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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We love our pets — a lot. And there’s a booming business — around $136.8 billion worth of pet food, treats and more reflecting that deep love and connection. Of course, as our pets become more central to our families, we become more and more interested in feeding them well. Gone are the days when kibble and cans were the only foods on offer: Caring and concerned owners can now choose between a dizzying array of options, ranging from the familiar kibble and cans to monthly deliveries of human-grade prepared food and even home-cooked meals made from fresh ingredients. But is there any difference between any of these foods? Are the expensive ones worth it? And if you’re one of those people who thinks about your own food quite a bit, but hasn’t really thought about your pet’s food that much, should you bother trying to change?

This episode features Marion Nestle, professor emerita of nutrition, food studies and public health at New York university, Susan Thixton, a pet food consumer advocate and founder of truthaboutpetfood.com, Daisy Freund, vice president of farm animal welfare at the American Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals (ASPCA), Jacqueline Prehogan, Chief Brand Officer and co-founder of Open Farm Pet Food, Matt Halteman, professor of philosophy at Calvin University in Grand Rapids, Michigan and author of Hungry Beautiful Animals: The Joyful Case for Going Vegan and Alicia Kennedy, a food and culture writer and author of No Meat Required: The Cultural History and Culinary Future of Plant-Based Eating.

What You’re Eating is produced by Nathan Dalton and FoodPrint.org, which is a project of the GRACE Communications Foundation. 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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