What You're Eating

What do you know about a class of chemicals called PFAS? You can’t see them, and you can’t smell them, but they’re there, providing water-resistance and grease-proof protection to burger wrappers and pizza boxes. But PFAS are used for lots more than transporting takeout. They’re used by manufacturers in items ranging from raincoats to contact lenses to toilet paper. And the chemicals don’t just stay in these products. When we dispose of them, they end up in our soils and waterways. And the fact that they don’t break down has earned them the name “forever chemicals.” In this episode we head to Maine to learn more about PFAS and how they have ended up in well water, on farms, in food, and ultimately in people’s bodies.

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For the longest time milk meant cow’s milk — usually whole but maybe skim or 1% depending on how old you are. But today, walk into some independent chains and if you don’t specify what kind of milk you want in your latte, you’ll get oat milk. You know, the stuff that mama oats feed their baby oats. Or, at a Starbucks, or a neighborhood cafe, you might ask for a coffee with milk and have the barista say “what kind of milk?” And depending where you are, that list of possible answers could include almond, oat, pistachio, macadamia, soy...the list goes on and on.

In today’s episode we explore the foodprints of the various options you have to make your coffee a little creamier. What are the production issues with each? What do you gain or lose by choosing one over the other? We talk to experts about dairy farming, almond farming, oat production and more— as well as coffee professionals who are shaping the landscape change in real time— all to help you get to the bottom of your coffee cup.

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For our episode, The Big Problem of Food Waste we interviewed Vincent Medina and Louis Trevino who co-founded mak-‘amham, an East Bay organization and restaurant focused on reviving and strengthening traditional Indigenous Ohlone foods and sharing them back with their communities, as well as educating the public about Ohlone culture through cuisine. The restaurant was originally housed in the courtyard of Berkeley’s University Press bookstore that shuttered a few months into the Coronavirus pandemic. Now, two years later, Café Ohlone will be reopening on the UC Berkeley campus.

We were only able to share a small portion of our interview with Vincent and Louis for our food waste episode, but the full interview was so interesting and they were so engaging that we decided to run it in its entirety now, for our final episode of season one.

Cafe Ohlone will open in June, 2022 at UC Berkeley's Hearst Museum. "A portal of light and shadows, singing trees, a dry creek running along redwoods, a shellmound rising in a fragrant garden of abundance... learn more about what Vincent and Louis are calling 'A love song to Ohlone culture' at their website makamham.com

What You’re Eating is produced by me, Jerusha Klemperer, Nathan Dalton and FoodPrint.org, which is a project of the GRACE Communications Foundation. Special thanks to Vincent Medina and Louis Trevino. You can find us at www.FoodPrint.org where we have this podcast as well as articles, reports, a Food Label Guide and more.

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Thanks so much for joining us for season one and if you like the podcast, please leave us a review on Apple, or wherever you listen to podcasts.

Depending on who you are, your connection to salmon may be spiritual, cultural or just a matter of taste. If you live in the Pacific Northwest, you might be familiar with and appreciate wild salmon, but for the rest of us, our love of salmon avocado rolls reflects a love of farmed salmon. Because yes, most of what you’re eating is farmed, whether you realize it or not.

Today on What You’re Eating, we look at America's favorite fin fish, salmon, and dig a little deeper into where it comes from, what’s farmed, what’s wild, and why some people want you to care about that distinction at all. We get into the details of fish farming — of salmon, and other fish, too — and how it replicates some of the problems we see in land-based factory farms for animals like chicken and pigs. We also ask the experts where we can buy wild salmon, any labels to seek out, how to make it more affordable, and how best to cook it.

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And if you've been enjoying this show we hope you'll leave us a review on Apple or wherever you get your podcasts.

We’re back, this fall, with all new episodes to help you understand how your food gets to your plate, and see the full impact of the food system on animals, planet and people. We’ll continue to uncover problems with the industrial food system, and offer examples of more sustainable practices, as well as practical advice for how you can help create a better world, through the food that you buy and the system changes you push for.

Have you been wondering why people are drinking oat milk instead of cow’s milk?
Or curious how you’re supposed to choose which eggs to buy when there are so many to choose from?
Or frustrated by the amount of plastic packaging your food comes in?
Or wondering what labels to look for to know which food is best for the environment?

From practical conversations with farmers and chefs to discussions with policy experts on the barriers to a just and sustainable food system, What You're Eating covers everything from the why to the how.

Subscribe wherever you get your podcasts, and follow along every other week for new episodes, and more answers to the questions you have about what you’re eating.

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