Eating Matters

Host Jenna Liut interviews author Benjamin Lorr to talk about his new book, “The Secret Life of Groceries: The Dark Miracle of the American Supermarket,” which delves into what it takes to get food onto grocery store shelves and who suffers the consequences of our increasing demand for cheap food and efficiency. Lorr pulls back the curtain on a notoriously secretive industry, interviewing people at every level – from the founder of Trader Joes to truck drivers transporting products to trafficked migrants in Myanmar and Thailand at the bottom of the commodity chain. This book is an absolute must read for anyone interested in our food system.

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Ever wonder why we don’t eat Bison meat in this country? This is a little known - but extremely important - part of American history that perfectly demonstrates one way the US government worked to systematically steal land from and decimate Native American people. It was a tactic that effectively communicated that ‘one dead buffalo is two dead Indians.’ 

Director Sanjay Rawal (Food Chains) joins host Jenna Liut to discuss his critically-acclaimed, newly-released documentary, Gather. The film demonstrates how Indigenous Americans are reclaiming their sovereignty over their annihilated ancestral food systems, while battling against the historical trauma brought on by colonialism and centuries of genocide. Eating Matters’ Amber Chong joins the show as co-host.

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Introduced in early February by Representative Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez of New York and Senator Edward J. Markey of Massachusetts, the Green New Deal is a congressional resolution that calls for the U.S. to become carbon neutral and to supply 100% of the country’s electricity from carbon-free energy sources by 2030.
But what does this grand plan to tackle climate change actually entail and what does it mean for our food system? Award-winning journalist Christopher D. Cook joins host Jenna Liut to discuss. They also get to the bottom of whether this proposal would take away our “airplane rights,” “confiscate our cars,” “ban livestock,” and force Americans to rely on “unicorn tears” to power new, high-speed light rails we will have to ride around on.

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Host Jenna Liut is joined by Robyn Metcalfe, author of the newly published book, “Food Routes: Growing Bananas in Iceland and Other Tales from the Logistics of Eating,” to unpack the unbelievable complexities of the current food supply chain and discuss how technology will impact the future of how our food gets from the field to our fork.

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Following up on our previous episode featuring Sanjay Rawal, director of the newly-released film, Gather, host Jenna Liut interviews a central character of the documentary: Native food practitioner, Nephi Craig. Chef Craig is the founder of both the Native American Culinary Association as well as Café Gozhóó where he also serves as the Executive Chef. They discuss Indigenous food systems and the modern colonial violence that continues to threaten them, as well as cultural appropriation in the culinary world. Chef Craig helps us to solidify our definition of food sovereignty and better understand the intersection of Native foods, cultural preservation, community health, and political autonomy. Eating Matters’ Amber Chong co-hosts.

Photo Courtesy of Renan Ozturk.

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