnerships, and what he calls “win-win” scenarios for sustainable ecosystems. His approaches to human and ecosystem wellbeing are always really inspirational to me, and I’m very excited to share this conversation with Phil!

Learn more about Dr. Loring!

Twitter: @conservechange
Conservation of Change Website
Finding Our Niche book updates
TedX Talk: No More Heroes

Learn more about Dr. Loring!

Twitter: @conservechange
Conservation of Change Website
Finding Our Niche book updates
TedX Talk: No More Heroes

Previous Episode

52: Terroir - Building Community through Food and Place with Arlene Stein

There are certain people in this world that I could just listen to forever, they’re an absolute wealth of knowledge and experiences and my first guest of season 4, Arlene Stein, is one of those people.

Arlene is the founder and executive director of the Terroir Symposium, a catalyst for creative collaboration and social and environmental responsibility in the hospitality industry. Since 2006, Terroir has convened international and Canadian industry leaders annually at a two-day symposium in Toronto – and since 2014 at off-shoot events across Europe and North America, for education, networking, and inspiration. From her current home base in Berlin, Arlene travels globally to research responsible food systems and gastronomic innovations.

Arlene has that magical ability to build community and knowledge around food and root it to place, to land, to context in a way that is truly inspiring. But what makes her even more incredible is the ease that she brought to this conversation. At the core of what Arlene does is foster a sense of community for local and international networks that relate around food: she breaks down the silos for restauranteurs, chefs, artisans, producers, academics, and so many more through Terroir events and workshops to foster conversations and collaborations.

In today’s episode we explore what exactly the word terroir means and how the role that gastrodiplomacy can play into food systems and futures. I’ve included the links to Terroir’s main website and for the Toronto symposium below, along with social media pages if you’d like to learn more about Terroir!

Learn More

Terroir Symposium (May 4th 2020 in Toronto!)
Terroir Hospitality
Instagram: @terroirtalk (for global events) and @terroirsymposium (for the Canadian symposium)
Twitter: @terroirtalk
YouTube: Terroir Hospitality

Next Episode

54: Unpacking the Global Impact of Superfood Trends with Ann Shin

We’re all at this point used to food terms being thrown around in the grocery store – organic, GMO-free, natural, superfoods... but what do these really mean? Superfoods is a term that I’m also fascinated by. My guest this week is award winning producer, director, filmmaker, and writer, Ann Shin, who explores this in her documentary, The Superfood Chain. In addition to this, she is well known for directing the documentaries The Defector: Escape from North Korea and My Enemy, My Brother about the true story of 2 enemies from the Iran-Iraq War.

She asks these questions we tend to take for granted – are superfoods really great for you? How does the global demand for superfoods impact indigenous cultures who grow these foods and depend on them as staples? The SuperFood chain is a beautiful cinematic documentary that investigates how the superfood industry affects the lives of farming families in Bolivia, Ethiopia, the Phillipines, and Haida Gwaii.

We explore these questions around what makes a superfood super, and how these demands for superfoods in Western cultures impact global communities, along with some tools and examples of how governments and food producers respond or adapt to shifts in food demands, and the process of making the film itself for her and her family.

Learn More About Ann Shin!